Dan's Reviews > Glass Houses

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher, Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this science fiction mystery about a woman who thought that the worst thing that would ever happen to her was in the past, but finds that her present might be much worse.

Tragedy strengthens people in many ways, and leaves mark sometimes physical and sometimes so deep that no one sees it. Shared tragedy makes people think there should be a bond, but people compute events differently. One person might go on to start a business, and maybe some other things. Some might just want to be alone, or keep people at a distance, and not get involved. Surviving is different for people, and surviving sometimes isn't thriving, its just getting by. The biggest fear is that something even worse might happen again, something that will test all those defenses that one has used to pass through life. And hoping that one can survive again. Glass Houses, is a mystery thriller set in the near future that is even more broken then the world we have now, dealing with technology, the cut-throat business world, and the fact that no one can believe their eyes anymore.

The time is the near future on an island that has just had a plane crash on it. Kristen is the Chief Emotional Officer, as her boss calls her, with an ability to handle most problems promptly, not matter how strange. Kristen however has no idea why the plane crashed or how, only awakening covered in blood, mostly not her own. A dip in the ocean causes her to find a body, and her boss Sumter, who also says he has no idea why the plane crashed, but wonders if it could have been corporate sabotage. Sumter's company had just completed a new AI system, an Emotion mapping algorithm that could change everything. Until the plane crash. Sumter and Kristen both share a childhood full of pain, but for different reasons. One that has left scars on Kristen that are both visible, and deep inside. A house and other survivors are found, a house, with lots of technology, and but no way of calling out. And with a lot of odd quirks. Kristen assumes the worst and is soon proven right as things start happening, and the people who survived the plane crash get smaller and smaller.

A bit of Agatha Christie but more The Decagon House Murders with the added twist of technology and business culture. The story is twisty and told in both the past and the present by Kristen who can be a little annoying sometimes. Kristen is smart with problems, but poor in reading people, and can seem not just distant but very removed from situations. This has to do with both her past, and being a women in business, which even a bit into the future is still very anti-female. The world is interesting, like I stated sometime in the future, where things are running even worse than now. The science might be a bit for regular thriller readers, but I liked that aspect and found it an interesting addition to the plot. The story works well, though the leaving of a few character is not quite the loss that it appears, as some of them could grate on the nerves. A taut thriller full of surprises, and quite a bit of oh wow moments.