Angel Face (ePub)

In 2021 a monster solar flare caused a gigantic geomagnetic storm that shut all satellites down. Internet and everything related to it goes down too for the following four days. Due to energy overload, power grids and phone lines stopped working in most areas. Companies kept their gates closed, banks put their shutters down and supermarkets were overrun by people. Airborne traffic was blocked and public transports suspended. Traffic lights shutting down caused incidents and distress worldwide. Casualties were reported everywhere. It took a few months, but everything went back the way it was. But not for everyone. Many lost their loved ones and their faith in technology together with them that fateful day. Crypto values and all virtual-related goods lost all their worth. Several companies failed to keep their investors and went bankrupt. The entire world economy suffered a heavy blow. Closing the stock market did not prevent a the second world economic crisis of the new millennium from happening. From that moment on, the incident has been recalled as The Big Flare. A social movement called No-Tech was born from the malcontent of the masses. Gaining followers all around the globe, it preached for a world without technology. An isolated part of the movement went even further, targeting companies and electronic stores with acts of vandalism, violence and sometimes outright terrorism. Alongside the birth of the movement, one company rose from the ashes of the incident: Vespertech. They provided a safer, securer, more reliable internet system than ever before. It soon became one of the richest companies in the world. Fourteen years later, in a small town pub, Detective John Collins is drinking a pint of his favorite beer. He gets a call from the station. Mr Ramos Fizz has been found dead in his house. From the very beginning, it is clear to John that this is not a common case. Little he knows he will soon get involved into something much greater than himself. With the help of a young intern, John has to overcome his rejection towards technology in order to try solving the case. Politics, virtual reality and investigation collide into a structured plot full of unexpected events and complex characters.