Tomorrow and Tomorrow

By: Thomas Sweterlitsch

Narrated by: Adam Paul

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

A decade has passed since the city of Pittsburgh was reduced to ash.

While the rest of the world has moved on, losing itself in the noise of a media-glutted future, survivor John Dominic Blaxton remains obsessed with the past. Grieving for his wife and unborn child who perished in the blast, Dominic relives his lost life by immersing in the Archive - a fully interactive digital reconstruction of Pittsburgh, accessible to anyone who wants to visit the places they remember and the people they loved.

Dominic investigates deaths recorded in the Archive to help close cases long since grown cold, but when he discovers glitches in the code surrounding a crime scene - the body of a beautiful woman abandoned in a muddy park that he's convinced someone tried to delete from the Archive - his cycle of grief is shattered.

With nothing left to lose, Dominic tracks the murder through a web of deceit that takes him from the darkest corners of the Archive to the ruins of the city itself, leading him into the heart of a nightmare more horrific than anything he could have imagined.

©2014 Thomas Sweterlitsch (P)2014 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“A disquieting vision...Tomorrow and Tomorrow is literary sci-fi, focusing on the picture, like Henry James, not the frame that defines it, like H.G. Wells.” (The Wall Street Journal)

"Vividly and beautifully written.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“The premise of this debut novel is fascinating in its possibilities...Fans of William Gibson and classic noir will love how the styles intersect here.” (Library Journal)

Brutal, compelling, great world building

Not as good as Gone World (which is one of the most incredible books i’ve read in a few years) but still very good. It doesn’t have as neat of a narrative conclusion but Sweterlitsch is so good at world building. I enjoyed the journey start to finish.

Lots of intense violence against women but it’s not gratuitous or attempting to be titillating, imo

When the past hold back the future

Thomas Sweterlitsch's Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a subtle warning about living in the past when our ability to document the present becomes all encompassing. 10 years after Pittsburgh has been obliterated by a suitcase nuc, a virtual reality reconstruction has been made by integrating all the various recordings both public and private (webcams, traffic cams, security cams, etc.). People can experience life in Pittsburgh right up to the explosion. John Dominc Blaxton was a former resident, but out of town, while his pregnant wife was killed. John now works as an investigator, following up insurance claims and spending his time on drugs reliving his time with his wife. He becomes involved in a missing person's case that gradually develops into something more sinister that threatens losing his wife a second time and perhaps even his life.

The sci-fi elements are an advanced virtual reality that is immersive in nature. The overall feel of the tale is more of a detective thriller with lots of general sleuthing with an almost terrifying view of evolving digital trends that is overly intrusive, ever present, and downright annoying. The message of the tale is that when the past can be made so real, the future offers little to look forward to.

The narration is well done with a good range of voices and pacing.

Best in all ways!

This is one of the best books you will ever hear! The surreal familiarity of the imagined world is vividly built and brought to life throughout, as are all the characters. The story is engaging and captivating, and is artistically drawn, painted and sculpted. The narrator is outstanding. He continually conveyed the mood, nuance, poetry and imagery with perfection.

Great book!

The author paints such a vivid picture with his words. This book needs to become a movie! I loved it.

Amazing world building

The author did an incredible job capturing the feel and details of Pittsburgh. The mystery inside the story was intriguing. My only frustration is that it fell apart at the end. It was as though the author felt that he had to punish all his characters to make the book worthwhile.

Great listen

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. The narrator Adam Paul really brought the story alive.

Rough to listen to...

This book goes back and forth -- and the descriptions are pretty chaotic.
I know it is futuristic, but it is still tough to understand -- I just couldn't get beyond the concept that apps are actually downloaded into a person's brain and then surgery needs to be done to remove anything. A lot beyond my comfortability.

Trigger Warning: Violence Against Women...

...and brutality in general. When you're reading, as opposed to listening, it's easy to skip over graphic violence. Not so easy when you're driving down the highway and hey, here's the rape, mutilation scene. Let's just turn the sound off. I did that or skipped ahead--frequently.

There was quite a bit of graphic violence in general and I almost quit listening a number of times due to that and the whole "adware" thing. Listening to the "ads" being fed to the main character was frequent, annoying, redundant, and unnecessary to the actual plot. And Dominic's grieving for a wife dead 10 years? He spends most of the novel reliving scenes from their lives through drugs and a form of virtual reality, which got deadly dull pretty fast. It really was a relentlessly depressing book.

On the other hand: interesting premise and plot, excellent writing, super duper audio narrator.

Poor story

I loved the gone world and enjoyed the first half of this but hated the second act.