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The Curtain
THE CURTAIN – A NOVEL SYNOPSIS:
Have you met Henry Maddox? He knows you — not personally of course… he really only knows your data. But from that data he actually may know you better than you think you know yourself. Henry knows where you’ve been and what you’ve bought. He knows all of your friends. Henry not only knows your behaviors, he understands your tendencies. And from those tendencies, he can predict what you’re going to do before you’ve actually done it.
Who is Henry Maddox? He is a 21st century marketing consultant and he specializes in highly personal and irresistibly persuasive advertising.
Henry’s strategies combine modern data mining (Big Data) techniques with other advanced and controversial marketing practices (Market Fragmentation, Cross Promotion, and Conglomerate Propagandizing) to the point where consumers don’t even know they are being sold. Businesses love Henry because he not only moves product, he actually controls their customers.
But when Henry is forced to face how his techniques affect real people, he realizes he has inadvertently given corporations the power to destroy society for their own ends.
THE CURTAIN explores the effect that increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques have on communities, families, and individuals. In an age of digital distractions, who remembers the transcendent morality that has allowed past civilizations to prosper? When corporations have the influence and motive to define people by what they consume, are we as individuals losing the substance of who we really are?
THE CURTAIN is entertaining, fun, thought provoking, educational, and frightening. Ord’s storytelling is brilliant and his research extraordinary. THE CURTAIN is a must read for anyone that watches television or movies, listens to the radio, accesses the internet, logs into social media, has a smart phone, participates in loyalty card programs, or uses GPS technology. In short, THE CURTAIN is for everyone.
THE CURTAIN – A NOVEL ON AUDIO:
THE CURTAIN’s Audio book (available at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes) features the talents of acclaimed narrator RC BRAY. RC has performed Off-Broadway in NYC, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and many stages in between. He has narrated countless audio books and voiced numerous radio and television commercials for the likes of Prudential, Scott Towels, Target, and Panasonic. He has even lent his voice talents for The Biography Channel (Bio), A&E, CNBC, and others. As RC will tell you, however, he is particularly proud of his work on THE CURTAIN.
Have you met Henry Maddox? He knows you — not personally of course… he really only knows your data. But from that data he actually may know you better than you think you know yourself. Henry knows where you’ve been and what you’ve bought. He knows all of your friends. Henry not only knows your behaviors, he understands your tendencies. And from those tendencies, he can predict what you’re going to do before you’ve actually done it.
Who is Henry Maddox? He is a 21st century marketing consultant and he specializes in highly personal and irresistibly persuasive advertising.
Henry’s strategies combine modern data mining (Big Data) techniques with other advanced and controversial marketing practices (Market Fragmentation, Cross Promotion, and Conglomerate Propagandizing) to the point where consumers don’t even know they are being sold. Businesses love Henry because he not only moves product, he actually controls their customers.
But when Henry is forced to face how his techniques affect real people, he realizes he has inadvertently given corporations the power to destroy society for their own ends.
THE CURTAIN explores the effect that increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques have on communities, families, and individuals. In an age of digital distractions, who remembers the transcendent morality that has allowed past civilizations to prosper? When corporations have the influence and motive to define people by what they consume, are we as individuals losing the substance of who we really are?
THE CURTAIN is entertaining, fun, thought provoking, educational, and frightening. Ord’s storytelling is brilliant and his research extraordinary. THE CURTAIN is a must read for anyone that watches television or movies, listens to the radio, accesses the internet, logs into social media, has a smart phone, participates in loyalty card programs, or uses GPS technology. In short, THE CURTAIN is for everyone.
THE CURTAIN – A NOVEL ON AUDIO:
THE CURTAIN’s Audio book (available at Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes) features the talents of acclaimed narrator RC BRAY. RC has performed Off-Broadway in NYC, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and many stages in between. He has narrated countless audio books and voiced numerous radio and television commercials for the likes of Prudential, Scott Towels, Target, and Panasonic. He has even lent his voice talents for The Biography Channel (Bio), A&E, CNBC, and others. As RC will tell you, however, he is particularly proud of his work on THE CURTAIN.
314 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2013
113 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Ord
1 book5 followersPeople who seek to profit at the expense of others have never had it so good. Tools exist in today’s digital economy that allow the knowledgeable and motivated to manipulate and even enslave the less sophisticated. Patrick Ord was so concerned about educating others to these dangers that he wrote THE CURTAIN.
Though the content of THE CURTAIN could have been conveyed in a nonfiction format, Ord wanted to reach a broader audience. He thus wrote a story that allows the reader to digest sophisticated and destructive insider business strategies while being engrossed in an entertaining plot. Ord’s formula has proven to be an outstanding success. Readers as diverse as grandmothers to Chief Technology Officers and teenagers to PHDs have all provided rave reviews.
If current day business is not so much concerned with creating products as making consumers, as Ord’s main character Henry Maddox believes, it’s time for you to meet your maker.
Patrick Ord owns and operates his own business consulting firm. He and his wife Emily have five children. Visit Patrick’s blog for THE CURTAIN at henrymaddox.com.
A SAMPLING OF REVIEWS:
"This summer I read this novel in two days sitting on my couch trying to ignore morning sickness. It was pretty gripping. Told like a Dan Brown thriller, The Curtain exposes some of the biggest secrets of the Internet business. Hint: it’s all about getting your information. And there’s a part about how mommy blogging is used to drive women to perfection which ultimately leads them to buy more stuff. You can imagine I was pretty engrossed."
- Courtney Kendrick from cjanekendrick.com
"I’m mad that these big-profit businesses can get into our homes. I’m mad that without permission they can just put things out there that are dangerous and that can hurt people. I read a book this summer called 'The Curtain' that was SOOO interesting… Read it if you want an interesting way to open your eyes to how companies work to gather information and use it to catch people in their snare and make money. It’s scary business."
- Shawni Pothier from 71toes.com
"THE CURTAIN goes so deeply into how your data is used, how much it effects you and everyone else. It’s a lesson to be learned, which is taught, I think, very well.
After you read the last page, you look up, and realize, not only was it a good story, but that it’s happening."
- Nathan (9th Grade)
Though the content of THE CURTAIN could have been conveyed in a nonfiction format, Ord wanted to reach a broader audience. He thus wrote a story that allows the reader to digest sophisticated and destructive insider business strategies while being engrossed in an entertaining plot. Ord’s formula has proven to be an outstanding success. Readers as diverse as grandmothers to Chief Technology Officers and teenagers to PHDs have all provided rave reviews.
If current day business is not so much concerned with creating products as making consumers, as Ord’s main character Henry Maddox believes, it’s time for you to meet your maker.
Patrick Ord owns and operates his own business consulting firm. He and his wife Emily have five children. Visit Patrick’s blog for THE CURTAIN at henrymaddox.com.
A SAMPLING OF REVIEWS:
"This summer I read this novel in two days sitting on my couch trying to ignore morning sickness. It was pretty gripping. Told like a Dan Brown thriller, The Curtain exposes some of the biggest secrets of the Internet business. Hint: it’s all about getting your information. And there’s a part about how mommy blogging is used to drive women to perfection which ultimately leads them to buy more stuff. You can imagine I was pretty engrossed."
- Courtney Kendrick from cjanekendrick.com
"I’m mad that these big-profit businesses can get into our homes. I’m mad that without permission they can just put things out there that are dangerous and that can hurt people. I read a book this summer called 'The Curtain' that was SOOO interesting… Read it if you want an interesting way to open your eyes to how companies work to gather information and use it to catch people in their snare and make money. It’s scary business."
- Shawni Pothier from 71toes.com
"THE CURTAIN goes so deeply into how your data is used, how much it effects you and everyone else. It’s a lesson to be learned, which is taught, I think, very well.
After you read the last page, you look up, and realize, not only was it a good story, but that it’s happening."
- Nathan (9th Grade)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
February 26, 2014
Wow. As a work of literature, this book is only mediocre, but as a lesson in digital marketing and economics, it is brilliant. I could not put this book down. I highly recommend it to anyone who uses the internet (ha!). I am really hoping that I can convince my book group to read this because it will be a remarkable discussion. I have never been under the delusion that anything I do online is private (when I receive an actual email from Amazon if I search for a product on google, it is clear that there is some serious digital tracking happening)--but I had no idea how extensive that data is mined. I actually deleted Facebook off of my phone after reading about 1/3 of the book. I was considering doing it anyway after reading some posts from "Hands Free Mama" and because I had been delaying installing the most recent FB update because the permissions it requested made me feel uncomfortable, but reading "The Curtain" gave me the final nudge to do it. Unfortunately, all of the tracking software is probably running on my phone anyway, and of course, because I enjoy connecting with friends and family, I still have FB on my desktop. Thus the challenge...I am not anti-technology (neither is the book); the question is how do we responsibly incorporate technology into our culture without destroying our society. I was also fascinated and frightened by the methodology for fragmenting new markets. I like to think of myself as being above a lot of that type of marketing (I regularly and happily shop at Goodwill!) but the book exposed just how deeply pinpointed marketing can reach our psyches (and our children). Read this book! Some of you may find it too conservative or inflammatory, but it will make you think about your relationship with the digital world and you won't regret reading it.
April 24, 2013
I don't leave many five-star reviews; those are reserved for books that blow me away with their plot, or move me deeply in some way. That said, I gave The Curtain a five-star rating because it scared the crap out of me. Yes, I know it's fiction, but there is enough truth behind the "science" to make it believable.
Data mining for marketing and other more nefarious purposes is pervasive; I see it every day on Facebook. You think those silly questions that make the rounds are fun and harmless, asking you to list your favorite color, your mother's maiden name, the street you lived on as a child, and the first two letters of each combine to make your stripper name. Without thinking about it, you just gave everyone answers to questions that can be used to validate your identity, say, if someone pretending to be you contacted a retail website they know you frequent, and allege to have lost their password. Boom! They're you! If that website stores your credit card information, that person can buy to their heart's content, thanks to your playing a silly game. Scary, right?
As a result, I went to the social networking sites I frequent and immediately started revoking privileges and removing as much personal info as I could. Will it help protect me? Who knows, but I feel a little better. I'll certainly be more mindful in the future. And if you read this book, you will be too.
Data mining for marketing and other more nefarious purposes is pervasive; I see it every day on Facebook. You think those silly questions that make the rounds are fun and harmless, asking you to list your favorite color, your mother's maiden name, the street you lived on as a child, and the first two letters of each combine to make your stripper name. Without thinking about it, you just gave everyone answers to questions that can be used to validate your identity, say, if someone pretending to be you contacted a retail website they know you frequent, and allege to have lost their password. Boom! They're you! If that website stores your credit card information, that person can buy to their heart's content, thanks to your playing a silly game. Scary, right?
As a result, I went to the social networking sites I frequent and immediately started revoking privileges and removing as much personal info as I could. Will it help protect me? Who knows, but I feel a little better. I'll certainly be more mindful in the future. And if you read this book, you will be too.
April 7, 2021
The irony that this guy says "no one is going to watch a show that preaches to them" while writing such a preachy book. The first half of the book is really heavy handed on the proselytizing. I almost had to stop reading when one of the characters started suggesting that the song "Born This Way" was encouraging kids to engage in sexual experimentation rather than just, ya know, encouraging kids to recognize that God makes no mistakes and you were born that way... precisely as the song states. Anyway, I kept reading mainly because I have a problem with not finishing books. They have to basically be unreadable for me not to finish. Thankfully, this one dropped the pulpit routine and got to the actual story for the second half. The story itself was intriguing. It wasn't mind blowing or anything.
April 28, 2014
The fundamentalists are at it again...thank goodness this was free. The book starts out really well, describing how powerful companies get us to buy their products. It also explains how our information is so valuable, and can be used in so many different ways. But then we are introduced to a man who works for Save The Family...hmmm...sounds a little like Focus on the Family? His ways are outdated, but God is telling him to continue to speak out about our declining morals, etc. We are told how corporations have tried to fragment people. Specifically by first getting women to have their own careers, more disposable income now. Later by divorce...then by sexual identification. You get the idea. I find it very deceiving not to have mentioned anything about the true nature of this book in it's description. And that is all I shall say.
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June 4, 2020Awesome. For a first book Patrick nailed it. Can't wait for his next book.
June 21, 2014
I downloaded the Kindle version of this book for free in return for a review.
Was very impressed. Most first novels I read as free downloads are in desperate need of editing, but this was done well. The story is an interesting premise - especially for an IT geek like myself. It is about social media & the information that it holds about the participants. It indicates that beyond the directed advertising that we are already familiar with (and I personally think is clever & useful), there are darker forces as work, such as advertising specifically targeting the weak and trying to break up their relationships, as this will provide better profit to the companies who advertise.
One chilling example is a young man who was addicted to gambling but on the road to recovery, when gaming software on his computer recognises emails from him to his gambling anonymous sponsor & deliberately targets him - offering him free gambling credits within the game to get him hooked once again. Of course, this is fiction, but it gets you thinking about the information that is available about you online to companies who are trying to sell you things.
Henry is a social media marketing whizz, who advises many of the major companies in the US. He suggests practises that push the boundaries of ethics to provide greater profits. He also teaches at the local university, sharing some of his wisdom to up an coming marketers. Pressley is one of his students who knows that there is something wrong with his arguments, as they do not fit with her ideas of how people should be.
Henry is approached by Laroy, a pro-family campaigner who recognises that he needs help if he is going to connect with people online in the current climate. Henry takes on the job only because he thinks that Laroy's followers will be a new market that he has had little visibility of in the past. Pressley volunteers to help out with the campaign.
However, Henry is 'converted' to thinking that perhaps money is not everything, and that protecting people with self-respect is better than creating people with self-image only. He goes away to think, and all hell breaks loose, when Pressley & Laroy inadvertently realise information about one of Henry's high-profile clients. Henry has to choose which life he she align himself with.
Was very impressed. Most first novels I read as free downloads are in desperate need of editing, but this was done well. The story is an interesting premise - especially for an IT geek like myself. It is about social media & the information that it holds about the participants. It indicates that beyond the directed advertising that we are already familiar with (and I personally think is clever & useful), there are darker forces as work, such as advertising specifically targeting the weak and trying to break up their relationships, as this will provide better profit to the companies who advertise.
One chilling example is a young man who was addicted to gambling but on the road to recovery, when gaming software on his computer recognises emails from him to his gambling anonymous sponsor & deliberately targets him - offering him free gambling credits within the game to get him hooked once again. Of course, this is fiction, but it gets you thinking about the information that is available about you online to companies who are trying to sell you things.
Henry is a social media marketing whizz, who advises many of the major companies in the US. He suggests practises that push the boundaries of ethics to provide greater profits. He also teaches at the local university, sharing some of his wisdom to up an coming marketers. Pressley is one of his students who knows that there is something wrong with his arguments, as they do not fit with her ideas of how people should be.
Henry is approached by Laroy, a pro-family campaigner who recognises that he needs help if he is going to connect with people online in the current climate. Henry takes on the job only because he thinks that Laroy's followers will be a new market that he has had little visibility of in the past. Pressley volunteers to help out with the campaign.
However, Henry is 'converted' to thinking that perhaps money is not everything, and that protecting people with self-respect is better than creating people with self-image only. He goes away to think, and all hell breaks loose, when Pressley & Laroy inadvertently realise information about one of Henry's high-profile clients. Henry has to choose which life he she align himself with.
July 9, 2014
"No one is going to watch a show that preaches to them," says the marketing guru Prof. Henry Maddox around p. 81 of this novel (assuming my ereader paginates like your ereader). And that's really the biggest problem with The Curtain for the non-Christian reader. The novel has a lot of thought-provoking things to say about the problematic power of marketing and consumerism, but it risks losing readers as soon as it starts to preach ... which it does a little too often for my taste.
That said, I think much of what this novel says about how consumerism and market fragmentation has negatively affected society is accurate. I don't think it's quite the organized conspiracy that Maddox cheerfully and approvingly describes it as in his various lectures to students and clients, but there's no question that the overall effect of rampant consumerism and marketing-associated privacy invasion and data collection is not very healthy for society. And, refreshingly, The Curtain doesn't use this point to condemn capitalism per se — rather, it suggests that we're doing capitalism wrong. And that's fair enough.
What grated my teeth while reading this was the novel's strong nuclear family/heterosexist bias. We're entering conspiracy-world once we start accusing the market of deliberately breaking up families and promoting alternative sexualities, though I agree that the market will certainly do its best to identify and exploit any discrete demographic category it can identify.
Still, if you either agree with the novel's biases or can ignore the ones you disagree with long enough, I think you'll appreciate its tale of the ways in which one particularly ruthless and savvy marketer uses consumer data to manipulate the public. It's certainly going to make you think about how your own data is being used to sell things to you, or simply to sell you ... here on Goodreads and just about anywhere else online.
That said, I think much of what this novel says about how consumerism and market fragmentation has negatively affected society is accurate. I don't think it's quite the organized conspiracy that Maddox cheerfully and approvingly describes it as in his various lectures to students and clients, but there's no question that the overall effect of rampant consumerism and marketing-associated privacy invasion and data collection is not very healthy for society. And, refreshingly, The Curtain doesn't use this point to condemn capitalism per se — rather, it suggests that we're doing capitalism wrong. And that's fair enough.
What grated my teeth while reading this was the novel's strong nuclear family/heterosexist bias. We're entering conspiracy-world once we start accusing the market of deliberately breaking up families and promoting alternative sexualities, though I agree that the market will certainly do its best to identify and exploit any discrete demographic category it can identify.
Still, if you either agree with the novel's biases or can ignore the ones you disagree with long enough, I think you'll appreciate its tale of the ways in which one particularly ruthless and savvy marketer uses consumer data to manipulate the public. It's certainly going to make you think about how your own data is being used to sell things to you, or simply to sell you ... here on Goodreads and just about anywhere else online.
March 2, 2016
I honestly wish the author or publisher would have been more upfront about this being an evangelical book. It is a good read when you think about the marketing schemes and ploys for buying power and controlling people via social media, the internet, etc. It is a less than mediocre read when there's bible verses at the top of nearly every chapter, the hero is a Christian, and it's too close in name to NOT get that it's playing at Focus on the Family.
It's the cliche story of the main protagonist with a broken background saved by an evangelical when he's shown the wrongs of his own ways, blah, blah, blah. And the cliche of the romance bit that never existed before near-tragedy. Old methods, new story, not impressed. Certainly not impressed with fairly high predictability.
From the synopsis: "But when Henry is forced to face how his techniques affect real people, he realizes he has inadvertently given corporations the power to destroy society for their own ends."
This isn't even close to being accurate. Written by someone in the marketing business, it's obvious this author also knows about false advertising.
Oi. I've deleted and re-written this review so many times. I give up.
Christians will soak up this book and give them more hope that they are making a difference on such a huge scale. Congratulations.
Heathens or non-Christians will be annoyed with the obvious preachy aspect (which occurs throughout), but will only enjoy it, if at all, for the interesting parts about marketing, scheming, scamming, the internet, etc.
It's the cliche story of the main protagonist with a broken background saved by an evangelical when he's shown the wrongs of his own ways, blah, blah, blah. And the cliche of the romance bit that never existed before near-tragedy. Old methods, new story, not impressed. Certainly not impressed with fairly high predictability.
From the synopsis: "But when Henry is forced to face how his techniques affect real people, he realizes he has inadvertently given corporations the power to destroy society for their own ends."
This isn't even close to being accurate. Written by someone in the marketing business, it's obvious this author also knows about false advertising.
Oi. I've deleted and re-written this review so many times. I give up.
Christians will soak up this book and give them more hope that they are making a difference on such a huge scale. Congratulations.
Heathens or non-Christians will be annoyed with the obvious preachy aspect (which occurs throughout), but will only enjoy it, if at all, for the interesting parts about marketing, scheming, scamming, the internet, etc.
October 31, 2014
my exact rating would be '3.5'.I got this book free of cost in amazon. thanks to bookbub.
Wow, what can i say about this book?. The plot which is chosen by the author could have been a best seller. but, somehow in the middle, he messed it up. The story is somewhat of an unusual in the sense that one man fighting against the whole corporate america. i could not deny the fact that i have enjoyed reading this book. but felt all the way that something was missing.
The ending of the book is not so convincing. Except the lead character, other important characters are ignored to a level that they only popped into the story when it needed them. it kinda looked artificial.
but, i have recommended this book to a couple of my friends. the only reason i did that, because,you get to understand how corporate and media manipulates people into doing something.which is the major story line of this book. 'how your personal data collected online is used to manipulate you'. That's what made me like this book. The author has done a very good job of explaining the tricks that are used by skilled online marketers to sell something to you online.
This book is not a must read. but i can say it can't hurt though.
Wow, what can i say about this book?. The plot which is chosen by the author could have been a best seller. but, somehow in the middle, he messed it up. The story is somewhat of an unusual in the sense that one man fighting against the whole corporate america. i could not deny the fact that i have enjoyed reading this book. but felt all the way that something was missing.
The ending of the book is not so convincing. Except the lead character, other important characters are ignored to a level that they only popped into the story when it needed them. it kinda looked artificial.
but, i have recommended this book to a couple of my friends. the only reason i did that, because,you get to understand how corporate and media manipulates people into doing something.which is the major story line of this book. 'how your personal data collected online is used to manipulate you'. That's what made me like this book. The author has done a very good job of explaining the tricks that are used by skilled online marketers to sell something to you online.
This book is not a must read. but i can say it can't hurt though.
May 29, 2014
The first half of this book is one of the best marketing books I have ever read. The second half explains how that marketing is being used against us to invade our personal privacy. It also lays out a method to help hide your personal information.
This book is SO relevant today. I am SO glad I picked it up. I wish everyone online would read this book to understand how their personal information is at risk.
I must admit I picked the book up because of the cover. I had no idea what it was about when I began to read. As I read, I thought this was better than any of the marketing books I had read in school or since. Then I saw how these principles in conjunction with computer databases target the individual on a more and more personal level until personal privacy no longer exists.
I really liked that the author even laid out a strategy the individual can use to help cover the personal data they would like to keep private.
The story is secondary to the excellent information this book provides. But it did hold my interest and the main character was a bit of a surprise in one respect while acting true to character type in another.
The author could benefit from a proof reader because there were some sentence errors in the book but it was easy enough to figure out what he meant and there were only a few so it did not detract from the story.
This book is SO relevant today. I am SO glad I picked it up. I wish everyone online would read this book to understand how their personal information is at risk.
I must admit I picked the book up because of the cover. I had no idea what it was about when I began to read. As I read, I thought this was better than any of the marketing books I had read in school or since. Then I saw how these principles in conjunction with computer databases target the individual on a more and more personal level until personal privacy no longer exists.
I really liked that the author even laid out a strategy the individual can use to help cover the personal data they would like to keep private.
The story is secondary to the excellent information this book provides. But it did hold my interest and the main character was a bit of a surprise in one respect while acting true to character type in another.
The author could benefit from a proof reader because there were some sentence errors in the book but it was easy enough to figure out what he meant and there were only a few so it did not detract from the story.
May 9, 2014
In this hyperconnected world where our preferences in just about everything have become known - by Facebook, Amazon, and more areas than we can count, Patrick Ord offers a frightening tale regarding abuse of data and its societal consequences.
Protagonist Henry Maddox consults with businesses on how to mine and use data - in ways that undermine not just our privacy, but our very way of life. Henry is amoral but meets a man who causes him to undertake an inner journey and change his life for one of meaning. (This is the one part of this compelling read that didn't ring as true to me, but I'm not sure how you'd write it differently and still keep the pace of the book.)
If you wonder at all about Big Data and how it is being used, this is a great exploration. Although this is a novel, the concepts are thought provoking. And the protagonist(s) offer some ideas to avoid being "known" and therefore manipulated so easily.
Protagonist Henry Maddox consults with businesses on how to mine and use data - in ways that undermine not just our privacy, but our very way of life. Henry is amoral but meets a man who causes him to undertake an inner journey and change his life for one of meaning. (This is the one part of this compelling read that didn't ring as true to me, but I'm not sure how you'd write it differently and still keep the pace of the book.)
If you wonder at all about Big Data and how it is being used, this is a great exploration. Although this is a novel, the concepts are thought provoking. And the protagonist(s) offer some ideas to avoid being "known" and therefore manipulated so easily.
April 20, 2013
I received this book as a First Reads giveaway. I found this to be a very interesting book. The story provides both a compelling plot as well as quite an education on modern marketing and data mining. Henry Maddox is a man that knows all the ways to increase market size, market share, and even how to create whole new markets. Companies pay Henry huge amounts for his knowledge, and his life is one of fast cars, fine food, and every extravagance money can buy. All is well in Henry's world until he meets a man that changes his way of thinking forever. Henry's odyssey offers a glimpse into the world we are increasingly being drawn, as well as a look at some ways to change our direction and take control of our destiny again. Henry Maddox lives!
July 26, 2016
This book is written in a novel format for easy reading, but it is a warning of what is happening in our world with the collection of Big Data. It has some very good insights and information. Having a spouse in the telecommunication field where Big Data is a big deal and having personally experienced some of the scenarios in the book and with the "curtain" being parted regarding our country's NSA data collection it is hard to blow this book off as simple paranoia. However, it is up to the reader to determine what to do with the information presented in this novel. Is it just a novel or is it more?
June 16, 2014
This book made me realize how data is the new currency. It exposed how companies market to individuals and can actually change how people view themselves. I thought the section about self-esteem vs. self-respect was especially enlightening. I read this book in a day and was truly hooked. I rarely give 5 star reviews, but this one was worth it-rarely does a fiction book make me want to change my behaviors in such an immediate way. If you use the internet, you should read this book. I loved the ending and how ethics within business practices was constantly questioned and justified. People are not products.
May 16, 2014
This is my first read in this genre (technothiller/mystery/suspense). Initially, I thought I would have to force myself to finish; hence, that was so NOT the case. This book had me from chapter 1, first paragraph. It provided insight on marketing & advertising strategies used to manipulate consumers purchasing behaviors. The information in this book will cause you to think about your purchasing habits and the persuasion behind them. Even though this is a book of fiction, the author provide information that hit very close to home. I enjoyed it! It left me wanting more!
May 26, 2014
This is a book that makes the reader think about how much the digital age has affected our lives. Did you ever really think about those pop-up ads that you see on Facebook or AOL that seem to be designed just for you? This book explores how we can be manipulated and also the power of the internet. Interesting premise and plot. I was not totally happy with the ending...would have liked an epilog. However, that would not stop me from recommending this book, especially to techies.
March 9, 2016
If you already have a hunch about marketing ploys then you will be absolutely absorbed with the information Ord reveals--very interesting and troubling. The fictional story contained within the information wasn't bad nor good, maybe a 3-star. Ord's website www.henrymaddox.com has even more interesting information to study and consider.
January 20, 2014
Though the book is slow and has more explanatory material than story, it is fascinating and provides an excellent explanation of modern marketing techniques and the potential for good and evil in today's technology. I would recommend that everyone with a social media account read it.
December 18, 2014
Very preachy.
The dialogue is very stilted and unnatural. The premise is good, but the characters are just too contrived to make it work.
The dialogue is very stilted and unnatural. The premise is good, but the characters are just too contrived to make it work.
October 8, 2019
Genre: Action
Summary: Henry Maddox is an economics professor and consultant. His specialty is using data analytics to develop new markets and products. When a pro-family anti-consumerism group tries to hire him to help advance their message, his life takes a drastic turn.
Review: This book feels like a thesis with a storyline thrown in to keep it interesting. I enjoyed reading it, but the characters are pretty one-dimensional. The message of the book is that we give away too much for too little when it comes to our personal data, and I have to agree. It's a pretty quick read, and might work well for an English class.
Summary: Henry Maddox is an economics professor and consultant. His specialty is using data analytics to develop new markets and products. When a pro-family anti-consumerism group tries to hire him to help advance their message, his life takes a drastic turn.
Review: This book feels like a thesis with a storyline thrown in to keep it interesting. I enjoyed reading it, but the characters are pretty one-dimensional. The message of the book is that we give away too much for too little when it comes to our personal data, and I have to agree. It's a pretty quick read, and might work well for an English class.
August 23, 2018
3 1/5 I thought the ideas where interesting. It is crazy how much information we put out there to be gathered and how easily that information can be used for marketing. I wish the book was more clear on actually data rather than speculation. It did make me rethink my families social media and other habits a little and have discussion with them about how people can use information they put out there.
May 29, 2019
What worries me is . . . I believe this is really happening. Maybe not to the extent written about in this book, but I'm not doubtful that it could come to this. I enjoyed the book, and didn't give it a higher rating mainly due to the "preachy" parts. I feel they could have been shortened or paraphrased and not have impacted the story negatively. Other than that, definitely a thought provoking story.
September 16, 2017
This book starts out a bit dry - reading more like a college econ textbook than a novel. I was about ready to give it up when a plot twist took place and caught my attention. It still has a lot of passages that sound like a textbook, but they are worth reading, and the plot really ramps up. If you spend a lot of time on the Internet or on your smart phone, you really should read this!
December 13, 2019
What really happens to all that data that companies collect on us? Ord gives us a peek behind the curtain and it’s not pretty. Written in 2013, I wonder what Ord (and main character, Henry Maddox) would have to say about our personal data today. Set in the area I grew up in, SF Bay Area, this story is sure to leave you thinking.
May 11, 2018
A fictional story, but scary just how plausible the premise is. Just how much information is being collected from us, and how is it being used? Is there any privacy anymore? This one will stay with me for a while.
September 6, 2018
Excellent thought-provoking book. It's the "1984" of the 21st Century. Everyone should read it. Very frightening and makes you think every time you buy something or use the internet or write an email or tweet or whatever form of communication you use.
May 26, 2019
Very interesting
I had no idea what selling data really meant until I read this outstanding book!!! Love the people he created to tell this story of manipulation in the world today..very current on details.
I had no idea what selling data really meant until I read this outstanding book!!! Love the people he created to tell this story of manipulation in the world today..very current on details.
September 8, 2019
Excellent & thought provoking
A must read for those concerned where our society is heading and the influence of social media. Patrick Ord's The Curtain" is an easy read but with lots to think about. You can see where the evil and selfish intent of man can go. 5stars.
A must read for those concerned where our society is heading and the influence of social media. Patrick Ord's The Curtain" is an easy read but with lots to think about. You can see where the evil and selfish intent of man can go. 5stars.
October 24, 2021
Questions
This book made me think, hard. I quite enjoyed reading it but at the same time, I had questions about the content I see after visiting a website or sending an email\message. Definitely a book people should read
This book made me think, hard. I quite enjoyed reading it but at the same time, I had questions about the content I see after visiting a website or sending an email\message. Definitely a book people should read
September 3, 2023
Disquietingly realistic
The premise of this book does not only seem possible, but probable. A very uncomfortable feeling, I must say. Definitely a lot of food for thought and we’ll worth the read.
The premise of this book does not only seem possible, but probable. A very uncomfortable feeling, I must say. Definitely a lot of food for thought and we’ll worth the read.
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