Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes – Review by Ashley Dover

Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dr. Cole Westbay has helped develop a chip that is used as a monitoring device for surveilling people. The chip is implanted in the back of the head and records the life movements of each person that has the chip embedded. With degrees in biology and chemistry and a master’s and Ph.D. in biochemical engineering, Cole has always dealt with the biological and chemical parts of the implant. He leaves the coding up to people like his girlfriend, Tesla.

When Cole wakes up after an assault and realizes his chip is missing, his life takes a turn that he never anticipated. He has to step back from being constantly connected to the virtual world that he has helped to develop. His assault leads to him being charged with effacement, not being connected to the network with a Vitalink. His memory is gone from the days before his attack, but with the help of others and piecing together the obtuse reactions of those he’s closest to, Cole goes off the grid to stay away from his company and the FDF, the Federal Department of Fidelity (a compilation of Homeland Security, NSA, TSA, Immigration, and a handful of other smaller agencies).

With the help of an anti-chipping group, Cole has a lawyer and a place to stay off the grid. He still doesn’t know fully who attacked him and what the involvement is of the people he was closest to while working on the Vitalink chip. Can his lawyer and the pieces of memory he gets back keep him from going to jail? And will he be able to fill in the blanks before it’s too late?

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