Just another day.. In the dystopian urban grime of 'The Digital Now', Patrolman Carly Westing is jarred from her rough life to discover her reality is built on lies and veiled secrets. When the authority she once protected turns on her, her life is catapulted into a violent cat and mouse game of shifting perceptions. Will she remain a tool of the forces at work around her, or become their master and change the future?
'The Digital Now' is an intelligent sci-fi thriller that re-imagines the convention of a corrupt, all-controlling government of the future. What is better, a “freedom” that will endanger the future of humanity, or a security that crushes the human spirit?
Carly Westing can’t remember why she did what she did yesterday. A Patrolman doesn’t question, she breaks civilian heads, and it feels right proper. She lives in the digital now, where all events are trivialized as just another day. When an electrical surge overrides her programming, Carly glimpses the vast peer-to-peer network Central uses to control its citizens. She has the rare, new evolutionary ability to see the data, and even as a rogue, on the run, she learns to pull its threads.
Carly’s lover, the charismatic hero-rocker Endo, believes that Central is humanity’s only hope. Earth has been ravaged by war, and Central is essential to allocate scarce resources and build a new home in space. If Carly’s newfound mental abilities are a threat, he must execute her. Her father, an outlaw, enlists Carly to overthrow Central in a bid to regain the freedoms that humanity has lost. Carly must unravel the painful secrets of her forgotten past, and discover her own free will, to solve this paradox.
Excerpt
Kill the Continentals, their rockets make me mental...
Carly hummed along with the riotous song bouncing in her head. She’d heard the tune countless times, but even so she lost the words beneath its pounding rhythm. It was good just to feel it in her bones and let its infectious energy buoy her mood.
She popped a fresh clip into her repeater and chambered the first round, her blood simmering with the anticipation of violence. Her palm slapped home the weapon’s bolt before she cradled the repeater to her chest plate. It felt right to hold it close. It would feel even better when she pulled the trigger and the stock pounded her shoulder.
Hungry for that moment, she pulled at the chinstrap of her helmet as she looked out from the windshield of her armored Patrol car. Crouched between the front seats, she could still make out the chaos of a riot through the rainy night. Burning tires littered the street, their heavy smoke skating over the teased surface of puddles. The neon glow of storefronts went dark as bricks and public sanitation pails were thrown through windows.
Her patrolmate held a steady stare through the windshield. “Come on, Chap,” she said, encouraging him with a poke of her elbow. “Chiggers to this. We go in hot, now.”
He looked to her and returned her nudge. There was no mistaking the humor in his eyes. “Easy does it. Already looking for another good aim?”
“Why not?” Carly raised an eyebrow. “I already made it on Killshot. I even got a move to a new domicile out of it.”
He looked back to the net screen on the car’s console to watch their communication bands. “We’ll see what tonight brings. No word about coverage yet.”
Carly kept her gaze out the windshield. “Just another day, right?”
He was about to answer when he pressed his headset to his ear and held up a hand. “Copy, this is Chapel,” he said before wrapping his hand over the microphone and mouthing Beak-nose to Carly. He pointed to the net screen and let go of the mike. “We copy your orders, Patrolmaster Bayard.”
Carly shifted back toward the sliding door of the crew area. “Are we going hot?”
He took off his headset and tossed it beside the net screen. “Drive Control passed word to Bayard. Non-lethal intervention only. Suppression protocol. No firearms.”
Carly admired her repeater before stowing it with a muttered curse. She came by Graham and rested against the side of his seat. “So, I guess we do it up close and personal.” She leaned over with a smile as she put her lips by his ear. “Patrolman Chapel, are you ready to crack some heads?”
He reached up to caress her cheek. “Right proper, Patrolman Westing.”
Professional Reviews
Pacific Book Review
Very interesting and complex: This is a dark vision of the future with many of the themes characteristic of classic dystopian literature but with a modern digital spin. The Matrix meets Wag the Dog with some elements of classics such as 1984. The devolution of individual freedom is a huge factor in this story and any efforts to recover it will require a modern notion of how we, and the characters in the novel are connected and wired in. This is the rub. Being connected, we are all subject to manipulation, influence, and being “scripted” or programmed. But in a digital age where and when this “wired in” is so ubiquitous in every part of life, the only way to rediscover individuality is within the system.
In the world of this dystopia, we have Carly, a Partolman whose job it is to violently enforce the oppressive laws of the land. Ignorance is bliss in her “reality.” She spends her days beating unruly “cones” into submission and her nights are spent in underground sex dens with all of the dark hedonism of a post-apocalyptic Sodom & Gomorrah. Had she continued on with this life, she would have been ignorantly satisfied. She is scripted to wake up each day with a craving to continue this way. In essence, she is no more human than a computer program.
However, a knock on the head (also scripted by a manipulation within the system) makes her and her partner Graham Chapel begin to question things. Her awakening is gradual and necessarily so because there are a number of different players who intend to use her for their own personal gains or the benefit of the social system of control called “Central.” As she becomes intuitively attuned to how select people are digitally telepathic, and able to influence and manipulate her and others, she also becomes able to resist being scripted. This is the first step in “self-predilection” or to put it more simply, individual freedom.
The ways in which some of these rogues, watchers, and predilectors digitally manipulate society and others is a convoluted matrix akin to a room full of writers arguing over a script. It is like they are Greek Gods toying with humanity. Since Carly is somewhat of a “chosen one,” there are elements of spirituality along with the Greek God idea; as well as the material aspects of socially digital programming.
The masses live under a false consciousness “a nod to Marx maybe” as their thoughts and actions are scripted by these warring social programmers. Wars are written into reality to distract these masses. People are puppets or simulacra. Carly’s journey into discovering the complicated fractalized way this programming operates is difficult until she has a final realization: that in order to change the system, one must do so within that system. In this novel, the Process is reality and the Dream is a kind of cultural consciousness a nod to Jung maybe. With everyone being wired together, the idea of cultural consciousness feels more mechanical or electrical, but the author puts a kind of Buddhist or global spin on it. So, this dystopia is post-apocalyptic and postmodern, but there are spiritual elements as well and the story dances around the idea of what a soul is or can be.
I found The Digital Now to be completely enthralling, terrifying and unique. Fans of science fiction are going to love reading The Digital Now by Roland Allnach.
Readers' Favorite
The Digital Now by Roland Allnach is a dystopian and science fiction tale that follows the life of Patrolman Carly Westing, an up and coming young star who has a hunger for violence that is rooted in the justice system she serves. She believes in what she does, even if she has to crack a few skulls to do it. But when she discovers that everything she believes in is actually built around secrets and lies, she questions who she can trust. Her life is suddenly no longer black and white and, instead, she is now part of a chess game built on more lies, deep secrets, and shifting perceptions. The power and authority she once worked for turns against her and Carly is forced to make a choice. Will she continue to be their pawn and do their bidding or can she rise to defeat them and make the future a better place?
The Digital Now by Roland Allnach is a well written story about violence and the lust for power. Carly is a very interesting, well developed character who is not the typical heroine. I loved the fact that she craved violence. She looked forward to her job of maiming, beating, and even killing those who didn't serve her cause. I found her honesty refreshing and this made her character very likeable and authentic. I was so happy to follow her along an incredible journey into the dark, dangerous world that Allnach created. (review by Janelle Fila for Readers' Favorite)
Readers' Favorite
(review by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite)
The Digital Now by Roland Allnach is a dystopian, sci-fi urban tale set in the city of Seven Hills that centers on Patrolman Carly Westing. Carly discovers her reality is built on lies and veiled secrets. Scripting codes are used to guide people. They basically decide what’s going to happen, controlling people’s lives and memories. When the authority she once protected turns on her, her life is catapulted into a violent cat and mouse game of shifting perceptions.
There are a lot of action scenes in the story. Allnach does a good job to make sure that every fight and battle advance the plot, as well as give us enough insight into the action so that we can picture the scene in our minds. The action scenes also give readers the opportunity to see the traits of the characters. That said, it took a while for me to familiarize myself with the world building – particularly Central and Drive Control – and figure out the direction of the plot. The complexity of the world, particularly in terms of cyber tech, reminds me of Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell.
Characterization is solid. Carly, Noel, Graham, Gadwick and others (main cast or otherwise) are well-developed and memorable. Back story is filled in very neatly and revealed bit by bit as the plot progresses. Carly’s past is intriguing and the truth becomes more interesting as she discovers more about the ‘reality’ that is implanted in people’s mind. Overall, The Digital Now is an intriguing read with an imaginative premise and plot.
