Seven techno-thrillers to read as our world crumbles

John Marrs's new novel is The Passengers.

At CrimeReads he tagged seven favorite speculative thrillers from more recent times, including:

The Circle, by Dave Eggers

Knowing how much time I spent (okay, probably wasted) on social media, it was a journalist colleague who recommended this novel to me. I opted to audiobook it and for thirteen hours and fifty-six minutes of the following week, I became absorbed by a not-too-distant future. The story follows Mae, a twenty-something woman, who lands her dream job at The Circle – a Facebook/ Apple-style tech giant and social media pioneer. Its goal is to make the world a smaller place by encouraging us to publicly share more of our lives. Reluctant and reticent at first, Mae gradually becomes convinced it’s the way forward until a series of events opens her eyes to the dangers of total transparency. The Circle is a thoughtful, frightening tale of the power of social media and a herd mentality that doesn’t question what it’s being told.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Circle is among Nick Clark Windo's five books with different visions for a connected future.

--Marshal Zeringue