| | |  | | Home » Do I Recognize You? | | | | | | | Description: | | The first thriller novel to focus on face recognition tracking of retail shoppers, Do I Recognize You? is a suspenseful story set in the year 2013, where customers are instantly identified by store surveillance cameras. The evil and amoral Kevin White, founder and CEO of Recognition Sales, Incorporated, will stop at nothing to increase the value of his company so he can hold an initial public offering and make millions. Partially funded by a deal with a high level Mexican drug cartel operative, White's company transforms the retail world as sales clerks are immediately armed with their customers' shopping profiles. Eight months after the launch of the company, Zach Brian, a marine biologist who specializes in computer tracking of marine animal migration is misidentified by due to a flaw in the system. Brian is mistaken for someone wanted by the DEA, and the drug cartel, who targets him for death. Not knowing why he's being chased and shot at, he and his new girlfriend eventually figure out that it has something to do with the customer tracking system. They go on the run and attempt to evade the system, the DEA, and whoever is trying to kill him. Multiple plot twists, subplots, and ironies keep the reader guessing to see what will happen next.
Based on technologies of now and the near future, Do I Recognize You? includes a very insightful foreword by face recognition expert Harry Wechsler, PhD, Professor of Computer Science at George Mason University and author of Reliable Face Recognition Methods: System Design, Implementation and Evaluation (Springer 2007). Readers are forced to ponder the pitfalls of advancing technology, the potential for its abuse, and the tacit support by government for corporate data gathering of citizens. A gripping adventure story with a cutting-edge premise, Do I Recognize You? appeals to anyone who sets foot in a retail store. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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 A Scary Technological PlaygroundApr 19, 2012
By Ensorcell
The author paints a scary picture of where technology is headed. With the oncoming widespread use of facial recognition, what will happen to our privacy? And more importantly, how might it be misused? That's what "Do I Recognize You" is about.
Goleburn does a wonderful job of throwing you into a story that pushes onward with relentless pace. I read the novel in just a few sittings, far quicker than usual for me. There is never a dull moment. Sometimes the dialog doesn't feel natural and there are a few questionable choices in the plot, but those are easy to look past and far outweighed by the sheer fun of the action and the technological playground Goleburn has constructed.
Also, the parallels that Goleburn draws between the action plot and the incidents regarding the character's mother are artful and interesting, and have left a memorable impression.
At $2.99 this is a gripping read for a fantastic value. Definitely recommended for those with a taste for technological thrillers!
a real thrillerFeb 19, 2012
By taurus
This novel by Glen Goleburn is literature at its finest. This is one of those books that once you get into it, you just can't put it down. He captures the emotions of suspense and mystery in a way that many more prolific authors fail to achieve. The book takes technology that already exists and shows us in a very realistic way what the pitfalls are of our "electronic age" that we live in. Although this is a fiction novel, the detail and clarity of this work brings it to the point of feeling like a nonfiction novel, or tomorrow's news story. This book would be enjoyable for a very broad range of literary tastes, ages and educational levels. I look forward to future works!
 Fair first effortFeb 09, 2012
By West is best
Goleburn's first book starts with what is an intriguing premise and ends up only taking it so far.
*Spoiler alert*
The idea here is that a man who was conceived by artificial means and doesn't know he has an identical twin gets embroiled in a scheme between a fast-growing face recognition software company and a drug cartel - a scheme to make the software company wealthy and the cartel capable of rubbing out its enemies. It ends up with lots of dead bodies and a budding romance.
This is a potentially great plot line for a sci-fi novel. Unfortunately, three things prevent this from happening.
First, on a grammatical and language structure level, the book is unpolished. The dialogue often seems stilted, as if the characters are speaking the way people did in the 1950's although the setting is supposed to be the near future. More idiom and contractions would have made the dialogue a lot more readable and believable. People just don't converse like the characters do. And it is the Boston COMMON, not COMMONS with an "s". Perhaps some of these things are the editor's fault.
Second, the villains, good guys, and tropes surrounding them were straight out of MSNBC central casting. Corporations bad, government guys good. Capitalists bad, academic types good. Etc. Some social commentary is tolerable but nobody except ideologues like the bash-over-the-head approach. Snidely Whiplash is, after all, a cartoon character, not a real person, and there are as many if not more people in government and who espouse liberal politics who would engage in the misdoings in the plot of this book as there are business owners. The idea that the only evil people in the world are businessmen and conservative politicians jumped the shark twenty five years ago and it is unfortunate that so many artists haven't figured this out. A more subtle and humorous approach, or some balance in targets for critique, or a bit of both, makes for a novel that is more accessible and more appealing to more people. The in-your-face political stuff cost a star by itself.
Finally, the ending was simplistic and left no possibility of a sequel, which is unfortunate because a second novel based upon the government taking over the concept and using it would have been a natural.
To the book's credit, it does do some remarkable things. The plot twist of the twin was completely unexpected and perhaps the most fun and interesting part of the book. Excellent stuff. Generally speaking, the book definitely got the proper balance between plot and character, something which is difficult to do and that you just don't see enough of nowadays (too much character, not enough plot seems to be the order of the day, unfortunately). And much of the information about software and the concepts of face-recognition technology was legit hard science fiction and really made me want to read more.
In the end though, I limped across the finish line due to the above three reasons.
wow, great readMay 30, 2011
By mr.ck
I just got the book but I already can't put it down. Mr. Glen is an amazing author. This book speaks to my soul and is an exciting must read.
what a fantastic read!May 30, 2011
By Ivan King
Glen is an amazing story teller. This is one of those novels you simply can't put down. Reading this book was an emotional roller coaster. A must read all the way!!!
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