The Truth App
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
“A swift, intense page-turner.” —BCCB
In this pulse-pounding tech-thriller, Jack Heath creates a world where everyone knows when you lie—and telling the truth doesn’t always set you free.
Jarli likes to think he’s an honest guy. He’s a big believer in telling the truth, no matter what. So he develops The Truth App, a mobile application that listens in on your conversations and can tell when someone’s lying. Then his app goes viral and, suddenly, Jarli is an internet sensation.
But, soon enough, Jarli realizes that being famous can be dangerous—especially when you’ve just exposed everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Now his entire town is out to get him: kids at school, teachers, the police, even his own family.
Also, an underground network of criminals has just added Jarli to their hit list. Sometimes, exposing the truth comes with a price…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this lightweight techno-thriller, a young man is thrust into the public spotlight and marked for death after he develops an app that monitors conversations and detects truths and falsehoods. Even before high schooler Jarli Durras's app goes viral, someone tries to kill him and his father first in a car crash, then more directly at the hospital they're taken to after the accident. Now the app is garnering him the wrong sort of attention from the media and the public and even from his classmates, who see it as an unwelcome infringement upon their privacy. With his best friend, Bess, who uses crutches, and Russian transfer student Anya, Jarli must discover who's trying to murder him, and how his father who works for a data security company is involved. Heath (The Silver Thief) starts this adventure off with a bang and maintains a high level of tension throughout this fast-paced installment, but a thin backstory and skimpy character development result in a tale that never slows enough to build out its world, its inhabitants, or its core premise's implications. There's a clear sense of setup for future installments in this series starter, which may have particular appeal for reluctant readers interested in a fast-paced adventure. Ages 12 up.
