The Minders by John Marrs #BlogTour @johnmarrs1 #TheMinders #NetGalley @Livvii @MichaelJBooks

The Minders by John Marrs

Published by Del Ray, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK

Publication Date: 23rd July 2020 (ebook) 17th September 2020 (paperback)

Genre Suspense, Thriller

Book Description:

Five strangers guard our secrets.
Only four can be trusted…

In the 21st century, information is king. But computers can be hacked and files can be broken into – so a unique government initiative has been born. Five ordinary people have been selected to become Minders – the latest weapon in thwarting cyberterrorism. Transformed by a revolutionary medical procedure, the country's most classified information has been taken offline and turned into genetic code implanted inside their heads.

Together, the five know every secret – the truth behind every government lie, conspiracy theory and cover up. In return, they’re given the chance to leave their problems behind and a blank slate to start their lives anew.

But not everyone should be trusted, especially when they each have secrets of their own they’ll do anything to protect…

My Thoughts:

First of all my thanks to Isabelle Ralphs at DelRay publishing for the amazing opportunity to read John Marrs latest novel The Minders and be part of the promotional blog tour.

Once again John Marrs has proved just why he is so popular with today's readers.  The Minders is set very slightly in the future, but not so far ahead for me to see his writing as the sci-fi or fantasy genre. The book links very cleverly with some of his previous novels - that said you don't need to have read the other books to understand the events which have gone before. There is just enough information given here to set the scene for this book and to tempt you to read the others. 

The premise of the book is that the cyber security of all nations of the world is under threat, several countries having been held to ransom for their national secrets already. The Hacking Collective are out to make money from every nation's secrets; from how many weapons each country has access to and where they are stored to names of those involved in government level cover ups which would cause international tensions, and the leaders of the world are worried. They need to come up with ways to keep their information secure. The ways they have come up with so far are nowhere near satisfactory so government scientists have devised a new plan: implanting the information in the brains of suitable hosts in exchange for the chance to start new lives, all connections to their previous lives terminated.  5 candidates are selected from the preliminary test stage and go on to have the information implanted. But this is new and uncharted territory so how do the scientists know their subjects are reliable and won't go rogue?

We follow each of the chosen candidates from their lives before the programme, understanding why each of them has opted to be part of the plan, right through to the closure of the programme. The only person whose role I couldn't quite place was the mysterious Emilia who seems completely different to the others.  Even she doesn't know who she is or her own personal history, having woken up in some kind of facility where all she is certain of is that she is not safe and needs to get as far away as possible.

The journey the author takes us on leads to mistrust virtually every single character in the book.  Who is really in charge of the programme? Is every candidate genuine or has a member of the Hacking Collective managed to infiltrate the programme in order to steal the national secrets of the UK?

I really enjoyed trying to disentangle the facts from the emotional ties which are threaded through the story.  Can you really just walk away completely from the only life you've ever known or will there be strands of your real self which you cannot shake off and will ultimately make you vulnerable? 

As with John Marrs' previous works I found the plot to be totally absorbing and credible - there must be so many things we (the general public) have absolutely no idea are happening which get squirreled away by those in power and could compromise national security if the information got into the wrong hands. I love the way the author's mind works outside the box, questioning everything we know and accept to be the norm in our every day lives, presenting new and quite frankly scary possibilities and challenges to how life could change in an instant. 

If you like to be taken out of your comfort zone and are willing to open your mind to how the dark side of society could take over the civilised world then this is definitely a read for you.  It all sounds a bit 'out there' but honestly, I don't 'do' science fiction and I love all of this author's work. It's definitely different from any other author I have ever read, but that in itself has me on tenterhooks waiting for each and every new title he publishes. If you haven't read any of his books I cannot stress strongly enough how much I recommend that you do. You are definitely missing out!

Shameless plug:  Netflix will be screening a mini-series of one of the author's previous works 'The One' (which is referred to quite often in this latest book) later this year and I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to watching. Keep your eyes peeled, it's going to be good!

About the Author:

John Marrs is a freelance journalist based in London, England, who has spent the last 20 years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines.

He has written for publications including The Guardian's Guide and Guardian Online; OK! Magazine; Total Film; Empire; Q; GT; The Independent; Star; Reveal; Company; Daily Star and News of the World's Sunday Magazine