Beautiful Red iPhone screenshot
Beautiful Red is a quiet, thoughtful, well written mystery set in a future where high technology has taken over most of the important tasks from humans. Author M. Darusha Wehm reads her own work, and the narration is good with a few easily forgiveable slights.
Note: This novel is rated Mature for language, mild violence, and brief sexuality.
The audiobook is made up of 23 chapters which are downloaded separately. Each download consists of about 15-25 minutes of listening time. Just right for loading into the portable for a commute, or streaming over wifi. This free a-book is an interesting look at the future.
The Storyline
"The Future is boring."
The story begins with Jack being jolted awake in her small flat by the hologram from her alarm clock. So begins another day of hooking into the Everywhere Network, which brings the internet directly into your brain and your desktop directly onto your eyeball. Another boring day of heading to the office to review boring scan sweeps from the night shift.
Jack works in a cubicle, as a day shift company network security officer. Before she leaves, she will write her own boring report for the night shift. Jack has a heavy programming background and lives almost entirely online. She has never left her hometown and has just a few friends.
But soon her discovery of the company's security breach will be the end of boredom. Her investigation leads her to an underground group named The Red. To complete her report for the company, she infiltrates The Red to expose the damage they've done.
Will the Future return to being boring?
Find The Book
M. Darusha Wehm wrote Beautiful Red in 2007 and it was also published in writing. The audiobook can be downloaded from her podcast page on her website, from iTunes or from Podiobooks.com.
There is a quick audio interview with the author on a later book with a sample reading at Podioracket.com, which begins at about 11:44 into the cast.