Journalist Grace Marks needs a good story, but she has no idea how good a story she's unearthing when she starts out investigating a surge in suburban minor crime. I mean who would put that much organisation into a series of minor crimes. Maybe a security company CEO, a company that offers some very new technology for people to use in thwarting the aforementioned sorts of minor crimes.
Only the CEO of Erebus Optics turns out to be as suspicious of the owner of the American technology at the core of what his company offers, and despite the fact that Will Manilow's business is booming, there are moves afoot back in the States to stop what the American parent believes there local "reseller" might be about to reveal.
Part a sort of industrial espionage / part an international conspiracy storyline, SURVEILLANCE is one of those books that just grabs the reader and drags them ever forward as Investigative Journalist Grace Marks races to beat an IT specialist (Maria Simmons) to the document that could blow an entire ecosystem of surveillance and control out of existence.
I had my doubts about this storyline as I often have my doubts about technological storylines, but this one worked. Heaps of pace, threat and lurking going on. Very believable scenario that might spook those of us with surveillance camera's from one end of their property to the other (although to be fair, about the only thing being surveilled around here are bloody foxes), but still. It's a pointed reminder that you have to have your eyes open, and your risks mitigated with every single technological item you use / install / tick the privacy box on the conditions of use of.
Surveillance
If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear ...
Journalist Grace Marks, needing a story to boost her career and finances, is intrigued by a surge in minor crime in New Zealand suburbs. She discovers it’s organised, but why?
Her investigations lead her to Will Manilow, CEO of Erebus Optics, whose security company uses innovative technology from America.
Manilow’s business is booming but he’s suspicious of his American owner’s motives. While searching through their internal website he stumbles over a document that outlines what they are planning, and what’s at stake. Saving the document to a flash drive inadvertently triggers an alert deep in America.
As Grace interviews Manilow to get to the bottom of the story, Marla Simmons, an agent with specialist IT skills, is flying to New Zealand to sanitise the document while two of her ruthless colleagues keep a wary eye on events, ready to intervene.
As events spiral out of control, can Grace uncover the truth in time or will the document be sanitised along with everyone who has seen it?
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