Sucker

Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos was sentenced for fraud; her fictionalized counterpart, Olivia Watts of Kenosis, is much more successful, if no less deceitful, in this gonzo, slow-burning speculative thriller from Hornsby (Via Negativa). Charles Gross is a record publisher whose financial viability rests more on his being an heir of the heavily wealthy Grossheart family than on his own music acumen. When he needs to demonstrate his entrepreneurship to his suspicious father, he hooks up with Olivia, a college friend whose startup promises amazing nanotech biomedical monitoring. All is not well with Kenosis, however, a fact curious Charles begins to uncover both on his own and with the help of a company whistleblower. But can he convince his father of the company’s malevolent conspiracy before Olivia puts her hooks into the senior Grossheart? Hornsby toys with the reader through tantalizing glimpses of Olivia’s rise to startup fame and grounds the story’s wilder elements, including the bloody secrets Kinosis hides, in Charles’s struggles to emerge from his father’s shadow. Readers will likely guess Olivia’s ties to the supernatural long before they are revealed, but that doesn’t detract from the entertainment. This is sharp-fanged Silicon Valley satire. Agent: Chris Clemans, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (July)