Set in Washington, DC, this thriller introduces us to Detective Veronica Sloan in a futuristic world. Every citizen is implanted with a microchip and every cop has to be in uniform. The microchip requirement has come after a bomb under the White House in 2017 did severe damage, killing the then President, and now there is a backlash on privacy grounds.

In DON'T LOOK AWAY, Veronica Sloan has yet another implant - part of the Optical Evidence Programme, meaning that she will be able to read evidence from similar implants in others, though she hasn't used this for real yet. One of the people with this implant has been found murdered at the ruins of the White House, and Veronica is called in to assist. The assumption is that the killing was terrorist related. Territorial security staff resent Veronica's presence and very few people know about the Optical project, so who had security clearance to pick off one woman involved in it?

DON'T LOOK AWAY reminded me of the Gunpowder Plot which failed to blow up the House of Commons in London centuries ago. The Orwellian world created in the aftermath of the destruction of the White House, builds on RFID technology available today and used to identify animals and expensive retail products. Because the book is set in the mid-2020s much is recognisable and even normal to us. I found the killing described in an unpleasant fashion but today's thrillers have become ever more realistic when they discuss death. Those of a tender disposition can skip the first few pages and pick up the story. However, we - through Veronica - are later forced to relive the victim's last moments. This does make the point that technology is not necessarily making life easier and people still have to do the unpleasant tasks. Looking through the files of the dead woman's vision includes looking at her sex life, and none of the watchers feels good about the voyeurism. Veronica finds one of her co-workers attractive and another just supportive, but she can't get close to either of them, which makes it a little harder to relate to her.

Leslie A. Smith has written an intense thriller of the near future in which America has shut out the world and holds all its citizens under suspicion. DON'T LOOK AWAY is intended as the first in a series and brings a chilling vision for fans of the genre.