First Among Equals: a near future dystopian tech thriller

By Marcus Whitnell

It's twenty-six years since Eric Thorne tried to suppress the invention of a neural implant capable of digitising the human consciousness, and all his worst fears have come true. What used to be the western world is now governed by big business - and the only people thriving are the rich.

But while the polycorporate elite manoeuvre for dead men's shoes that'll never become vacant again, others, some intentionally, some just in the wrong place at the wrong time begin to fight back; and as disgraced agent, Gabriel Sousa of Interpol, tries to figure out who released the digital neurovirus that killed a corporate exec, two carefully orchestrated plans to topple corpocracy collide as they unfold.

First among Equals is the much anticipated sequel to Ghost in the Machine, and second book of The Sum of our Parts - a series of books that follow humanity from a broadly recognisable (if worrying) present into a foreseeable future where inherent human characteristics and an ever-increasing pandora's box of technology lead to serious moral questions and inevitable conflict.

If you're a fan of original cyberpunk, tech noir or technothriller science fiction, and love the books of William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams, Philip K Dick and Rudy Rucker or their modern variations by authors like Blake Crouch, Neal Asher and Daniel Suarez - this tense, action-packed novel is a perfect read for you

Praise for Ghost in the Machine:

Technothriller / Tech Noir / Cyberpunk ... Fabulous
Set in a near future I think we can all see coming, where huge corporations control everything we see (and therefore believe), and government is little more than a thin veneer covering individual ambitions and dynasties - this book does a masterful job of painting a picture of what happens when someone says 'No.' But there's much, much more to the stories woven into the pages than that: an android reaching autonomy, a washed up intelligence operative reaching the end of his tether, the morality of technological enhancement, transhumanism ... the list goes on, and the author does a brilliant job of drawing them all together in a rather satisfying finale "

Couldn't put it down
Really great plot, couldn't stop reading, plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing followed up by a superb ending which did not disappoint.

What a cracking good read
Ghost in the Machine is a brutally close approximation to where many of us feel society is currently heading: corporate fatcats dictating what we see and don't see, government a sad reflection of democracy - and a world changing to fast, and all for the worse.

A great read, looking forward to book two
This is the first book of this genre I have picked up, honestly wasn't sure if it would be my thing. However, the author has created a world of words that totally enthrals, superbly descriptive, with distinct characters and plenty of plot twists and turns that keep you guessing right up to the last page. Can't wait for book two to be published.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1739527399
• ISBN13: 9781739527396
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Angry Android
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"