Adam Bender

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Adam Bender

Goodreads Author


Born
in Princeton, NJ, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences

Member Since
July 2010

URL


Adam Bender is an award-winning journalist and author of speculative fiction that explores modern-day societal fears with a mix of action, romance and humor.

Bender's latest novel is Utopia PR, a speculative satire about a public-relations specialist who struggles to find work-life balance while managing crisis after crisis for a dystopian American president. It won the 2021 IndieReader Discovery Award for Humor.

Previously, Bender wrote The Wanderer and the New West, a near-future western about a rogue vigilante who seeks redemption in a lawless America that fully protects the rights of armed citizens to stand their ground. Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2018, the novel also won gold for Dystopia in the 2018 Readers' Favorite Awards
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Adam Bender I'm a technology journalist and am frequently inspired by innovative new gadgets and tech trends. Reading news also tends to get me fired up about iss…moreI'm a technology journalist and am frequently inspired by innovative new gadgets and tech trends. Reading news also tends to get me fired up about issues I'd like to write about.

Besides that, sometimes I get inspired observing everyday interactions among people. My short story "Smokers Corner," for example, was inspired by a snippet of conversation overheard out of context on an elevator!

Often I get ideas when I'm commuting or somewhere else away from my computer. My memory isn't great, so whenever that happens I jot it down immediately in Evernote and come back to it later.(less)
Adam Bender My two novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall came from my feeling somewhat helpless in the wake of 9/11 as the US government passed a series of n…moreMy two novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall came from my feeling somewhat helpless in the wake of 9/11 as the US government passed a series of national security laws to increase surveillance called the PATRIOT Act.

I was fascinated not only by the surveillance itself, but the rationale for it. Everyone was feeling pretty vulnerable and so it was hard not to accept anything that was pitched as preventing another terrorist attack. Besides, how could anyone be against something called the PATRIOT Act?

With Divided We Fall, my most recent book, I wanted to set a love story against this backdrop. The story follows two government agents who were romantically involved but have fallen apart after one changes his beliefs and turns against the government. I liked the idea of having a double conflict -- the love story and the broader political conflict over surveillance.(less)
Average rating: 3.76 · 451 ratings · 187 reviews · 12 distinct worksSimilar authors
Utopia PR

3.72 avg rating — 187 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions
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The Wanderer and the New West

3.62 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2018 — 5 editions
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We, The Watched

3.82 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions
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Divided We Fall

3.77 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
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Smokers Corner

4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2013
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Life Trade

4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2013
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Fire Eyes

3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings
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Divided We Fall - ABNA 2013...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2013
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Wrong Gate

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2019
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Invasion Day

4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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More books by Adam Bender…

Utopia PR is a Sci-Fi Finalist in Indie Author Project 2024 Contest

Talk about an October surprise: Indie Author Project (IAP) selected my dystopian satire novel Utopia PR as a runner-up in the sci-fi/fantasy category of its annual contest!

IAP connects indie authors with public libraries and their patrons across the U.S. I’ve personally used their service, formerly known as SELF-e, to submit eBooks and audiobooks of my novels to join a growing collection of high-q

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Published on November 04, 2024 07:16
Batman: Revolution
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by John Jackson Miller (Goodreads Author)
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W0Rldtr33 Vol. 1
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Adam Bender entered a giveaway
Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots
Villain (Hench, #2)
by Natalie Zina Walschots (Goodreads Author)
50 copies available, ends on November 30, 2025 Enter to win »
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Batman by John Jackson Miller
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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
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Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta
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Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
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Refreshing take on Spider-Man that also feels very true to the character. If, like me, you have not kept up with all the latest soap opera in the main books, this is a nice new direction to jump into.
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W0Rldtr33 Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV
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Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
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More of Adam's books…
Oscar Wilde
“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dave Hutchinson
“The thing about the Surveillance State is that it doesn’t work very well; cameras break down, recognition algorithms give false positives or false negatives. But it works just well enough, if you have enough processing power, to spot you and Ben together in Dortmund and in Amsterdam.”
Dave Hutchinson, Europe at Dawn

Ben H. Winters
“It never ceased to amaze Shenk that it was his brand of lawyering that was considered banditry, scorned as “ambulance chasing,” when men like Riggs could blamelessly hitch their wagons to multibillion-dollar companies like Wellbridge, whose business model was highly sophisticated bloodsucking: collect and collect and collect, and only pay when forced; when squeezed; when pushed to the wall by the heroic likes of Jay Shenk.”
Ben H. Winters, The Quiet Boy

Stephen Marche
“The main reason Americans buy guns is to tell themselves the story of the failure of government.”
Stephen Marche, The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future

Albert Camus
“My dear,
In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.
In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.
In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.
I realized, through it all, that…
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.

Truly yours,
Albert Camus”

I like this because only one part is usually quoted but the full quote has such symmetry.”
Albert Camus

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Either you write it, Read it, But you must LOVE IT! DISCUSS!
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