84K

By: Claire North

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Philip K. Dick Award runner-up, 2019

A powerful dystopian vision of a world where money reigns supreme, from a World Fantasy Award-winning author.

"An extraordinary novel that stands with the best of dystopian fiction, with dashes of The Handmaid's Tale."—Cory Doctorow

The penalty for Dani Cumali's murder: $84,000.

Theo works in the Criminal Audit Office. He assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full.

These days, there's no need to go to prison—provided that you can afford to pay the penalty for the crime you've committed. If you're rich enough, you can get away with murder.

But Dani's murder is different. When Theo finds her lifeless body, and a hired killer standing over her and calmly calling the police to confess, he can't let her death become just an entry on a balance sheet.

Someone is responsible. And Theo is going to find them and make them pay.

Perfect for fans of 1984 and Never Let Me Go, Claire North's moving and unnerving new novel will resonate with listeners around the world.

©2018 Claire North (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"An eerily plausible dystopian masterpiece, as harrowing as it is brilliant."—Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven

"Everybody needs to read 84K. Consistently thoughtful fiction like this needs to be championed. I'll admit it, I'm a little in awe of the author. Her work is sublime.... Claire North deserves your undivided attention. Buy the book, read it. Your brain will thank you.... If there was a rating higher than highly recommended this book would receive it."—The Eloquent Page

"A terrifying setting that feels rooted to the present day.... Imbued with a menace that feels both recognizable and urgent, and the decisions the characters make as a result feel uncomfortably real."—RT Book Reviews

84K IS THE "1984" OF A CAPITALIST DYSTOPIA

Claire North has created a masterfully imagined thriller set in a dystopian capitalist world. This frighteningly heartfelt tale is too real to be read lightly. Orwell envisioned a socialist state of Big Brother. Claire North describes in brutal detail the reality of a capitalist state ruled by "The Company". Sadly, the military-industrial-complex of our world is only a few steps aware from making her fictional story a reality. 84K is a masterpiece of empathy, social insight, a compassionate plea for individual responsibility we must each take to avoid the totalitarian ruin of our world in the name of "profit".

Maybe just read 1984

I just discovered Claire North and I absolutely loved the Burning age. I tried this one next and it was just okay. Take George Orwell’s 1984 and put the timeline in a blender. The author plays with the concept of time by jumping back and forth in the story line which is an interesting idea but was quite confusing. I think it may translate better in book form? By the end I was so annoyed with the trailing sentences I didn’t bother to finish. Thankfully I just picked up The First Fifteen Lives and I’m enjoying it. Pass on this one if you are just starting your Claire North journey

Worth it

A bit hard to follow but an enjoyable romp once you get used to its rhythm.

Very enjoyable but sad

I found this book to be very interesting but a little depressing. I certainly hope the world never comes to this.

Confusing

Claire North’ book generally delight me. I am intrigued with the questions they raise about identity, reality and time. This book follows in the same vein, using quick cuts back and forth in the story line frequently. Unfortunately this becomes rather confusing and interrupts the overall flow of the tale. The cultural setting is a future country beset with turmoil, greed, and devalued life. It is depressing, and offers no real resolution for the characters or their world.

Not as good as other North books

I liked a lot the setting of the book, the description of a greed induced dystopia, but the story is not very interesting and I didn’t like the narrator.

Phenomenal Narration

I would have given the performance 10 stars if it were possible. The characters each had their own distinct personalities, accents and tones. It made this bleak, quasi-dystopian story enjoyable to listen to.

Disturbingly not that unrealistic story

I love that North took what has been happening in real life today, corporations getting too much power and buying government policy, and turned it to what could be a likely next step. The story is brilliant, but exceedingly difficult to follow. The most difficult aspect of this book was the timeline of Neila. Their story and their timeline do not really fit well and it causes the rest of the story to feel disjointed and out of place. Each time visiting Neila you constantly ask yourself who is this person? When in "Theo's" timeline are they? What is their purpose? Then, going back to current timeline, you are not really sure when you are. Frankly, you're left at the end still confused who/when Neila was and their purpose. Overall the story is good and worth the listen/read. I'd give 3.5 stars if that were an option, but you can't, and this is definitely not a 4 star story.

Oddball Story

An interesting take on a dystopian near future with capitalism run amuck, and a rapacious, corrupt government to boot. The story was clever and engaging, and the central character’s flawed anti-hero persona well developed. The highly-illustrative detail woven throughout the story is remarkable, as was the layered commentary on contemporary society that was subtly injected from time to time. However, I found that the attempts at seamless flash forwards and flashbacks resulted in a severely disjointed telling of the tale, often bordering on confusion.

The voice actor’s narration had a sing-song, rhythmic lilt that was hard to ignore - perhaps an attempt to channel the oddball nature of the story. I think most will either love it or hate it, but you WILL notice it - something I’m not sure is a positive in an audio book. I found it distracting, and often difficult to hear the end of sentences because his voice frequently trailed off, or so it seemed, with the odd cadence. That said, I thought he perfectly captured the various emotions, and had a superb command of the regional accents and affectations of the different social classes. It is noteworthy that he was able to so convincingly voice both male and female characters of varying ages - something with which most narrators struggle.

In conclusion, not necessarily 5 stars, but not a waste of a credit either. All in all, a decent “read”.

Excellent

I enjoyed the story and especially the underlying social commentary. Reminiscent of Iain M. Banks.