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  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780552176057
  • Imprint: Corgi
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $24.00

The Warehouse




A riveting and immersive thriller which takes our current reality and transforms it into a terrifyingly recognisable future

'Engrossing ... Big Brother meets Big Business - that pretty much nails it' Stephen King
'A gripping read, a literary blockbuster with brains. Horribly compelling' The Observer
'A triumph' The Guardian
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In a world ravaged by bankruptcy and unemployment, Cloud is the only company left worth working for. But what will it cost you?

Amidst the wreckage of America, Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a global saviour. Yet, beneath the sunny exterior, lurks something far more sinister.

Paxton never thought he’d be working Security for the company that ruined his life, much less that he’d be moving into one of their sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what’s left outside, perhaps Cloud isn’t so bad. Better still, through his work he meets Zinnia, who fills him with hope for their shared future.

Except that Zinnia is not what she seems. And Paxton, with his all-access security credentials, might just be her meal ticket.

As Paxton and Zinnia’s agendas place them on a collision course, they’re about to learn just how far the Cloud will go to make the world a better place.

To beat the system, you have to be inside it.

What people are saying about The Warehouse:
'Literary blockbuster’ Observer
‘A triumph’ Guardian
‘Brilliantly imagined’ BBC Culture
‘Inventive, addictive’ Paul Tremblay
‘Thrilling’ Blake Crouch
‘An Orwellian thriller’ Publisher’s Weekly
‘Wildly imaginative yet terrifyingly real’ Riley Sager
‘Taut, tense and masterful’ Chuck Wendig
'One of the breakout books of the year' Barnes & Noble
'Holds up a dark mirror to our times' San Francisco Chronicle
'A jet black satire of modern consumerism' Waterstones
'A thriller of ideas ... taut action, incisive cultural commentary ... shades of Fahrenheit 451 and Jurassic Park.' USA Today

  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780552176057
  • Imprint: Corgi
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 480
  • RRP: $24.00

About the author

Rob Hart

Rob Hart has been a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, a commissioner for the city of New York and is currently a publisher. The Warehouse is his first standalone novel and has been optioned for film by Ron Howard, director of Rush and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Rob lives in Staten Island, New York.

Also by Rob Hart

See all

Praise for The Warehouse

The Warehouse is an inventive, addictive, Crichton-esque, page-turning, near-future dystopian thriller about a corporation ruling over every aspect of our late-capitalism lives

Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

"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—where our reliance upon e-commerce giants is turning them into malevolent entities more powerful than government."

Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter

"I loved The Warehouse, although and because it made my blood run cold. The world Rob Hart creates is what our world could be by this time next year. Watching these oh so human characters try to cope, even thrive, in their new normal makes one alternately hopeful and despairing. Bravo!"

SJ Rozan, author of Ghost Hero

An absolute thriller. Using wit, insight and masterful story-telling, Rob Hart has written a riveting tale that reflects on the state of humanity and where we might be heading. Be prepared for the unexpected and to look at our world through a new, twisted lens.

Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Fast-paced and unputdownable, thrilling and ominous, The Warehouse is a terrifying object lesson of a story that will haunt you each time you see a box on the front step--and make you wonder what color your shirt will be, one day.

Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma

A convincing, horrifying post-Orwellian future … brilliantly imagined

BBC Culture US

The Warehouse raises questions about how much power and control we should allow one company to have. When a hugely profitable business says their aim is to build a better world, should we take them at their word?

BBC Science Focus

Featuring an explosive twist-in-the-tail climax, this terrifying hybrid of Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Zamyatin’s We is a triumph

Guardian

A gripping read, a literary blockbuster with brains

Observer

Detailed worldbuilding makes this one feel nightmarish and all too real, but the thrilling plot keeps you turning pages anyway…A creepy dystopian thriller from Rob Hart that might be one of the breakout books of the year.

Barnes & Noble

Rob Hart’s "The Warehouse" conjures a warped but recognizable near-future America that nails the dystopia-as-utopia aspect of our worst nightmares. Like the best dystopian fiction, "The Warehouse" holds up a dark mirror to our times.

San Francisco Chronicle

A thriller of ideas, and its interplay of taut action and incisive cultural commentary gives it shades of Fahrenheit 451 and Jurassic Park ... When [it] lives in this dissonance between good intentions and corporate desolation, it really shines

USA Today

A thrilling, thought provoking read … almost more fact than fiction

Daily Express

A dark satire … The Warehouse fires an exhilaratingly unsubtle broadside against a world where the wage gap is becoming a yawning chasm

Financial Times

A scathing, near-future satire

FT, Books of the Year

Incredible … one of my reads of the year

Mark Edwards

'Engrossing ... Big Brother meets Big Business - that pretty much nails it'

Stephen King

Discover more

Video
Tips to survive the end of the world

Rob Hart’s dystopian thriller The Warehouse is out in August 2019. You can read an extract here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/jul/the-warehouse-rob-hart-extract.html Gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the United States beyond recognition. Amidst the wreckage, an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a global saviour. Yet, beneath the sunny exterior, lurks something far more sinister. Paxton never thought he’d be working Security for the company that ruined his life, much less that he’d be moving into one of their sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what’s left outside, perhaps Cloud isn’t so bad. Better still, through his work he meets Zinnia, who fills him with hope for their shared future. Except that Zinnia is not what she seems. And Paxton, with his all-access security credentials, might just be her meal ticket. As Paxton and Zinnia’s agendas place them on a collision course, they’re about to learn just how far the Cloud will go to make the world a better place. To beat the system, you have to be inside it. Order now: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-warehouse/rob-hart/9781787631243 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to the Penguin channel: http://po.st/SubscribePenguinYouTube Follow us here: Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/penguinukbooks Website | http://www.penguin.co.uk Instagram | http://www.instagram.com/penguinukbooks Facebook | http://www.facebook.com/penguinbooks