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  • Published: 7 January 2020
  • ISBN: 9781784757687
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99

Golden State




Golden State by Ben Winters is an ambitious and frighteningly timely novel set in a world where everything is recorded and no one can be trusted. For anyone who loved The Handmaid's Tale, The Power and Station Eleven.

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'A prescient, devastating commentary on humanity’s disintegrating attachment to reality and truth... Winters has written a 1984 for the 21st century. Not just a thrilling book, but an important one'
Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and TV series Wayward Pines
'A dystopia for our times' Financial Times
‘A wry commentary on our current era’ Guardian ___________________

Welcome to Golden State, where the worst crime you can commit is to lie.

Laz Ratesic is a veteran of the State’s special police. Those in power rely on Laz to discover the full and final truth.

But when a man falls from a roof in suspicious circumstances, it sets in motion a terrifying series of events which will shatter Laz’s world for ever.

Because when those in control of the truth decide to twist it, only those with the power to ask questions can fight back.
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Golden State is an ambitious and frighteningly timely novel set in a world where everything is recorded and no one can be trusted. For anyone who loved The Handmaid's Tale, The Power and Station Eleven.

'Pacy and compelling' SFX

'Golden State is fascinating, cutting and ultimately inspiring' SciFiNow

  • Published: 7 January 2020
  • ISBN: 9781784757687
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99

About the author

Ben H. Winters

Ben H. Winters is the author of nine novels, including most recently the New York Times bestselling Underground Airlines. His novel Countdown City was an NPR Best Book of 2013 and the winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for Distinguished Science Fiction, and The Last Policeman was the recipient of the 2012 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America; it was also named one of the Best Booksof 2012 by Amazon.com and Slate.

Ben also writes books for children and his journalism has appeared in The Chicago Reader, The Nation, In These Times, USA Today and Huffington Post. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and their three children.

Also by Ben H. Winters

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Praise for Golden State

Golden State is a prescient, devastating commentary on humanity’s disintegrating attachment to reality and truth, expertly told through the prism of a police-procedural, dystopian nightmare. Winters has written a 1984 for the 21st century. Not just a thrilling book, but an important one.

Blake Crouch, author of DARK MATTER and TV series WAYWARD PINES

Not many writers would take on Orwell, Ray Bradbury, the nature of truth, and the current administration all at a blow. Big shoes to fill--and they fit Ben H. Winters just fine. Golden State grabs notions of disinformation and literalism and brilliantly turns them on their head to see what falls from their pockets.

James Sallis, author of Drive

A perfectly poised ontological-thriller-comedy-dystopian-allegorical-page-turner, yet with tenderly real characters in its chewy center, this turned out to be just the thing I was looking for.

Jonathan Lethem

a fast-reading novel, perfect both for those who are interested in some speculation about new technologies and societies and for an experienced thriller book reader.

Calles de Tinta Blog

a hugely relevant speculative tale, but also a massively entertaining piece of fiction that had me banging through it in record time… Quirky, clever and very timely, I will state that "Objectively So" Golden State is a truly excellent piece of storytelling.

Liz Loves Books Blog

That this framework also keeps the pages turning, with chapters frequently ending on intriguing new leads and shocking reveals, doesn’t hurt; the novel is every bit as pacey and compelling as you’d expect from a thriller

SFX

Golden State is fascinating, cutting and ultimately inspiring. This is smart science fiction.

SciFi Now

An entertaining, unpredictable read… very much a dystopia for our times.

Financial Times

A very topical story

Curiosity Killed the Bookworm blog

Handmaids Tale-esque

Cosmopolitan

Accomplished, beautiful writing… I tore through it in a day

Beverley Has Read Blog

Smart, intricate and propulsive, Golden State is proof that Winters deserves our continued attention as one of crime fiction’s most inventive practitioners

San Francisco Chronicle