Book Review: The Warehouse by Rob Hart

I kept setting this one down and then picking it back up and then setting it back down and then picking it back up and then…

You get the picture.

It’s a fantastic concept, and I think an important idea to put forward given the state of the world and where things seem to be heading. I appreciate the intent of offering a glimpse behind the curtain of what can happen when capitalism goes overboard and a monopoly becomes a mega-opoly.

I assume that a lot of the monotony in the story is intentional, dragging you through the days of the characters as they struggle to live in the Cloud-controlled world, but it certainly does not make for an easy, enjoyable, or speedy read. I can appreciate that conceptually, but it doesn’t make for a glowing recommendation…

I just never found myself able to connect with any of the characters, and when you add that to the monotonous tone, particularly for a book billed as a thriller, I found it a bit of a disappointment. To me this isn’t a thriller, and it isn’t a dark vision of the future, so much as a satiric look at what happens when capitalism is taken to the extreme.

I’ve seen comparisons to Animal Farm – to me, there is no comparison. Animal Farm was written as an engaging tale as well as a cautionary one. This felt entirely like the latter without much of the former. While it is definitely a thought-provoking and important consideration for our times, to me it did not exactly make for a compelling read…

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.