Veracity

This is a highly imaginative futuristic novel which takes political correctness to a whole new level of tyranny for the masses. It is a riveting, totally engaging book, difficult to put down once it is begun. Yet, it is worth putting down --- to savor all the rich details which the author so carefully and seamlessly wove into this very fine novel. It all began when a pandemic struck the USA which put the population into a state of fear and panic. This set the stage for a one party government to take control. They used the media, such as television and computers to create their own highly monitored, controlled, very manipulated reality.. Eventually every human being had a "slate", a computer chip surgically placed into their neck, which monitored and recorded a person's every spoken word which was fed into a huge data base at the government headquarters. The chip also provided a means to punish the noncompliant, independent, rebellious citizens in society, free thinkers who still remained secret outlaws, creating a resistant faction who opposed the Confederation, they remained the Unwilling in this newly created society ... Harper Adams was very young in 2012 when the viral epidemic struck and killed more than half the population. Eventually from the chaos arose a goverment called "the Confederation of the Willing" who provided the only access to jobs, food sources, and housing in the country. Except for those who still ran amok outside in the wildnerness. Most of the population succumbed to the new regulations in order to survive. Speech was closely monitored. Eventually "red listed" words were announced in the local media. These were forbidden to be spoken. Early in her life, Harper Adams was recognized to possess special talents needed by the Confederation, She was a gifted "sentient" someone who saw a person's aura and could read their thoughts. She was recruited while in high school to develop this inherited skill even further and to work as a "Monitor" for the Confederation. Monitors verified whether or not those who broke the current laws were deserving of the punishment meted out to them. The laws were enforced by the Blue Coats who were a type of national security force that engaged in various tortures to extract compliance from the population. When the non comforming citizen was a female, the Blue Coats who were men especially enjoyed the torture they meted out to their victims. The new government also supported the distribution of drugs. They sanctioned what amounted to corner bars which served as 'sex clinics' where workers specifically trained in this occupation, provided sexual satisfaction to customers to fulfill their needs, fantasies and desires. When the word "Veracity" became red-listed, Harper Adams fully realized what she must do. Veracity is what she named her daughter. Harper participated in a "renaming" ceremony sanctioned by the government where her daughter was given a new approved name, "Sarah". Harper made anoth

Such a great book! I've read several reviews that compare it to Orwell's 1984, but I think that it reminds me more of "Ella Minnow Pea." Regardless of the possible sources of inspiration, this is a great debut for Ms. Bynum. It's a riveting portrayal of the loss of person freedoms and how society allows it to happen. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.

I received Veracity as part of Pocket Books Blog Tours. At first I was a bit unsure about the book because I generally shy away from science fiction, but I really enjoyed this novel. It grabbed me right from the beginning and kept me wanting to read more up until the end. It may have appealed to me more because Harper, the main character, was a woman. I think some of the science fiction I have read in the past has had male main characters and I've had a more difficult time getting into them. The book reminded me a bit of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire because the future that is portrayed is so controlled by the government. When I first started the novel the book it reminded me of was The Host by Stephanie Meyer, because of references to the future and a resistance movement. It is hard to imagine a world without the freedoms that we enjoy today and the arts that we are accustomed to. Starting with the Pandemic in 2012 the government, for the protection of it's citizens, starts monitoring all people with an electronic slate in their necks that records everything that is said by that person. Once again for the "protection" of all words are made Red Listed on a regular basis which means that to speak them will cause the person to be shocked by their slate and may lead to further punishment. Over the course of more than three decades thousands of words are lost as well as art, music, books and entertainment. There is one TV channel that just airs government news, no music, no books except how to manuals, no paper for writing, no movies. For entertainment there are bars and there are government sanctioned prostitutes. People do not choose their careers, the government places them where they believe they will do best. The police force, The Blue Coats, enforce very harsh and cruel punishments for offenses and there are no judges or juries. Worse still, since it has been this way for more than 30 years and many of the original population were killed off during the Pandemic, most people do not have any idea of what they are really missing. Harper has special skills, she can see auras and travel without her body. She can see inside people and tell if they are sick, know their emotions from their colors and can sense answers to questions posed to them. She is a Monitor and is charged with watching files of people who use red listed words or get into other types of trouble with the government. She is recruited by the resistance to work with them to take down the current government. Seeing all these people go through to fight for their freedom brought to mind some of my own questions about our current freedom and how much people in general may be taking it for granted. The book got me thinking and made this alternate reality very realistic and believable. I think Laura Bynum did a great job with this novel and I hope to see more books written by her in the future. I am very glad I had the chance to review this novel because on my own I am not sure that

I was starting into Veracity thinking it was going to be just another humdrum fiction to be soon forgotten after reading it. Happily, I can say I was wrong in my initial assumption, and am pleased at how drawn into the story I became after the first two chapters. The story starts out in the not to distant future, revolving around a government official with paranormal powers who is recruited into a secret group who's goal it is to overthrow the current government and expose to the people all the lies that they've been led to believe. Set in a time when certain words banned, and everything everyone speaks is monitored for banned words that invoke severe punishments if spoken, it is the government's heavyhanded rule that has taken away most every freedom a human could desire in order to effect complete control over people; all of this come about by mass murder and a permanent police state, enacted when a "pandemic" supposedly swept through the land. Overall, a very fascinating story that does not lead the reader too far off the beaten path with nonsensical sub-plots and other needless filler material.

As I read this book, my blood ran cold - I literally could NOT stop reading it until I finished it. In 2012 the government announced that a pandemic was on its way and used this reason to put the country under the control of military law. Having already given up many of their freedoms under the umbrella excuse of "security," the people didn't even realize that they were opening themselves up to be put under a tyrannical reign. When the vans started arriving to take families away, implanting children under 4 with a "slate" automatically, and giving anyone older than four the "choice" of swearing fealty to the new government and accepting the slate or being injected with a "vaccine" that would take care of the problem ... well, by then it was too late. 30 years later, Harper Adams can barely remember the "before times," or her parents - who, it turned out, had a fatal reaction to the "vaccine." She is what is called a Sentient - a person who has psi powers (hers mostly having to do with the aura and some empathy and mild telepathy) - and is Alpha Monitor, meaning that she handles the most classified cases that came in through the monitoring done through the people's slates and the alleged use of Red Listed Word. It is her job to decide - mostly after the fact - if the punishment meted out by the Blue Coats (sort of a combination of military and police) was justified, adequate or not. After her best friend is killed in an attempt to join the resistance, Harper decides she will also try - however, she first has to see that her daughter, Veracity, is safe. Once she sees to that, she escapes herself, to join the resistance and try to bring down the government. I've probably already said too much about the plot, but I was just really enthralled by this story - and scared right to the bones. Too much of this book sounded familiar. The early events leading up to the declaration of martial law, especially - the steady eroding of the rights of the citizens of the USA, who choose to ignore their rights if it makes things easier and more "secure," not thinking about the fact that their rights were given to them for a reason ... Yes, I can see a situation like this coming to be very easily. And if someone out there is thinking "Puh-leeze - like THAT could happen ...!" I ask you to open your eyes, look around yourself a little, read the news, watch what's going on, and THEN read the Bill of Rights and take notice ... Between the eroding of our Freedom of Speech by those on the Left through Political Correctness and those on the Right through censorship ... our rights to keep and bear arms ... our right to privacy (hello? the FBI and CIA no longer really need an excuse to listen in on your phone conversations - did you know that?? Same with your e-mail) ... etc. So, I think this book is not only frightening, it is extremely timely. Definitely a STRONG recommend from me - READ IT and THINK!