Violet just wants to get on with her life, it's not easy
being the daughter of the man who invented New Earth and is
now its president. She's not sure why her dad, Ogden
Crowley, distrusts the policeman she fancies, Danny Mayhew.
She's watched Danny on camera chasing wrongdoers down in
the slums of Old Earth, and Danny's brother Kendall
invented the Intercept. Some people, though, think of this
computer system as THE DARK INTERCEPT. Everyone now has an
implanted computer chip, and the Intercept reads and stores
their emotions. It can even be deployed to provide an
emotion to disable a dangerous man on the run.
We learn that New Earth is, through some kind of fabricated
alloy and quantum gravity effect, floating up in the sky
over our despoiled home planet. The poor and hungry, left
behind, can look up in the sky and see the bright new world
above them, fit for the rich. My, my, who ever would have
thought that this could lead to trouble.
The Rebels of Light are already on New Earth, plotting in
secret. But is it luxury for an entitled few they resent,
or is it the mind manipulation by the Intercept? Or both?
Violet's friend Shura's mother, who works with recent
immigrants, knows first-hand that some dangerous people are
around, and warns the girls to be careful. Violet discovers
the hard way that when cameras watch your every move, just
trying to spy on somebody can get you immobilized by a
planted memory and emotion. Rumor has it that someone has
devised a way to thwart the Intercept. If that is true,
it's just a matter of time until it happens. Another of
Violet's friends, programmer Steve Reznik, has been quietly
producing a tiny chip-jack to interfere with signals. The
young people just want to own their thoughts and feelings.
Violet takes a trip and learns some hard truths, as the
rebels strike home, in the second half of the suspenseful
book. I am puzzled as to why she keeps thinking she loves
Danny Mayhew, when they don't go out together, and she
keeps spying on him instead of talking to him. Must be
infatuation.
Given how we see a few seconds' gap in tv signals across
distance, I don't think the Intercept interventions
described could work so quickly. What am I saying? This
city is floating in the sky. Well, I could read THE DARK
INTERCEPT as allegory. Today, young people pour out their
hearts on social media, telling the world at large so much
about themselves, and computer firms grab the data and sell
it to advertisers, who in some cases target and manipulate
their audience. Given the violence, graphic scenes, and
human misery, this vivid sci-fi book is best for mature young
adults, who may well learn a lesson or two. Julia Keller
has certainly written a thought-provoking effort in this
first of her series called The Dark Intercept.
When the state controls your emotions, how hard will you fight to feel free? In a radiant world of endless summer, the Intercept keeps the peace. Violet Crowley, the sixteen-year-old daughter of New Earth’s Founding Father, has spent her life in comfort and safety. Her days are easy thanks to the Intercept, a crime-prevention device that monitors emotion. But when her long-time crush, Danny Mayhew, gets into a dangerous altercation on Old Earth, Violet launches a secret investigation to find out what he's hiding. An investigation that will lead her to question everything she's ever known about Danny, her father, and the power of the Intercept. Much like the device itself, The Dark Intercept will get under your skin.
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