About Citizen Zero
by Mark Cantrell on Nov.22, 2009, under BLURB
CITIZEN ZERO
The hard-hitting novel that presents a grim future of a Britain broken by austerity...
A dystopian glimpse at a future born in an age of austerity and political uncertainty, Citizen Zero is a gripping social satire that exposes our deepest fears and poses a grave warning to any society that abandons the pursuit of social justice...
JobNet was supposed to usher
in a better life for unemployed David Mills; instead it plunges him into a
bitter struggle for survival when he is caught in the midst of a political
conspiracy that pushes Britain to the brink of civil war…
David lives on society’s
margins, forever on the verge of sinking into an excluded underclass known as
‘zeros’, until the JobNet scheme offers him the tantalising prospect of a
better life.
The Government programme
uses the latest artificial reality technology to create a paradise world where
the unemployed gain all the help they need. He’s heard the hype before, but
this time it actually begins to fulfil the promise: he finds love with
Christine, the prospect of a job beckons, and he dares to dream of a worthwhile
future beyond the dole.
Then a deadly virus strikes
the system and his sweetest dream instantly becomes a living nightmare. He is
forced to embark on a perilous journey to be re-united with the woman he loves,
in the hope they can escape together into reality – but things are little
better there...
The conspiracy has ignited a
power struggle between two ruthless and powerful men. Once, they were comrades
plotting to shape Britain into the dictatorship it has become: now they are
foes whose animosity has plunged the country into violent mayhem.
The first, a renegade
security operative turned terrorist, plucked David from the dole to deliver the
virus; the second, a tyrannical Prime Minister ruthless in the preservation of
his rule, he wants David dead – and fast – before the virus he carries can
escape JobNet and overwhelm the wider network.
If David is to stand any
chance of surviving, then he must take down both men, but the odds are
impossible – he’s just a ‘zero’, after all, and trapped in a broken reality. It
seems hopeless – until he stumbles across a dark secret hidden in the heart of
JobNet.
It’s a cruel revelation that
will change everything…
Citizen Zero blends the stark social commentary of ‘The Boys From The Blackstuff’, the millennial techno-chic of ‘The Matrix’, and the uncompromising force of ‘V for Vendetta’ into one devastating portrayal of tomorrow’s Britain…
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About The Author
- Mark Cantrell
A journalist by trade and a novelist by inclination, Mark Cantrell lives and works by the weave of his words.
Over the years, he has written several novels and a multitude of short stories, with his works appearing in a variety of small press journals and a handful of multi-author anthologies. In 2000, he ventured into poetry.
Born and bred in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Mark now lives in Stoke-on-Trent and commutes up to Manchester, where he works for a regional publisher of monthly trade journals and e-zines.
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9:54 AM
This sounds fantastic, I'm a big fan of dystopian novels. Are there any plans for a print edition?