#BLOGTOUR | Proximity – Jem Tugwell @JemTugwell @SerpentineBooks @rrbooktours1 @Shanannigans81 #amreading #bookblogger #bookworm #bookreview #bookexcerpt #giveaway #Thriller #TechnoThriller #RRBookTours

Welcome to the blog tour for Proximity (iMe Book #1) by Jem Tugwell!

Check out my review, an exclusive excerpt, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a signed copy of the book!

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Proximity (iMe Series Book 1)
Genre: Techno Thriller/ Procedural
Publisher: Serpentine Books

You can’t get away with anything. Least of all murder.

DI Clive Lussac has forgotten how to do his job. Ten years of embedded technology – ‘iMe’ – has led to complete control and the eradication of crime. Then the impossible happens. A body is found, and the killer is untraceable. With new partner Zoe Jordan, Clive must re-sharpen his detective skills and find the killer without technology, before time runs out for the next victim…

Leading the trend in speculative crime thrillers, Jem Tugwell’s thrilling and thought-provoking debut sits alongside Black Mirror and The City and the City in a compelling exploration of our near future. Proximity draws on Jem’s 20 years of professional experience as a software developer in the city to give an unnerving insight into how our world might be transformed by the rapid advance in embedded technology and fitness trackers.

What if the cash-strapped public healthcare system can be given a second life by using tech to regulate our health and behaviour?

What if we can eradicate gun, knife and other proximity crimes by tracking everyone’s activity?

What if civil liberty is seen as an acceptable sacrifice for the greater good?

What if the convenience of technology is used for control?

Proximity is inspired by the fascinating possibilities of technology, AI and the law of unintended consequences. From my own experience, technologists are often amazed or horrified about the other uses that people imagine for their products. Clive and Zoe’s world might be closer than we think, but is it heaven or hell? How do we decide the perfect balance of free will and greater good?
– Jem Tugwell

Review:

Call me a wuss, but Proximity scared the living heck out of me. This isn’t a horror novel – it’s a techno thriller, so you may be asking yourself why this scared me so much. Part of it is that Jem Tugwell’s writing is so absorbing, I was transported into the story. The other reason this is so scary? Because we are so attached to technology right now that the implant, iMe, is something that is totally realistic.

The mystery portion of this story was compelling. A series of people go missing with no signs of how or why. Their iMe’s have malfunctioned and it is up to DI Lussac and DC Jordan to revert to “old-fashioned” investigation to figure out what is happening.

The pacing of this novel is brilliant and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I love that this is a series because I think there is so much more to discover in this world. Jem Tugwell really knows how to keep the reader invested, and guessing all the way to the end.

Overall, Proximity is one of those books you will pick up with the intention of reading a few pages and end up staying up late to finish the story. I can’t wait to continue on in the series. Highly recommended!

Rating:

5/5☆

The rotating blade snagged, blood spurted, and a finger hit the floor. I paused the video stream I was watching, dragged my feet off the desk, and tipped forward so that my rigid chair dropped back onto all four legs. I yawned and stretched the sluggishness out of my limbs. Today was another day at the office with nothing much to do, so I was half-heartedly trying to get through my backlog of compulsory episodes of Safety First. This episode showed how dangerous the old versions of tools used to be. I sighed. These were all the same ones I remembered from my childhood. Not like the ultra-safe new tools, packed with safety sensors and checks that made them nearly impossible to start.
I pressed ‘Play’ again and winced. The editors had chosen all the worst examples of people chopping bits off themselves, getting stuff in their eyes, and choking on sawdust. It reminded me of my metalwork teacher swearing at me as I dripped blood onto the floor after yet another cut. I held my hands up towards the screen and wiggled my fingers to show that the old tools hadn’t stolen anything that should still be attached.
The show ended with the usual ‘we’re safer now’ messages and statistics on how much money the hospitals saved because they didn’t have to treat ‘self-inflicted’ lifestyle injuries.
Chapter 2 – DI Clive Lussac

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I am a crime fiction author with a Crime Writing MA from City University. Proximity is my thrilling debut novel, inspired by the fascinating possibilities of technology, AI and the law of unintended consequences. Available on 6 June 2019.

In a past life, I had a successful career in investment management, and now live in Surrey with my wife. I have two great children and dog. Outside of my family and writing, my loves are snowboarding, old cars and bikes.