A search for a cure for Alzheimer's leads to a technology that allows individuals to transfer their consciousness to other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered, and legal. But beyond the reach of the law is darkshare, a sordid black market where desperate 'vessels' anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked, for any purpose--sex, drugs, crime...or worse.
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.
