Connect

In the near future, a brilliant but socially awkward teenager and his mother find themselves at the center of a thrilling chase that will test the limits of their connection and the world itself. Connect by Julian Gough is a thrillingly smart novel of ideas that explores what connection - both human and otherwise - might be in a digital age. Set in Nevada in the near future, the story follows biologist and single mother Naomi, who is worried about the impact her ground-breaking research might have on the world, and her painfully awkward, home-schooled, ever-growing teenage son, Colt. Colt is a savant who can code virtual reality worlds beyond imagination, but struggles with simple social interactions. When he secretly sends his mother's research paper to a biotech conference in New York, causing it to be shut down, Naomi's worst fears come true. Colt's father, backed by the secretive security organisation he heads, crashes back into their lives - and the US government wants Naomi's research . . . and Colt. As mother and son are pulled into a dangerous chase, they must confront the challenges of their relationship and the terrifying possibilities of Naomi's work. From one of the most original voices in Irish writing comes a story of science, technology, and family that will keep you gripped until the very end.