Beautiful Red [Paperback]

M. Darusha Wehm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 2009

The future is boring. Technology has solved the world's most pressing problems, leaving people with tedious work and mundane play. Jack is a Security Officer Class 5, which sounds important, but isn't. However, her banal life as a cubicle worker by day and tinkerer by night is interrupted when she discovers that her employer's computer system has been invaded. Jack enlists the help of her only friends - her co-worker, Gilles and Adrian, an online friend she's never met - to help her track down the source of the invasion. Her investigation leads her to a shadowy group called the Red, where Jack learns that not everyone lives a life of quiet servitude. Even though she believes that the Red are responsible for a series of gruesome attacks, Jack begins to become attracted to their worldview. In her search for the people responsible for the attacks, she confronts the leaders of the group as well as her own burgeoning sense of self-awareness.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darusha has done a lot of different things. She was the Senior Editor at the Conversations Network, the internet audio networks started by IT Conversations' founder Doug Kaye. She wrote critically about technology and its effects on our society in her weblog The Golden Hammer, (http://goldenhammer.darusha.ca) where she has been known to podcast audio segments. She wrote several articles about popular and unpopular science at http://90ways.com. In the physical world, she was a civil servant with the Government of Canada and is currently a website consultant for podcasters and other rich media providers, a freelance editor and writer. She is a poet, novelist, audio and video podcaster, a bicycle commuter, sailor, serial hair dyer and technophobic gadget junkie. She was most recently based in Victoria, BC, Canada and is currently sailing the Pacific coast of the Americas with her partner, Steven on their sailboat, Scream.

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Darusha Wehm (September 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0973746718
• ISBN-13: 978-0973746716
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,746,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Darusha is from Canada, but has spent the past three years living and sailing on her sailboat. She's in New Zealand now where she's writing short stories and novels for your entertainment.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy, February 27, 2011

By 

Zimra - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Red (Kindle Edition)

Pros:
1) This is a NaNoWriMo Book: A 50,000+ word book contest is held every November on the NaNoWriMo website. The focus is how many words and not how many typos one produces.
2) Cyber-Punk Science Fiction about an everyday person who finds something mysterious in the world.
3) Near-future possibilities, we could end up this way within twenty years.
4) Awesome twist for an ending. I would like to see the story continue.

Cons:
1) There are typos and editing mistakes; but it was written in 30 days.
2) There are two sex scenes and a little bit of language, I was looking for a clean read.
3) Some of it seems mundane, "eating and showering" often.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book besides the cons; it made me think about technology and my own life and the downward spiral of mankind.

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent story but too many typos, January 10, 2011

By 

joanneb - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Red (Kindle Edition)

I enjoyed the futuristic storyline and stayed interested in the mystery. It did get slow in places but was enjoyable overall. I did, however, find the many editing errors annoying.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unconventional yet interesting, December 8, 2009

By 

Phil "Green" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautiful Red (Paperback)

This book has an unconventional tune. The author writes a seemly meaningless rant (at least to me) every third chapter. Half of the book is used to develop the character and I do not get the ending. Still, I had fun reading this books and I recommend it. It is well thought-out and the author has an eye to the future. The futurist aspects seem quite real; better than some more establish authors' work.