This is a rather short book that combines mystery and suspense, science fiction, and a bit of romance. It is the first of a trilogy dealing with a time in the near future when the extinction of bees has led to the death of most food crops. Humans are living in guarded enclaves and existing on engineered foods. The protagonist, Larissa, was a musician and accompanied her researcher husband Andrew to the Barracks. He worked for the Hexagon (an entity that controlled several enclaves), and his unit all disappeared on a mission. But Larissa refuses to believe he is dead and even believes he is communicating with her while she is inside Nirvana, a virtual reality that humans visit to remember the world of the past or to live out fantasies.
The deeper into the story you read, the more you come to question everything that Larissa and the others have been told. What really caused the Extinction? Is the Annihilation threat that the Hexagon claims to be protecting everyone from even real? Why have all books and papers been taken away and digitized, then locked up from anyone's access? What were Andrew and the others researching and why was it so dangerous? Where do all the people that the Tribunals accuse of crimes disappear to? And of course, is Andrew still alive?
Readers who enjoy psychological thrillers where the characters are in the dark about the truth of what they see and feel, and where the very nature of reality itself is questioned will probably enjoy this series. Physics theory, virtual reality, species extinction, corporate greed, and martial law all mix together for a chilling vision of a possible future.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
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