The Bell Ringers - Hardcover

Porter, Henry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080211931X ISBN 13: 9780802119315

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2010

Synopsis

In Henry Porter’s novel, The Bell Ringers, England in the near future appears largely unchanged. There are concerns over the threat of terrorism, the press is feisty, and the prime minister is soon to call a general election. But quietly and largely unknown to the public or even most in government things have become undeniably Orwellian: cameras with license plate recognition software record every car’s movements; a sophisticated top-secret data-mining system known as Deep Truth combs through personal records and identifies petty criminals as well as those disposed to antigovernment” beliefs. In the interest of security, the divide between private and public has crumbled, and freedom has given way to control. Once the prime minister’s head of intelligence, and one of those who knew about Deep Truth, David Eyam suffered a fall from grace and then died in a terrorist bombing. Now his former lover has been named as the benefactor of his estate. But Eyam has left her more than just his wealth; she is also the heir to his dangerous secrets and unfinished business. Absorbing, eerie, and unsettlingly realistic, The Bell Ringers is a fearless work from a talented novelist at the top of his game.

About this title

About the Author:

Henry Porter is a political columnist for The Observer newspaper in London and the UK editor of Vanity Fair. He has written five novels, including Brandenburg Gate, winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award.

From AudioFile:

This riveting thriller takes place in a British dystopia in the near future, where a seemingly benign system of government and corporate surveillance of computers, cell phones, bank records, etc., has made it possible for a corrupt prime minister to abridge civil liberties to a terrifying point without Parliament's awareness or any alarm in the general public. When people protest, they're, with terrible ease, made to seem like deranged conspiracy theorists--or else they meet with fatal accidents. The world Porter paints is familiar and convincing, his plotting and pacing are tight as a drum, and John Lee's performance is impeccable. He never overplays, he never distracts; he simply inhabits each character and makes you believe. This is a marvelous and frightening entertainment. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 080211931X
• ISBN 13: 9780802119315
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288