Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My rating 5 of 5 stars
I was a little skeptical of this book at first. Some sci-fi books tend to have the same themes. But this book was quite surprising. It was planned out very well in regards to the story line. I love the accept of it being no so in the distant future. The society and how it functions in this book are all but too real! Fantastic.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
WOW! This book immediately grabbed me and I couldn’t put it down. This author is new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill ride this took me on, in part because it is a highly plausible scenario. It made me think and consider current events as well as implications of next developments. If you want a thought provoking read that will keep you on your toes, this is a must read.
Reviewed by @heatherlovelace
View all my reviews
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When it comes to Sci Fi genre, this is not my normal genre of book I typically read but I am so glad I did read this book. Cole Westbay has to find out what happened to him when he wakes up one day bloody. Everyone in the story must be micro-chipped; and when this event happened, his chip was removed, memories lost. Cole is the developer of this micro-chip and now with his chip removed, he must piece back together who would do this and why. This is a complex story but very well written. I couldn’t imagine a world where people are required to be micro-chipped to do anything. But I feel like this would be in our reality one day for sure. Very well done Author Hieronymus Hawkes.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Cole Westbay is a man living in a digital society with a neural interface the same as everybody else, in fact, he was the one who designed and created it, Vitasync received such a positive reception that now everyone has one and it is connected to a worldwide neural network where every citizen uploads their every thought, feeling and action into a lifelog. This neural chip has been integrated so seamlessly into everyday life that as the US Government reorganised and recognised this, they chipped away at the freedoms and liberties the general population had and they accepted it and as time progressed the lifelog became a necessity instead of a luxury, this is something that Cole didn’t agree with at all, but he couldn’t do anything about it. As Cole settles into his work at BioNarratus, he is called into his boss’s office where he is given a promotion and even though it is taking him away from the lab work he loves, he accepts it, but when the work becomes extremely demanding, especially as a file to do with untoward deaths which have been suggested that the Vitasync may have been dysfunctional and the causes of the deaths, so he finishes his most important work and them works on boards to try and find links between the deaths and what he finds is the opposite of what he wanted.
One day Cole wakes up with a splitting headache and none of his usual visual overlays are active, in fact, none of his technological advances are active and he has lost his most recent memory, he has no idea how the blood in the back of his head got there, or why when he sits up, his house is a complete mess, it has been ransacked and he fears he has been robbed. He feels so disconnected from everything that it takes some time for him to process his new situation, it also means that he can’t call anyone to check in with them, so in order to call the police, he has to visit his neighbour in person, it is awkward, but is a means to an end. As he waits for the police to arrive, Cole thinks about how different the world around him looks without his neural interface chip, he feels extremely disconnected and his anxiety is through the roof, but when the Officer eventually makes his presence known, it isn’t in a way that Cole expects and the fact that his lifelog isn’t active lands him in hot water and he is arrested.
As Cole starts to try and figure out what has happened to him and why, he ends up feeling like he can’t trust those around him, so after having to see a doctor about the wound on the back of his head, he goes into work to figure out what he was working on and see if he can pin down a timeline for the last couple of days. It isn’t until he manages to become somewhat connected thanks to a second hand interface system that he realises how being disconnected may not be such a bad thing after all, especially when he is mobbed by reporters until help arrives from a group of people who prefer to remain off the grid. Will Cole be able to figure out who was behind his attack and work out who he can trust out of those he is surrounding himself with, or will he end up more permanently disconnected in the process? This is a dystopian sci-fi adventure which creates a world that doesn’t feel too distant from the one we are living in now while discussing the pitfalls of technology in such a way that it really makes you think and keeps you intrigued all the way until the end when the conclusion is revealed.
Reviewed by @roxsannel
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?
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
PHENOMENAL!!! Talk about a book that feels close to the future. This book gave me chills. The author has packed it full of thrills, mystery and suspense. When Cole has to depend on total strangers, I could feel for him. To lose trust in everyone you love is harsh and devastating but you have to try to figure out what’s going on. So well-written that I just couldn’t put it down. I had to read it every chance I had. The characters were each well-developed. You have to read this. 10 stars if I could. Highly recommend.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement is a sci-fi tech-thriller set in a future (2037) world where EVERYTHING is documented through a government-mandated chip. When a scientist who helped creat the chip becomes suspicious of some deaths related to the tech, he soon awakes to find his own chip and recent memories missing. Who is behind this set up?
I will admit that this isn’t my typical genre, but as a thriller it is a page-turner! If you like dystopian or futuristic books, you will love this one. It really hits home as technology advances and we look to control more and more virtually…
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Effacement is a dystopian novel by Hieronymus Hawkes. Set in the near future, it plays with concerns about overreliance on technology and the normalisation of constant surveillance. It’s a wake up call – a reminder to consider what we’re willing to trade for the convenience of technology.
Cole is a fitting protagonist for this cautionary tale. Although he works for a big tech firm, he’s not averse to use old fashioned methods to approach problems. But when he wakes up to find he’s been burgled and all his devices, including an implanted chip, have been taken, Cole discovers that he can’t even call for help.
Readers will enjoy following the mysteries at the heart of this story as they unravel. Changing narrative perspectives, as well as flashbacks, drop clues along the way. The reader is often a few steps ahead of Cole, and rooting for him to catch up before it’s too late.
This book gets 5 stars from me, and I’d definitely recommend it to sci-fi fans who enjoy stories set in the near future. It will be an interesting book to return to in a couple of decades to see how accurate Hawkes’ predictions were!
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement – Hieronymus Hawkes
4-stars
Effacement was the first book I’ve read by this author but it won’t be my last. This was a truly highly entertaining read that had me captivated right from the first chapter. This story is gripping, intense, deep and complex. I loved all of the detail the author wrote with, it made everything feel really real in a futuristic way.
This is the type of storyline that had me questioning everything, in the best way possible. I loved everything about this story!
I really look forward to reading more from this author in the near future and would absolutely recommend this book to others.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book reeled me in from word one. The main characters and their relationships were realistic. Cole’s conflict within himself as well as his personal honor system were so relatable. The idea of the extent to which society could be altered due to technology was frightening but also realistic. The only thing that has ever freaked me out like the idea of technology taking over the world more than it already has is reavers from Joss Whedon’s Firefly. It is just too realistic and I was captivated, needing to know what happened next.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A gripping sci/fi thriller, this book is centered around Dr Cole Westbay , a gifted scientist who has developed the revolutionary neurochip, a kind of life log that the American population is required to have in order to get a job, open a bank account etc. Everyone in this society is dependent on this lifelog for their daily means and things seem to go smooth unless they don’t. Unless they find one fine day, there is breach, and there is a series of deaths. When Westbay begins to investigate, his work and life is put to danger and he must find out why and who is behind the cover up.
This was a very fast paced read, it showcases the downside of relying on technology too much, and for all we know our own society will be the same plight a few decades down the road. I enjoyed reading the book.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes is one of those books that you just cannot put down once you start. This book is so good because it is so close to reality, and so utterly believable, that it really makes you think. I was completely drawn into this story and the events unfolding. I could imagine it all happening as if were there with the characters. This is a completely new author to me and I was really impressed by everything I read. The book was interesting and a unique concept but based in a plausible setting. The characters were easy to engage with.
Everything combined made for a fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would highly recommend this to everyone!
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this book. I believe the communist would do something like this. It’s a scary thought. This book is expertly written. It’s the first sci-fi book I like.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes is a sci fi dystopian thriller. It makes you wonder how far off we are to facing the same sort of thing in the future. I feel we are definitely headed that way if not already almost there. This is Hieronymus’s debut book, and it is well worth the read. The plot is complex, clever, and well executed. I was fully immersed in this compelling fast-paced story where technology is the power player. The characters are all well-fleshed out. Conspiracies, forgotten memories, on the run, danger, drama, thrills and so much more is what you get as you journey along with our MC.
Hieronymus world building is interesting and intriguing and keeps you on your toes in this futuristic tale.
Reviewed by @jennadb
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawke is a very intriguing and thought-provoking story- a bit of a techno thriller with dystopian, sci-fi, and cyberpunk elements that gave this story a bit of an edge.
It has a futuristic feel- but it’s not so far removed from our ‘reality’ in so far that it had me believing that we could well be headed in this direction ourselves. It certainly gave me pause for thought- which added a few ‘chills’ to the story along the way.
Society has embraced technology to the point that everyone has a ‘neurchip’ implant that interfaces with every aspect of people’s lives. A person’s daily life can’t operate fully without one. From recording lifelogs, banking, purchases, and healthcare, to simply catching a cab- the neurochip facilitates it all. But when a series of deaths are linked to the neurochips, it places the company responsible for revolutionising the world with the neurochip, firmly in the spotlight. Cole Westbay, the leading scientist in the chip’s development is assigned the investigation to clear the company’s name. A task that becomes that much harder when he is attacked and his own neurochip is destroyed. What happens makes for a captivating read!
There is a lot going on in the story, but the author choreographs all the elements quite cleverly. There are times, though, that the story gets a bit ‘wordy’ which disrupted the flow a little for me- but that was a minor issue and didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Looking forward to exploring more of Hieronymus Hawkes’ work…
Thank you, Hieronymus Hawkes!
Reviewed by @angelahayes
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes – Review by Allyson Ware
Talk about a realistic novel. Hieronymus Hawkes leads you into the future of technology. It may be fiction, but the conspiracy theories that could be discussed based off of this book are infinite. The way technology is being ingrained into our daily lives forces us to rely on it , which is exactly what Cole experiences when he is attacked and his lifelog is destroyed.
Effacement, according to the government is punishable by law. “Not having a lifelog,” is how effacement is defined. So what is a lifelog? A lifelog is a chip that is inserted into the back of your head, and keeps track of your everyday life. It also keeps you connected to everything from the internet to your insurance. Nothing can be done in your daily life without your lifelog, which I suppose is why law writers decided to enforce punishment.
When Cole is attacked, his life is turned upside down. Not only is he arrested for being attacked and his lifelog being destroyed, but his fiancé assists in the attack. Forced to start his life over, Cole finds help in the most unlikely of places, and learns that he cannot trust those that he originally would have put his life on the line for.
Cole goes from a monotonous life to one filled with adventure and suspense. From worrying about when he will marry the woman he has spent five years engaged to, to worrying about how long he may or may not spend in jail/prison. The author has you on the edge of each page, waiting to find out what happens next to Cole. A novel I would recommend to any science fiction fan.
Review by @aware
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a new author for me which I enjoyed from beginning to end. I look forward to reading more in the future. This is a science fiction thriller that pulled me in from the first word. Cole is the creator of a neurochip but now his company has been accused of multiple deaths. He is now faced with saving his company and finding the real killer before he ends up a victim himself. The characters are strong, great, well rounded characters that brought the story to life. I had no problems connecting with them. Cole is my favorite and his determination was great to see. This is full of action and was easy to read. I enjoyed the twist and turns as well and how they kept me turning pages. I really enjoyed this story and what Cole brought to the story. This is worth the pick up and I highly recommend this book.
Review by @bjwagner
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes is a sci-fi thriller that is an amazing book to read.
The development of the neurochip necessitates that everyone keeps a lifelog of their activities. Without one, you can’t acquire insurance, create a bank account, or work. Surveillance has grown commonplace in the United States, and the government is cracking down. Dr. Cole Westbay has been a major factor behind BioNarratus, the company behind the world-changing neurochip. Cole examines his firm when it is accused of being involved in a string of recent fatalities. Instead, he is assaulted, his neurochip damaged, and he has no recollection of recent events.
In the course of figuring out who is behind his attack, he loses faith in everyone he cares about and is forced to rely on a gang of strangers who live off the grid. As he reassembles his life, he discovers that he is the target of every news organization in North America and the central figure in a government cover-up. Can he stop them from killing more innocent people before they permanently silence him?
I loved this story and the concept of it as well. I loved every page of it. Every chapter was exciting. This is the first book that I have read from this author, I cant wait to read more.
Effacement by Hieronymus Hawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a really good book. It was gripping and a real page tuner but at the same time really quite scary. With today’s society and modern technology you can actually imagine a world like this where people all have chips in their head that controls everything from turning on their TV, speaking to people without actually talking and even being able to administer medication to themselves. The chip also is a recording device that records a person’s actions 24/7, 365 days.
So what happens when the chips start to fail? When people start dying with these chips it’s Cole job to find out why. Is it something to do with someone messing with the chips so that Coles company gets bad reputation or is it simply a bad batch of patches.
Cole thinks he’s found a link, however his life is turned upside down when he is drugged and his own chip removed. Now alone with no aid in this technological world Cole needs to learn who he can and can’t trust as well as learning to live and face the reality of real life not a virtual one.
While on his journey to find out and remember what happened to him it is also a race against time. Can he figure everything out or will he be silenced by the people trying to destroy everything Cole and the Company have created.
~ ~ ~ ~ BOOK SPOTLIGHT SHOWCASE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hieronymus had a rather idyllic childhood, growing up in the woods of West Virginia. He spent most of his time outside as a kid, playing sports usually, basketball, whiffle-ball, and a lot of two-hand touch football, among many other things. He loved to draw and read, science fiction mostly, when he wasn’t playing sports or board games.
He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a degree in Economics, then went on to a thirty-year career as an Air Force pilot, where he got to travel all over the globe.
He was married for twenty-eight years before losing his wife to breast cancer, but he is the father of four grown children.
In June of 2015 he completed an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. It took him a long time to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up. Effacement is his debut novel.
When he’s not writing, he is probably listening to music, reading, or surfing the web. He also draws in pencil and pastel chalk and enjoys a good poker game.
