It seems every new generation gets to witness at least one incredible technological advancement ... Soule builds a world around a similarly staggering invention, but it’s his interest in the people who create it, use it and profit from it that captivates the reader ... It is impossible to write about Anyone without first acknowledging the depth of thought and structure Soule has put into flash technology and its potential impact on the world.
... an explosive finish. Soule imagines a future in which humans are addicted to this innovation that provides both benefits and danger and explores how the world could change if we could truly see from others’ perspectives. For fans of Blake Crouch and Tal Klein.
The resolution is surprising and satisfying, as the ending of any good thriller should be ... Perhaps it’s nit-picking to look for more from a thriller than, well, thrills, but the philosophical nature of the 'self' is less explored than might be satisfying: How much of us is contained in the body versus the mind? What might it do to someone to spend time in another’s body, or have someone spend time in theirs? Questions like these are mostly left on the shelf as the storyline races forward. And, of course, it’s de rigueur to color every venture capitalist, corporation, and attorney as greedy and evil, as Soule does in this book, but a little balance, just allowing the people some modicum of humanity, would have gone a long way to making them more believable characters. The technology—that of flashing lights in one’s eyes to facilitate the consciousness transfer—seems a little sketchy as well ... That said, Anyone is a mostly satisfying read that will keep you turning pages into the night. It might also leave you wondering just how good a book it could have been.
The storytelling nous that makes Soule’s comics so damn entertaining is abundantly evident in Anyone. It’s not just the thrills he evokes from full-colour, splash-page action scenes and the sort of ruthless villainy that would make the Kingpin proud (I’m looking at you Gray Hendricks) but also how he leverages the reader’s knowledge of the future to upend assumptions about the past ... Anyone‘s abrupt, almost unfinished climax raises several fascinating philosophical possibilities. It also suggests there’s more story to tell and, while I don’t generally advocate for sequels, I’m desperate to know what happens next.
... a suspenseful tale built on the back of an existential crisis around the nature of human consciousness ... Soule draws readers into a brave new world where identities are meaningless and manipulation and control are the name of the game ... Present-day concerns about technology, privacy, and anonymity are projected into a dystopian but plausible future. Although the dual narratives are sometimes unwieldy, the novel is fast-paced and suspenseful. Soule’s uncomfortable vision of the future will please readers of cutting-edge speculative fiction.
Readers won’t feel that they’re on the edges of their seats as much as they’re on a balance beam above a pit of lava while trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube ... Like the tick-tock of a metronome, Soule oscillates between Gabby’s dilemma and Annami’s mission until we reach an unexpected but satisfying convergence between the two ... An imaginative, time-fragmented thriller about the bitter and potentially deadly consequences of body-snatching.
