Reviews for Anyone
Publishers Weekly
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Comics artist Soule’s second novel (after The Oracle Year) is a suspenseful tale built on the back of an existential crisis around the nature of human consciousness. In the present day, chemist Gabrielle White stumbles across an intriguing new technology that lets her transfer her consciousness into her husband’s body. Interwoven into this narrative is another taking place 25 years in the future, when this new technology, dubbed “flash,” has become commonplace, and flash prostitute Annami chronicles her experiences as a vessel for the minds of anonymous users. Soule draws readers into a brave new world where identities are meaningless and manipulation and control are the name of the game. As the two tales twist and merge together, Soule pits his protagonists against the cutthroat denizens of the corporate world. Present-day concerns about technology, privacy, and anonymity are projected into a dystopian but plausible future. Although the dual narratives are sometimes unwieldy, the novel is fast-paced and suspenseful. Soule’s uncomfortable vision of the future will please readers of cutting-edge speculative fiction. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (Dec.)
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
A woman searching for a cure to an unfathomable disease accidentally makes a breakthrough that will change the world.Talented comic book writer Soule's debut novel (The Oracle Year, 2018) was a serious brain bender, enjoyable as a twisty, well-written paranormal thriller and, more importantly, one of those books you find yourself thinking about days later. So, brace yourselfthis book is even more merciless in that regard. Readers won't feel that they're on the edges of their seats as much as they're on a balance beam above a pit of lava while trying to solve a Rubik's Cube. First things first: In the present day, brilliant scientist Gabby White is independently working on a cure for Alzheimer's in her barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One jolt of a laser later and she finds that she's beamed herself into her husband Paul's body while her own self might just be dead. Whoa, indeed. This would be enough of a launch pad for a techno-thriller by itself but then Soule jumps ahead a quarter-century to a near future where Gabby's breakthrough, now branded the "flash," has not only transformed society for well-meaning citizens, but also for a deeply perverted underground, the "darkshare," that rents out people's bodies for a variety of deviant purposes. We're introduced to Annami, a spy who needs to put together $1 million or so in a month in order to win an auction to occupy one of the world's biggest celebrities, for her own secretive purposes. There are plenty of villains here as well, among them Sara Kring, Gabby's lawyer, who sells her out, and Annami's body-jumping nemesis known only as "Bleeder." Like the tick-tock of a metronome, Soule oscillates between Gabby's dilemma and Annami's mission until we reach an unexpected but satisfying convergence between the two.An imaginative, time-fragmented thriller about the bitter and potentially deadly consequences of body-snatching. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
As Anyone opens, Dr. Gabby White is in debt up to her ears and trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's by running a scientific trial in her rural Michigan barn. But her experiment doesn't turn out the way she planned, and when she wakes up in her husband's body, she knows that the tech she's invented is going to shake society to its core. Indeed, 25 years in the future, young Annami uses the flash to sell her body for money she desperately needs to fund a mysterious mission. The story moves between the two time frames, showing Gabby's quest to comprehend and manage her invention as well as Annami's plans for a secret coup. Both women are being hunted, and their stories come together for an explosive finish. Soule (The Oracle Year, 2018) imagines a future in which humans are addicted to this innovation that provides both benefits and danger and explores how the world could change if we could truly see from others' perspectives. For fans of Blake Crouch (Recursion, 2019) and Tal Klein (The Punch Escrow, 2017).--Cari Dubiel Copyright 2019 Booklist
