I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Warehouse by Rob Hart Published by Crown on August 20 2019
Genres: Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Exciting action and relatable characters make this futuristic look at corporate greed a ton of fun from start to finish.
I got to meet Rob Hart at San Diego Comic Con, which made me even more excited to read his book. Rob put a cool stamp each attendee’s ARC and filled in their “shirt color.” He wrote “red” in my book, although I had no idea what that meant until I started reading (“Huh? I’m not wearing a red shirt!”) Turns out, at Cloud—the fictitious megastore in Hart’s new novel, which is a terrifying hybrid mix of two of the biggest conglomerates in the world, Amazon and Walmart—each employee wears color coded polo shirts, depending on what department they work in. Once I realized the author had assigned me a shirt color, the story took on a whole new meaning, and the eerie vision of a future similar to Hart’s Cloud became a frightening possibility. The Warehouse is a giddy mixture of cautionary tale, corporate espionage, and even humorous hijinks, and I loved it!
The story is told by three different characters in alternating chapters. Paxton is a down-on-his-luck ex-prison security guard who invented a clever kitchen device called The Perfect Egg. But megastore Cloud forced him out of business, and now Paxton finds himself working for the very company he despises. Zinnia is a corporate spy who has been tasked with bringing down Cloud from the inside by uncovering their dirty secrets. She’s posing as a new employee and just wants to get in, do her job, and get out. Cloud CEO and Founder Gibson Wells has just found out he’s dying of pancreatic cancer and has a year to live. He wants to spend that year visiting as many of the “MotherClouds” as he can before he dies, and he’s started a blog to chart his progress.
When Paxton meets Zinnia, he falls for her in a big way, but Zinnia is only there for one reason and definitely doesn’t want to start anything. But when she finds out that Paxton has been assigned to the security team, she realizes she can use him to help her cause. But time is running out, and with Gibson Wells himself set to make an appearance, Zinnia must put her risky plan into action before it’s too late.
The Warehouse is a chilling look at what our future could be, but it’s told in an upbeat, humorous way, which is why it was so much fun to read. From the “live/work” model, where employees live in dormitories right on “campus,” to the mandatory watches everyone wears that not only open doors and act as debit cards, but track your every move, to the employee rating system that determines whether you keep your job or not, Cloud employees are subjected to the ultimate Big Brother lifestyle. Forced to wear color-coded shirts that tell everyone which department you work in, working at Cloud may be the last chance at job security for many people, but it’s also a prison of sorts, and I personally wouldn’t want anything to do with it. The reader is given brief glimpses into the history of Cloud, most notably something called the Black Friday Massacre, America’s “last” mass shooting, after which Gibson makes the controversial decision to stop selling firearms at all Cloud facilities. I did like the way Hart touches on so many current issues that Americans are dealing with–gun control, corporate takeovers, global warming and more–but he integrates these into a fast-paced story that’s tough to put down.
I really enjoyed the characters, especially Paxton and Zinnia. Paxton is a bit whiny in the beginning and creeped me out when he started hitting on Zinnia, even when she made it clear that she wasn’t interested. But his character really evolves during the story. He has a good reason for hating Cloud and everything it represents, but he’s still optimistic that the patent pending on his invention will eventually come through and will make up for his run-in with corporate greed. Paxton is a true anti-hero with a heart of gold, but he’s got some grit to him as well, and I ended up really liking him in the end. Zinnia is a woman of color who has had to fight tooth and nail her entire life, and now she’s about to cash in on a payday that could set her up for life, if only she can complete her assignment. She’s a kick-ass woman who can definitely take care of herself—and she has to on more than one occasion—but she also has a soft side that she tries to hide, and I loved when Paxton eventually breaks down her defenses.
I also enjoyed the chapters where Gibson is talking to the reader through his blog entries. He does a great job of putting on a sympathetic face, a man who has worked hard his whole life to build his empire, even though not everyone understands why he’s doing it. Even though he’s dying, he’s determined to go out with a smile, so it seems. But despite the fact that Gibson comes across as a sincere and caring man, I couldn’t help but be wary of him, and in fact he proves to be much more than you are led to believe.
As far as negatives, there were a couple of things that lowered my rating a bit. First, Hart does a great job of immersing the reader in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Cloud complex, but there isn’t a lot of information about the outside world. We know that several environmental disasters (global warming, etc.) have made America a virtual desert wasteland, but there isn’t much description about this dire state of America beyond a few scenes where the characters are outside of Cloud and suffering from heat exposure. MotherClouds, as the complexes are called, are scattered throughout the country, but aside from the millions of employees who live and work there, who the heck is actually buying stuff from Cloud, and where do these people live? I didn’t care about this while I was reading, but after I finished and I started to think about the story more, I suddenly realized I had lots of unanswered questions.
I also thought the ending was a bit chaotic. A lot happens in the last twenty percent of the story, maybe too much. Although I loved the fast-paced action and fight scenes (yes, there are some pretty good ones!), I almost felt as if the author were trying to fit in every one of his ideas before the story ended, and some of the action near the end bordered on farcical. But Hart does pull off a couple of nice twists that wrap things up nicely, although the one storyline I was most curious about ended on a vague—although hopeful—note.
Overall, The Warehouse was a blast! Hart’s vision of a futuristic America hits a little too close to home, but his lighthearted approach makes this one of the “can’t miss” books of summer.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
“Who the heck is actually buying stuff from Cloud, and where do these people live?” This is what I immediately asked myself when you mentioned the outside world. Otherwise it seems like a pretty fascinating read!
It was a lot of fun, and the author really came up with a scenario that might actually come close to happening some day!
Really enjoying this one!
Cool, can’t wait to read your review.
I loved this one too! Great review!
It was fun, right?
I saw my library had ordered a copy of this so I’m really excited to read it now – even if it does seem a little too close to home right now. Plus I want to know what department he put you in!
Barb @ Booker T’s Farm recently posted…Favorite Books A-Z
So I got put in the warehouse floor workers, who have to run around like crazy picking items and sending them for shipping. It was pretty funny actually!
This is receiving such great reviews atm. Definitely one for the wish list although it sounds scarily close to comfort.
Lynn
Lynn Williams recently posted…#SPFBO Cry Havoc (Jack Frey #1) by Mike Morris
It was scary in a way, but to me it was pretty over the top, so I wasn’t necessarily worried that it might actually happen.
Whoa! The whole shirt color thing is actually really cool I think. Sounds like a great author too!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: The Body Painter by Pepper Winters
The colored shirts were pretty cool!
What an awesome way to sign the book! I just finished reading a digital ARC a few days ago and I’m such a HUGE fan of this book! That being said, I’m totally jealous of your personalized, signed copy! Great review!
Thanks Joe! I’m glad you loved it too, I hope you write a review!
Once I reached the part of your review where you wonder where all the buyers are, if the outside world is a wasteland, I had a sort of… epiphany, for want of a better word and asked myself if those mega stores might not be prisons in disguise – you know, the ultimate dystopian joke in a dystopian universe. Or maybe I read too much science fiction… 😀 😀
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: OUR WAR, by Craig DiLouie
That’s a very good thought! Cloud definitely seems like a prison to me, although technically you can leave anytime you want. But still…
So how do you feel about being assigned your red shirt now that you’ve finished the book? Sounds like a fun read. It’s always interesting when authors take something very topical and extrapolate to the extreme.
todd recently posted…Favorite Books A – Z: Fiction
Ha ha good question! The red shirts are the warehouse workers, who have to run around grabbing items that people order and taking them to the conveyor belts to be shipped. Not sure I would enjoy that!
Another one for the TBR! Looks like a good mix of eerie and fun.
Caitlin G. recently posted…Review: THE RAGE OF DRAGONS by Evan Winter
It was, mostly fun though!
What a great review, Tammy:). I think you have really successfully summed up the book really well.
Thanks Sarah:-)
LOL that shirt color message was pretty cool of him, it does give an entire new twist to the experience while reading 🙂
Ha ha I think I was halfway through the book when it hit me, what the whole “red” shirt was in his signature, lol.
I absolutely love that ye got assigned yer Cloud group! What fun. This is a great review. I also think the world outside Cloud could have been explained more. I get why it wasn’t but I still want to know!
x The Captaini
Maybe he’ll write a sequel??
I do love this genre and this sounds fun. A bit different too.
Laura Thomas recently posted…Excerpt and Giveaway ~ Claiming Ana by Brynna Curry
Lots of fun, Laura, hope you get to read it!
I have seen this around, but expected a darker story and not the humour you mentioned. That makes me all the more curious about it.
It’s strange because not a lot of other reviewers are mentioning the humor, but I honestly found it to be more lighthearted than scary.
Chilling look at the future but also fun and humorous, I love it. Definitely going to check this one out at some point. Great review, Tammy!
It’s a bunch of fun, hope you enjoy it:-)
That personalized stamp is pretty cool.
I know, the stamp was pretty clever:-)
I love that you got a job assignment! Wow, you’re a red? Better get some comfortable shoes!! Great review. I agree with all points, particularly about wanting to know more about the outside world.
Great review, it sounds very interesting!
Oh, if only we lived in a mere dystopia, and not a dying planet that we’re killing!
Is this the first book in the genre of amazonapocalyptic fiction? Sound interesting.