Rob HartThe Warehouse: A Novel

Very original near-future tale which holds up a mirror to many of the trends and events we see in the news right now. I get the feeling the author’s reason for writing this book was to say: ‘hey, don’t you get it? We are the frogs in the gradually boiling water and our fatal flaw is not wanting to recognize that fact.’ OK, a lot of us feel that way these days, but this cautionary tale spells it out in a page-turning way that occasionally borders on satire but feels like a classic thriller. Good character development and many tips of the hat to Orwell, Huxley and all the warners who went before. The environment he created is the most original thing about the book, with detailed descriptions that imply as much as they say out loud, and a chilling sense of familiarity that keeps you looking at your own life, and what you’ve gotten used to, and why.

I liked this book a great deal. Didn’t at first. The voice of the three characters didn’t grab me like they should. I know one thing for sure I’m not going to look at hamburgers the same way ever again. Yuck.There are three point of view characters and I liked two of them. The third was the owner of the company The Cloud. His point of view was all exposition or narrative in the form of a blog he put out to the employees and the world. It was information that the reader needed for the story but it was a big risk by the author. It became a speed bump that interfered with the forward motion of the story and had I not related to the other two characters so much I might’ve put it down.What I really enjoyed was how all the plotlines came to an end at the same time. This is difficult to do, (Believe me I know). I also liked how there wasn’t a lot of wasted prose. Most every word was needed to display character, foreshadow or forward the story. There wasn’t a lot of wasted blah, blah blah, (blah, blah, blah, now that’s a real professional explanation) that I see a lot of in other contemporary books.But the best part of this book is the theme and the spot-on handling of events unfolding in our world today. In fact, I would go so far as to say it’s chilling. And because it is so well written this thriller crosses genres and dips its big toe into horror. While reading this book, and even today as I write about it, the dark undertone continues to cloud (no punt intended—well maybe) my thoughts.Highly recommend.

I have stopped reading all of the free and loan books on kindle as they have reliably become such a disappointment. I found this book on a "best of 2019" list that is independent of Amazon and was very happy with the purchase. This novel has a strong storyline that kept me turning pages from start to finish. Good plot and character development. Can't wait to see the movie and plan on reading other books from this author. Very much along the lines of Crichton..

Thank goodness none of the Amazon management read the book; or else it would be 'not available'. I can easily see Amazon's Fresh offering AmazBurgers. It is a thriller with a creepy premise. It didn't feel scary until I went shopping on Amazon and wondered what would Amazon evolve into.

Paxton had worked for fifteen years as a prison guard in a minimum security facility. He then started a small business, but because of Cloud, it failed. To add insult to injury, he must now seek work at Cloud, his last resort. Cloud is America's largest employer, with its gigantic warehouses where everything can be found, purchased without ever leaving home, and delivered promptly to one's door. Cloud is everywhere and has swallowed most businesses, big and small. Zinnia arrived at the Cloud processing centre on the same bus as Paxton. However, her purpose is different; she was anonymously hired to do what she does best: spy. Cloud is not on the up-and-up, is impossible to spy on from the outside, so she has to get hired and infiltrate directly from MotherCloud, the work-live facilities. Meanwhile, Gibson Wells, Cloud founder and CEO, is dying. He was given one year to live, and he has started a blog for posterity. Who will succeed him?Set in the near future, THE WAREHOUSE aims at provoking a reflection on the threat of a corporate Big Brother, if you will. I expected the MotherCloud facilities and the work environment to be idealised, at least at first, and show its cracks later, but the operating philosophy resembles more that of the world's most famous fast food empire than the perfect futuristic workplace. Cloud offers the jobs you take when you can't find anything else. The concept is genius, and Rob Hart creates an eerily believable and richly detailed world that reminded me of the great Philip K. Dick, with the vibrant descriptions that allow the grimness to seep through, creating a plausible near future. Alas, the flattering comparison stops at the worldbuilding.I was very excited to start THE WAREHOUSE, but it did not live up to my expectations, I'm afraid. I wish Mr. Hart had taken greater care in fleshing out the characters. Paxton seems merely a walking and talking tool to be ultimately used by Zinnia. Her persona is slightly more defined, but I found her unlikable: she is condescending and dismissive. Gibson Wells is, strangely enough, a well-rounded character, and I wonder if it's because of how the novel is structured: Paxton's and Zinnia's perspectives are written in third person, while Gibson's is in first person. Zinnis is made out to be so tough that she displays little humanity and for most of the book, Paxton is but a spineless wimp. I loved a secondary character, Miguel, who appeared very briefly, and was much more interesting than both main protagonists. I honestly didn't like either Paxton or Zinnia, and I didn't care how the story ended; that's not how it's supposed to be.The writing is solid, the story flows well, albeit extremely slowly. While I understand the set-up is capital, countless superfluous details could have been edited out, such as Pac-Man games, enumerations of the items sold in THE WAREHOUSE, at one point, a full page. We got the idea, they sell everything. I'm all for establishing a solid foundation, but at thirty percent, we were still at getting around the compound and learning what their jobs consisted of. It needed concrete action and fewer mundane details about life in the MotherCloud. A feeling of unease started to creep in from the beginning, but somewhat stalled; it left barely the tiniest whisper of tension mired in the mundane details of everyday life.Read THE WAREHOUSE as a satire, a standard cautionary tale on the dangers of corporate takeovers of the world, but don't expect a heart-pounding, spine-tingling thriller. It's more the story of Cloud as the first installment in a series. The narrative finally hits its stride around the 75% mark, and for me, it was way too late. The film rights have already been sold, there's already a built-in sequel at the end of the book, and I think that's where my problems with the story originate. I suspect the ending - or even the whole book - was modified for the movie(s), and that it explains all the filler that makes the story drag endlessly. Take chapter 5, which is entirely unnecessary and could have been written in a single paragraph, if at all, because it serves no purpose whatsoever. Chapter 5 seems to have been included to fill pages, as does Gibson's backstory, and a not-so-subtle wink to a sci-fi classic. I'm sorry to say that all the books mentioned by the author in the story do a better job of speculating on a possible totalitarian future than THE WAREHOUSE.I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This near future book shows clearly where we are headed if we don't start looking clearly at where we are right now. The book is told from three different POV and all are a bit extremely drawn. They are caricatures of current leadership in business and government, the opposition, and those who just want to go along to get along. It would be a 5 rating for me except for the swearing, mostly by Zinnia. But even that has purpose so I can't be too critical.

The Warehouse is a satirical sci fi thriller. The target of the satire is most obviously Amazon, but it could equally be any of the current crop of self righteous tech behemoths, Google, Apple, Microsoft. As a Sci Fi novel, it is set in a fairly near future where global warming is rampant, and retail has become a virtual monopoly in the hands of The Cloud, and its owner Gibson Wells.The story is told by three voices , Wells himself and two new employees. Paxton was a small businessman whose enterprise was ruined by continuous price pressure from the Cloud. Zinnia provides the heart of the thriller, she is a corporate spy, paid by a mysterious client to infiltrate the Cloud.The early part of the book is largely taken up with establishing the Cloud as an environment. Workers are assigned to different tasks, identified by the different t shirts they wear. They work, eat, sleep on company premises, everything they buy is through company outlets. At work they are constantly monitored, assessed, graded. In one particularly telling section, the passage of time is denoted by staccato chapters which say little more than work, eat sleep, repeat.The impact of the constant assessment, negative and positive feedback on Paxton is clearly reminiscent of the brainwashing of Winston Smith. While it doesn't go as far as "Paxton loved Gibson Wells" it isn't far off. Indeed when Gibson visits the facility where Paxton and Zinnia work, his reception definitely resembles North Korean adoration for the dear leader. This is very clearly a vision of capitalist authoritariansim. A Brave New World, perhaps.Of course, in Wells' own account of the world he has created, he is a hero, a philanthropist, who has challenged the bureaucratic establishment to provide a new American utopia. It is Wells who gives the book its greatest moments. Author Rob Hart perfectly captures the self righteous tone of the Nietzschian, Ayn Rand inspired, libertarian silicon valley entrepreneurs. As Paxton and Zinnia discover the truth of the world around them, so the true nature of Wells becomes apparent behind his own words. A self justifying soft collar exploiter. A neo-Victorian mill owner dressed in the language of business school ordure.Of the three elements of the book, the Sci-Fi setting is a necessary backdrop to the satire. The thriller element is perfectly fine, with the tension building up nicely but is not really the main event.I had two minor quibbles with the book. Firstly the satire hits an off note with one waste-related twist at the end. What comes before has a degree of subtlety, but one event is about as nuanced as saying [insert fast food restaurant of choice] is excrement. Secondly, if the US economy is as wrecked as portrayed, and people are so desperate to work at the Cloud, Who is buying all this stuff?Overall, however, the Warehouse deserves to be mentioned alongside Orwell, Huxley and Chaplin.

I'm a little nonplussed by all the rave reviews. It's perfectly readable, but by no means a literary treasure, and the story is perfectly OK. But it's full of holes (won't spoil the plot here but you'll see if you read it) and the world it portrays is far from convincing. Large parts of it are missing and it simply doesn't add up. I kept thinking 'wish I were reading the Circle', so much more rounded, deeper and far better written, if you want the evil all embracing tech corporation thing. Or for dystopia, something like Station Eleven. This is kind of a bit of both, but does no more than nibble at the edges of either.

This came up in my recommended list, great reviews...especially from the media....so figured I'd give it a go..& it's ok.That's it, lower case ok, not great, not as good as the hype would lead you to believe, but it'll pass some time while we're all under house arrest.Sadly as I mentioned it is really an exercise in ticking political SJW boxes in 2020.Strong manly super warrior lead woman.Weak Male.Pretty girls all run the gamut of nasty male sex predatorsNod towards the transgender agendaNod towards same sex marriageetc etcIt was boringly predictable in all these respects.Maybe I should write a follow up connected to Apple in of Amazon like this?

I can’t remember how I ended up with ‘The Warehouse’ on my Kindle but the blurb sounded like something I would be interested in and reminded me of ‘The Circle’ by Dave Eggers (which I loved), so I had reasonably high hopes when I started reading this and maybe that’s why it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.This book is set in a very near future US where there is still a government but it is of little consequence. Global warming has hit and people are desperately scrambling for jobs and most end up working for Cloud; a monopoly with unfettered power, which seems to be obviously based on a possible future view of Amazon. Cloud proclaims itself as a force for all that is good, delivering goods by drone and the perfect employer shaping the nature of work and life where employees live on site and their every need is met by the caring Cloud. It all sounds too good to be true and as the story goes on, we begin to understand that it is actually a nightmare that we could end up finding ourselves in in the future.The story is told by three voices; Gibson Wells - founder of Cloud, Paxton - a new employee of Cloud that was a small businessman whose enterprise was ruined by continuous price pressure from the Cloud, and Zinnia - another new employee but is actually a corporate spy paid by a mysterious client to infiltrate Cloud. New employees at Cloud get sorted into roles based on their personalities and previous work experience. Each role wears a different coloured t-shirt, so it’s easy to see who does what. Employees work, eat and sleep on company premises, everything they buy is through company outlets and whilst there they are constantly monitored, assessed and graded through watches that they are required to wear at all times.The positives - the storyline was good, gripping and kept me interested. The characters were strong and Well’s character was very interesting, he paints himself as a hero and philanthropist who has challenged the bureaucratic establishment to provide a new American utopia. He clearly believes in his vision. The world building is great and you can really visualise the facilities and day-to-day life; the repetitiveness of it and the pressure to remain in good standing.The not so positives - there was a weird twist involving the meat supplied by Cloud that I didn’t think was necessary and didn’t add any value for me. When we finally found out how people were tricking the watches, I felt disappointed and thought that it seemed like a lazy way to explain the situation. There were a few scenes that were longer than they needed to be - the endless training videos and item collection bits but I understand that it was setting the scene of boredom and repetitiveness. There was a scene off-campus that I didn’t understand the value of, I think the meaning here passed me by.Overall, if you have read ‘The Circle’, you cannot help but compare ‘The Warehouse’ with that and ‘The Warehouse’ fell shorter for me. The writing was good but the story and plot not as strong. I think if you came to ‘The Warehouse’ first, you will enjoy it more.This is a solid book with a good story that calls on Orwell's ‘1984’, Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451’ and Eggers ‘The Circle’ but it wasn’t as strong as those for me.

I was recommended this book just over a year ago and even though I had added to my wishlist of books to read I only just got round to reading it now but I am glad I finally got round to read it as I really enjoyed it.As soon as I started reading this book I instantly got the feeling it was largely based on the business model of companies like Amazon, which later proved to be correct, and although this story is set in the future a lot of the issues it highlights are things which are very much present nowadays.I felt like the actual story was slightly different from what I had initially read in the summary of the book but not in a way where I was left disappointed. If anything it was in the books benefit as the actual story that was told ended up being better for it as we were able to get a better understanding of the various characters and a feel for why and how they ended up where they were.It’s an eye-opening and sometimes scary look at the possible ways businesses like Amazon could end up going and how they could have a significant role and control in our day to day living if they are not regulated better. As much as I appreciate how much of an influence Amazon has on how I currently shop online I’d be the first to be totally against ending up in a place reminiscent to what was portrayed in this story: it’s one step too far for me.