Unemployment has ravaged the U.S. economy. People struggle everywhere, exhausted by the collapse that destroyed their lives. Benjamin Cade is an expert in cognition, and before the flatlined economy caught up to him, he earned his living as a university instructor. Now, without income, he joins the millions defaulting on their loans — in his case, the money he borrowed to finance his degrees. Using advances in cognitive science and chemical therapy, Ben’s debtors can reclaim their property — his education. The government calls the process “Repossession Therapy,” and this data is invaluable to those improving the “indexing” technology — a remarkable medical advance that has enabled the effective cure of all mental disorders. But Ben has no intention of losing his mind without a fight, so he begins teaching in the park, distributing his knowledge before it’s gone in a race against ignorance.
And somewhere in Ben’s confusing takedown, Chimpanzee arrives. Its iconography appears spray-painted around town. Young people in rubber chimpanzee masks start massive protests. As Ben slowly loses himself, the Chimpanzee movement seems to grow. And all fingers point to Ben.
Finalist, 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award (Thriller/Suspense)
2014 Locus Recommended Reading List
—Locus Magazine
Top Indie Fiction: 15 Key Titles Beyond the Best Sellers List for Fall 2014
—Library Journal
Best Fantasy/SciFi of 2014
—Foreword Reviews
“As with the best dystopian fiction, Chimpanzee taps into many contemporary issues and fears — in this case, everything from the surveillance state to the student-debt crisis. Chimpanzee is a post-collapse novel for those who have become numb to them, and a unique take on a subgenre in sore need of one. The book’s dazzling originality not only helps overcome much of its dryness, it makes it well worth the extra homework.”
— Jason Heller, NPR Books
“[A] disturbingly believable near-future dystopia.”
— Publishers Weekly
“[A] densely layered novel.”
— Craig Gidney, Washington Independent Review of Books
“Excellent literary dystopia.”
— Starred review, Library Journal
“Bradley’s sophomore effort is just as ambitious as his debut, and his voice is more assured, his characters better delineated. Chimpanzee isn’t cheerful stuff, but there’s a revolutionary zeal, and a belief in the power of the mind to effect change in the world, that provides some light in this otherwise bleak dystopia.”
— Tim Pratt, Locus
"Both heart-pounding and intelligent, this dystopian thriller has the best of both worlds."
— Foreword Reviews
“A dark brooding novel of a future that might well come to pass.”
— Jack Hillman, Amazing Stories
“I really liked this and highly recommend it.”
— Don D’Ammassa, Critical Mass
“Bradley’s book is a fascinating and depressing novel of great originality.”
— Caustic Cover Critics
“With his second novel, Darin Bradley continues to establish himself as one of SF’s most intriguing new voices.”
— Christopher East
PRAISE FOR DARIN BRADLEY
“[Noise is] A cruel little knife-strike of a book, in the best possible way.”
— Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy
“[Noise is] An exceptionally polished debut.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Edgy and disturbing, Noise is a worthy successor to all those post-holocaust books of yesteryear.”
— Analog
“Story edged as a katana, prose tight as the grip that wields it, Noise is keen in its purpose and most ‘incisive.’ Shorn of false sentiment and trite cynicism, it paints an all too plausible apocalypse, and paints it in bold fresh terms. This is a great new take on its genre and an exemplary work in its own right.”
— Hal Duncan, author of Ink and Vellum
“Considering the nature of his dystopic fiction and the fullness of his vision, I can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that, in his debut, Darin Bradley may be The One.”
— Lincoln Cho, January Magazine
“This is a stunner of a novel, with a modernist almost poetical style, and a concept that blasts its way through the hoary old clichés . . . [Noise] is the best fiction book I’ve read this year”
— Mark Rose, Bookgasm
