Cumulus

Cumulus is a novel by self-published author Eliot Peper, introduced to me by my daughter – he’s one of her contemporaries. Some years into the future Huian Li has developed a software company which has become central to all phases of life in America and elsewhere. Imagine Google or Amazon having 100 times the reach that they already do. And, over time, there has been a further distribution of wealth to the wealthiest, so the middle class has essentially collapsed. In the futuristic Bay Area setting, there is the Greenbelt, where people are safe and well protected. But the rest is slums where there is no meaningful police presence and all serious crimes go unsolved and unpunished.

Ms. Li has a maniacal focus about the continued expanse of her company’s sphere of influence, and when the book opens, she is in the process of firing a long-term employee when he failed to acquire a new company, Tectonix Independent, which she thought was vital to the future of the company’s growth. She was also dealing with a lawsuit from a skilled attorney, Sara Levine, who had a good chance of damaging the company with a class action lawsuit. Levine had received some detrimental internal memos from an unknown disgruntled employee. Li then turned to her devious fixer, Graham Chandler, and she told him to take care of those matters doing whatever needed to be done. Chandler turned out to be the ultimate bad guy whose motto was “The first rule of espionage was to find leverage over your boss.” He was playing both sides of this game, both doing dirty work for Li and being the disgruntled employee who was feeding information to Levine. Chandler murdered Levine, threatened the owner of Tectonix, and manipulated Li’s couples therapist, Dr. Corvel, to sabotage her relationship.

Meanwhile, there’s the wedding photographer, Lilly Miyamoto, who was friends with Levine and who discovered her body. She turned for help to Frederick O’Livier, a former NBA star who had become the head of organized crime in Oakland, essentially the de facto mayor of the city. He had the wealth and resources to combat Li’s influence and power.

This is a compelling and fast moving story, a fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and character development. The conclusion of the book was most satisfying. I’ve now downloaded the author’s trilogy which has allegedly become a cult favorite in the Silicone Valley. This was a very entertaining futuristic crime novel, and it gets my strong recommendation.