03 July 2014

Lexicon

Lexicon by Max Barry is about persuasion.

Emily Ruff is an orphan living in on the streets of San Fransisco. She makes money by playing three-card Monty. She is whip smart. She is playing her card game when she is found by someone who thinks she has potential. She is given a test to get into school. He promises her that she will be given an entrance exam and if she doesn't pass she will be flown home with a monetary thank  you. Though she thinks it sounds too good to be true, she takes the offer.

Wil Parke was grabbed when he got out of an airplane. He does not understand what is happening. His girlfriend is waiting to pick him up and two men are claiming to be saving his live. One of them, Eliot, is trying to convince him that his girlfriend is one of the bad guys.

In a story that revolves around the mining town of Broken Hill, Australia, where an incident has left all of the town's residents dead, Emily and Wil are lead to a final event that reveals how far people can be persuaded and controlled.

Barry has created a story of mystery and adventure that explores how companies persuade consumers and group of people who have taken persuasion to the extreme.

Barry, Max. (2013). Lexicon. New York: Penguin Press.

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