Joshua has just been told the truth about the world. Namely that no one is left, except for a handful of young people and the last of the Elders, a sect of radical environmentalists who are determined to give the planet a chance to heal from human impact. They've chosen Joshua to lead a final expedition in search of remaining pockets of human life, and have trained him to sterilize anyone he comes across. But to ensure the mission's success, the crew supporting the expedition has been told a very different story. And as this group of young men uncover the truth, along with the incentive behind the lies, together they spiral into an unstoppable adventure of ethical struggle and survival.
watch more carefully, listen more fanatically; they, of all people, should have known how much carefully spoken words echo.
And once I started to look, the discrepancies were everywhere. There were books that we couldn't read, and of the books we could read, there were pages we couldn't see, buildings we couldn't enter, rooms that sometimes had many people inside but the doors were closed and locked, hushed voices behind them, the Elders' movements being projected as shafts of shadow stirring along the line of candlelight that fanned out from the doorsill.
Until eventually, I noticed that I wasn't the only one asking questions; there were others, just as curious as I. Though, soon after realizing this, a community announcement was made, which was intended to wipe such curiosity out before it could get out of hand. They asked that all of the children of the island - which were a definitive group, as we were all about the same age - respect the fact that some of our questions would not be answered
This was an amazing novel! Take your pick from this book - stimulating questions that prompt reflection on humanity, passion, hunger, our environment, yourself...but also a captivating, exciting, wonderfully-written fiction novel, written very poetically.
Lavorato's writing balances edge-of-your-seat action adventure with philosophical insights and questions for readers interested in enjoying them.
Good writing style, with very descriptive imagery - but I have to say that this is one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Throughout, I wanted to reach through the pages and beat the protagonist with a chair.
very good read. a futuristic robinson crusoe story with an intellectual and philosophical bent. the author uses words quite well. i found myself reading some paragraphs over a number of times just to enjoy the words and descriptions.
This is a fantastic book!
One of the most relevant, original and compulsive reads of my life. Mark Lavorato is an intelligent, perceptive and talented writer and I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Many, many thanks and I can't wait for his next novel.
I really enjoyed this book. It's quite clearly a professional work with good language and concepts that are thought-through. It has apocalyptic and sci-fi elements, a story that reveals the truth at a good pace, and some twists, it's a great read.
Some elements of the story reminded me (in a good way) of Lord of the flies, but of course not so alike as to spoil it. I would definately read more from Mark Lavorato if it's as good as this.
I loved this book.. I read it in one day..totally blocked out all life going on behind my in my house right up until the end of it.
Being a fan of post-apocalyptical fiction and having read through a plethora of books on the subject, its marvelous to come across something that re-ignites the interest. I was aware that there are gems amongst the older works on the subject but its not so common to find them from works of today (most stumble on the a-bomb). Veracity has an excellent storyline, it lures to hang on until the end (like i did, the complete book on a single read). After this one I'll certainly look forward to hearing from Lavorato again.
This is by far one of the best free ebooks that I've downloaded so far. This is my first time reading this author's work and was hooked from page one.
Amazon.com reviews say that this book is reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. And while the plot does loosely resemble that of Brave New World, I found that I enjoyed the author's prose and style even more. It felt like half the book consisted of suspenseful action* chronicling Joshua's upbringing on the island with the Elders, his adventure at sea, and eventually, his short-lived life on a new island, while the other half of the book expounds in great detail the thoughts that are brewing in Joshua's head as he tries to reconcile his individual thought processes with the ones that the Elders have ad-nauseum drilled into his head. Both parts were seamlessly woven together to create a story that I just couldn't put down until I'd finished the last page!
*I was so hooked on the suspense that I lost my Kindle about halfway through reading this novel and I literally searched for it for 5+ hours nonstop just so I could continue reading this book.
Terrific read! just when you thought you had an original thought or outlook on humanity you find that someone else has already had it. Not only that but they had it 80 years ago!
