“On the surface, The Warehouse is a thrilling story of corporate espionage at the highest level, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a terrifying cautionary tale of the nightmare world we are making for ourselves.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter"The Warehouse is a near-future thriller about what happens when Big Brother meets Big Business--and who will pay the ultimate price."
I'd add that this piece is scary as all hell for someone like myself who has worked in a factory setting that was 'Big Brother' of the industry. There was no clean air only diesel fumes, no circulation of air or luxury equipment like air conditioners only dusty dirty fans that never worked properly, no breaks, no overtime, extended part time hours to never pay full time rates, big dog watching your back constantly with set production rates prior to entry, all electronic surveillance and monitoring, metal gates around entire perimeter to prevent escape much like a prison atmosphere and in truth it was pure hell.
I worked as a merchandise processor straight off a conveyor for 8+ hr days often without lunch or restroom breaks. My work spoke for itself being the highest producer in two departments (carton to hang and garment to hang) yet when raises were given I received 10 cents extra. As associate of the month and top producer over the years I was given a 'one time' bonus of $25 for killing myself to produce over 200 units an hour. I was so fast on my feet in terms of production that I was video taped and ostracized by other workers and was eventually struck by a 50 lb metal trolley in which the company wouldn't even call me an ambulance or help me off the floor after it fell upon my head resulting in emergency treatment.
Needless to say the $7.25 an hr salary on tax free property wasn't enough to make me stay and I went back for my masters degree only to never have used it to raise my 3 kids alone while married as my spouse worked 5 states away with only weekend visits for entire 11 yr marriage till we divorced.Upon divorcing I was then left with my kids, no income, no alimony, no child support for over a yr, all marital debt over 100k , all medical debt over 30k, all student loan debt now topped 100k in interest alone for 30k original debt, and here I stand begging for employment with a dual masters and over 20 + yrs of volunteering including the most prestigious national award for public service Ie. The Points of Light Award given to me by our 41st President George Herbert W. Bush.
Now you might say who cares about your personal dilemmas and heartbreak as we all have issues so suck it up buttercup (yes this was told to me as a survivor of domestic violence and NPD (narcissistic personality disorder) as I divorced a malignant narcissist which resulted in bankruptcy, homelessness, extreme poverty (with med disabled son) and LT unemployment.
So I get it, because this story as you can tell hit a cord with me as this is reality for many of us in small towns with small town politics.
This is not a future scenario because it's already happening.
It's a time when the automation takes over and countless well educated individuals are left scrambling for jobs in an area where there are none! Oh sure you can work for peanuts, work your ass off, and get nowhere while everyone boast about hard work paying off and then you can sit and show them your current med records from working like a dog all those years to get nothing for it other than major back issues that require fusion of your back, ganglion cysts similar to corporal tunnel for repetitive movement in wrist, or lung issues from breathing in diesel such as I now have asthma with 18 yrs worth of acute bronchitis and pneumonia (never having smoked) plus I have an uncle who passed away from similar diesel fumes never having smoked after developing lung cancer.
So sadly this new found wealth is only for the top bananas not us measly peasants as we see plenty of these warehouses like Amazon and Walmart corporate giants building them up and paying less than min wage salaries. Meanwhile the politicians applaud themselves on the back for bringing in these jobs on tax free locations only to have them close up shop and give everyone pink slips while the vicious cycle continues & all for peanuts.
We need living wages and we need this work to death motto to end.
In this story we have Paxton whose our main guy seeking work at Cloud (a place to live/work) as a picker with salary paid by credits.
Sounds great sign me up... Not so fast!
We have Zinnia who is working as a corporate spy uncovering the truths inside the walls of this facility that's techno advanced in every aspect. From the tracking watches worn by employees, to the video surveillance, to the door scanners it's all heavily enforced.
Meanwhile Cloud Points, Cloud Band, and Cloud Burger with the latter not being quite so appetizing as we later learn filled with re-purposed human waste.
So while you think you might be making progress we must ask is this progress?
Fear not as the author notes there's still time to fix it.
However, fixing it acknowledges it's broken and admitting fault rather than passing blame is something I've yet to find.
Co workers are the backbone to these mad dog facilities and so we must encourage open dialogue and discussion about worker's rights and allow OSHA to examine them more closely when incidences are reported.
Perhaps with this not so fiction work in hand the tide will turn for the better.
We can only hope as this is no way to live.
Thank you to Rob , the publisher, NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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