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The Snowden Avalanche
In the very near future, only the rich and the devious have privacy. The Snowden Avalanche has revealed the private transgressions of ordinary US citizens in such astonishing numbers that the whole aggrieved nation seems to be coming to the collective decision that the Puritan prudery of America’s first settlers finally, and forever, has to be kicked to the curb.
Manhattan-based iAesthetician Sabina Hrafnsson has made a lucrative career out of buffing up the images of those who got caught in the Snowden Avalanche with their pants down. Aside from her sucky luck at romance, she’s happy with the way things have turned out. But when Sabina agrees to do some PR work for a secretive Wall Street billionaire—“the Thomas Pynchon of high-frequency trading firm CEOs”—the complications in her life suddenly go viral.
Sabina becomes entangled in a web of conspiracies so vast and bizarre that it soon feels like she’s living a sequel to Orwell’s "1984." Only this time Big Brother faces a more formidable foe than Winston Smith: a wily and gleefully foul-mouthed New York City blonde who looks “like that intrepid Alpine waif, Heidi, all grown up into a high-strung slut wearing see-through yoga pants from Lululemon.”
If Big Brother has any plans for slut-shaming, he’d better watch his f#@king back…
Manhattan-based iAesthetician Sabina Hrafnsson has made a lucrative career out of buffing up the images of those who got caught in the Snowden Avalanche with their pants down. Aside from her sucky luck at romance, she’s happy with the way things have turned out. But when Sabina agrees to do some PR work for a secretive Wall Street billionaire—“the Thomas Pynchon of high-frequency trading firm CEOs”—the complications in her life suddenly go viral.
Sabina becomes entangled in a web of conspiracies so vast and bizarre that it soon feels like she’s living a sequel to Orwell’s "1984." Only this time Big Brother faces a more formidable foe than Winston Smith: a wily and gleefully foul-mouthed New York City blonde who looks “like that intrepid Alpine waif, Heidi, all grown up into a high-strung slut wearing see-through yoga pants from Lululemon.”
If Big Brother has any plans for slut-shaming, he’d better watch his f#@king back…
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 9, 2014
3 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
About the author
Derek Swannson
7 books21 followersDerek Swannson is the author of The Snowden Avalanche and the Crash Gordon trilogy. He writes his books on trains and in the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy at the New York Public Library.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 27, 2016
I've taken the trip down the dark rabbit hole of Derek Swannson's books a few times now, and I feel I'm a bit of a Crash-ologist. Not only have I read the first two Crash Gordon books, I've also been cross referencing the information found in their pages to create a bibliography for study; I also own the majority of the albums he’s referenced. My intention has always been to help the author break away from the pack of standard "tin foil hat" conspiracy authors—and find a larger audience—by bringing to light the severe truth that's found in his prose.
The Snowden Avalanche is a different book than Swannson’s previous Crash Gordon offerings (at the time of this writing, the third Crash Gordon book has just been released). Most noticeably, it's much, much shorter. And it's a more action-based thriller. With the Crash Gordon books, there's always a lot of rock ‘n’ roll insanity interwoven in the authentic stark reality. However, in The Snowden Avalanche, I feel it's more reality-based than fiction.
Edward Snowden isn't featured in this book, if you're gauging the contents by its title. But the aftermath of his legacy and the damage to the public’s trust of the US government (aka the "Avalanche") is an ongoing theme. The story's central character, Sabina, offers creative PR services to help clean up and rebrand high profile clients who’ve suffered personal and professional damage from having their private information (collected by the NSA) made public.
Along her path, Sabina meets a sexy, philosophical cowboy creating a counterattack website called S***birds.com to expose white-collar evildoers and their crimes against humanity. And that's when the S***birds start hitting the fan.
Imagine Douglas Adams smoking weed with Thomas Pynchon while asking John le Carré for his views on the world and you’ll get a sense of Swannson’s writing style. In fact, the pace and staging reminded me of Inherent Vice with a topping of The Constant Gardener, set to a soundtrack by Nick Cave. And there's just enough sarcastic humor sprinkled throughout to still make it fun.
What always makes Swannson's books a joy is how meta they can get. There are sly references to his previous two books, making it a living, breathing, self-contained universe. Books within books, as it were. But you don't need to read the Crash Gordon series to appreciate this one. In fact, considering its shorter length—and the more direct approach to storytelling and more well known contemporary media turmoil—I'd recommend The Snowden Avalanche as the entry point for the initiate into Swannson's world. You’ll get the same dosage of his writing style, Deep State information, and integrated universe, but without the obligation of navigating three 500+ page books in your first row through Derek Swannson's literary waters. It will, however, encourage you to read the other three books right away.
I look at this NSA-bashing book as a great service to the citizens of the US population (and the global community at large) and to the world of literature. Even read as pure fiction, the writing alone makes it well worth your time and money.
The Snowden Avalanche is a different book than Swannson’s previous Crash Gordon offerings (at the time of this writing, the third Crash Gordon book has just been released). Most noticeably, it's much, much shorter. And it's a more action-based thriller. With the Crash Gordon books, there's always a lot of rock ‘n’ roll insanity interwoven in the authentic stark reality. However, in The Snowden Avalanche, I feel it's more reality-based than fiction.
Edward Snowden isn't featured in this book, if you're gauging the contents by its title. But the aftermath of his legacy and the damage to the public’s trust of the US government (aka the "Avalanche") is an ongoing theme. The story's central character, Sabina, offers creative PR services to help clean up and rebrand high profile clients who’ve suffered personal and professional damage from having their private information (collected by the NSA) made public.
Along her path, Sabina meets a sexy, philosophical cowboy creating a counterattack website called S***birds.com to expose white-collar evildoers and their crimes against humanity. And that's when the S***birds start hitting the fan.
Imagine Douglas Adams smoking weed with Thomas Pynchon while asking John le Carré for his views on the world and you’ll get a sense of Swannson’s writing style. In fact, the pace and staging reminded me of Inherent Vice with a topping of The Constant Gardener, set to a soundtrack by Nick Cave. And there's just enough sarcastic humor sprinkled throughout to still make it fun.
What always makes Swannson's books a joy is how meta they can get. There are sly references to his previous two books, making it a living, breathing, self-contained universe. Books within books, as it were. But you don't need to read the Crash Gordon series to appreciate this one. In fact, considering its shorter length—and the more direct approach to storytelling and more well known contemporary media turmoil—I'd recommend The Snowden Avalanche as the entry point for the initiate into Swannson's world. You’ll get the same dosage of his writing style, Deep State information, and integrated universe, but without the obligation of navigating three 500+ page books in your first row through Derek Swannson's literary waters. It will, however, encourage you to read the other three books right away.
I look at this NSA-bashing book as a great service to the citizens of the US population (and the global community at large) and to the world of literature. Even read as pure fiction, the writing alone makes it well worth your time and money.
February 25, 2015
I recieved a copy of The Snowden Avalance for review from Goodreads First Reads.
I wasn't sure about this book when I started it, and I'm still not sure after finishing if I actually enjoyed it.
The good stuff mainly involves the characters; while filled with some rubbish stereotypes I did enjoy the character "banter", particularly MacDuff who I could imagine perfectly and I found totally hilarious. The story is also very well plotted and interesting enough to hold your attention for the most part.
However there was lots I didnt like about the book. Firstly, some of it is frankly repulsive. I read at work, and there were moments where I felt so uncomfortable reading parts of this book in the staff room that I had to put the book away. And all of it was so unnecessary in my opinion. The language doesnt bother me, but *SPOILER ALERT* intimate details of someone sucking off a polar bear, or someone else having a cattle prod shoved up their derrier, are really unpleasant to read about and just didnt sit well with me at all. I also couldnt stand the pages of conspiracy theories dotted throughout the book; whenever I came to a wall of text like that I skipped ahead until we were back to the storyline. As far as I'm aware I missed out on nothing of importance. The weird self-references to the author didnt make much sense to me either.
And at the core of everything, I still don't understand why Sabina would get involved with the project when she's essentially criminalised herself, and screwed herself out of a job by exposing the secrets of people she earns a decent living protecting. It never quite made sense to me, because there were no benefits. And she's supposed to be intelligent right?
I don't think this book will date well at all, so if you are planning on reading The Snowden Avalanche, probably look at doing so within the year before social media evolves again and leaves this book behind.
At best, this is a short, funny, quirky and well-paced adventure with some interesting characters. At worst it is unconvincing, vulgar and doesn't make a lot of sense. It also stops about 20 pages before the end if you ask me!
Not convinced I'd recommend it.
Three stars.
I wasn't sure about this book when I started it, and I'm still not sure after finishing if I actually enjoyed it.
The good stuff mainly involves the characters; while filled with some rubbish stereotypes I did enjoy the character "banter", particularly MacDuff who I could imagine perfectly and I found totally hilarious. The story is also very well plotted and interesting enough to hold your attention for the most part.
However there was lots I didnt like about the book. Firstly, some of it is frankly repulsive. I read at work, and there were moments where I felt so uncomfortable reading parts of this book in the staff room that I had to put the book away. And all of it was so unnecessary in my opinion. The language doesnt bother me, but *SPOILER ALERT* intimate details of someone sucking off a polar bear, or someone else having a cattle prod shoved up their derrier, are really unpleasant to read about and just didnt sit well with me at all. I also couldnt stand the pages of conspiracy theories dotted throughout the book; whenever I came to a wall of text like that I skipped ahead until we were back to the storyline. As far as I'm aware I missed out on nothing of importance. The weird self-references to the author didnt make much sense to me either.
And at the core of everything, I still don't understand why Sabina would get involved with the project when she's essentially criminalised herself, and screwed herself out of a job by exposing the secrets of people she earns a decent living protecting. It never quite made sense to me, because there were no benefits. And she's supposed to be intelligent right?
I don't think this book will date well at all, so if you are planning on reading The Snowden Avalanche, probably look at doing so within the year before social media evolves again and leaves this book behind.
At best, this is a short, funny, quirky and well-paced adventure with some interesting characters. At worst it is unconvincing, vulgar and doesn't make a lot of sense. It also stops about 20 pages before the end if you ask me!
Not convinced I'd recommend it.
Three stars.
December 15, 2014
Because it was written by Derek Swannson. I have long been a fan of Mr. Swannson's work. I have read his entire Crash Gordon series, Crash Gordon and the Mysteries of Kingsburg (Volume 1),Crash Gordon and the Revelations from Big Sur, and Nitt-Witt Ridge: A Big Sur Freak Fable. All were fantastical adventures that delighted me in their ability to swirl together the best of Robert Anton Wilson, Tom Robbins, and Douglas Adams and yet be so strikingly original. This time Swannson has taken inspiration from the Snowden debacle and create an alternate reality where the wall street elite are dying in all kinds of mysterious ways and are desperate to have their evil deeds spun into PR gold by paying insane amounts of money to iAestheticians like Sabina Hrafnsson, the stories protagonist. As usual, I found myself laughing out loud in public places causing people to look at me in more concerned ways than usual. Please read this book, you will never look at iguana floggings in the same way again.
December 14, 2014
I loved it. I consider myself a cynic when it comes to novels, even having subscribed to the notion that "all the good books in the world have already been written" - especially in this genre. But "The Snowden Avalanche" proved me very, very wrong. And I'm delighted to admit it!
The Snowden Avalanche is a fascinating illustration of an alternative timeline that could have conspired in the United States following Edward Snowden's leaks of confidential NSA documents back in June of 2013.
In a future world reminiscent of Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, and even Peter Chung's Aeon Flux, privacy has become a privilege enjoyed only by the rich - and by those to whom extensive secrecy is a prerequisite for maintaing their lifestyle. Indeed, for all others, openness - perhaps in an almost uncomfortably purist sense of the word - has become the new norm. This was the result of the Snowden Avalanche - an event that bolstered a transition to a society where blackmail and secrecy would be rendered impossible by brute-force openness. Our dirtiest and most intimate secrets - from our Google search queries to our browsing histories - divulged and in plain sight.
The story follows the journey of Sabina, a PR image consultant of sorts, who helps restore the prestige of clients whose secrets were forcibly thrust into the public eye. Their reputations smeared or otherwise ruined, it is Sabina's task to restore them to their former glory - a job that she performs with the shrewdness of a lawyer and the tact of a seamstress.
She enjoys her newfound wealth in peace, until she meets Wes. Wes Bramley, an elusive internet giant and business magnate, has recruited her help.
Soon follows an intriguing story involving a cowboy, lusty ideological discussions about Jean-Paul Sartre, deception, technology, and most pressingly, conspiracy on a grand scale. Edgy, sensual, intellectual, and perfectly-paced, "The Snowden Avalanche" is a must. I highly recommend it!
The Snowden Avalanche is a fascinating illustration of an alternative timeline that could have conspired in the United States following Edward Snowden's leaks of confidential NSA documents back in June of 2013.
In a future world reminiscent of Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, and even Peter Chung's Aeon Flux, privacy has become a privilege enjoyed only by the rich - and by those to whom extensive secrecy is a prerequisite for maintaing their lifestyle. Indeed, for all others, openness - perhaps in an almost uncomfortably purist sense of the word - has become the new norm. This was the result of the Snowden Avalanche - an event that bolstered a transition to a society where blackmail and secrecy would be rendered impossible by brute-force openness. Our dirtiest and most intimate secrets - from our Google search queries to our browsing histories - divulged and in plain sight.
The story follows the journey of Sabina, a PR image consultant of sorts, who helps restore the prestige of clients whose secrets were forcibly thrust into the public eye. Their reputations smeared or otherwise ruined, it is Sabina's task to restore them to their former glory - a job that she performs with the shrewdness of a lawyer and the tact of a seamstress.
She enjoys her newfound wealth in peace, until she meets Wes. Wes Bramley, an elusive internet giant and business magnate, has recruited her help.
Soon follows an intriguing story involving a cowboy, lusty ideological discussions about Jean-Paul Sartre, deception, technology, and most pressingly, conspiracy on a grand scale. Edgy, sensual, intellectual, and perfectly-paced, "The Snowden Avalanche" is a must. I highly recommend it!
February 3, 2015
This is my first read by of a novel by author Derek Swannson. 'The Snowden Avalanche' is a book that most likely I will read again. Yes, it is that good!
I fell in love with protagonist, Sabina Hrafnsson, whose career as an iAesthetician, has her working with some high powered men, cleaning up after them and doing damage control after they have committed various acts of perversion i.e. done stupid things that found them in compromising positions. For example, a well known author who during a book signing in New York somehow ended up giving a polar bear a 'Lewinsky' in Central Park Zoo.
Sabina, who reminds me of author John Locke's character Dani Ripper in so many ways, can relate to her clients because she had done some “rather regrettable things” as an adolescent with “common household items repurposed for erotic exploration.” Of course nothing compared to giving a polar bear a bj.
When Sabina is requested to assist in smearing others rather than providing damage control, she reluctantly gets on board, and that is when all hell breaks loose.
Like Lord Acton once said “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and Sabina, being a lover of great philosophies finds herself assisting her new client, a powerful philosophical billionaire cowboy lover, in leveling the playing field against the political elite, despite has trickery and manipulation to get her on board with his plan.
In a not so futuristic world, Sabina is pitted against some rough characters that will stop at nothing to see her out of the picture.
A fast paced read filled with many laugh out loud moments. In today's high tech society, is novel is not so out of the realm, as one reviewer suggested.
I fell in love with protagonist, Sabina Hrafnsson, whose career as an iAesthetician, has her working with some high powered men, cleaning up after them and doing damage control after they have committed various acts of perversion i.e. done stupid things that found them in compromising positions. For example, a well known author who during a book signing in New York somehow ended up giving a polar bear a 'Lewinsky' in Central Park Zoo.
Sabina, who reminds me of author John Locke's character Dani Ripper in so many ways, can relate to her clients because she had done some “rather regrettable things” as an adolescent with “common household items repurposed for erotic exploration.” Of course nothing compared to giving a polar bear a bj.
When Sabina is requested to assist in smearing others rather than providing damage control, she reluctantly gets on board, and that is when all hell breaks loose.
Like Lord Acton once said “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and Sabina, being a lover of great philosophies finds herself assisting her new client, a powerful philosophical billionaire cowboy lover, in leveling the playing field against the political elite, despite has trickery and manipulation to get her on board with his plan.
In a not so futuristic world, Sabina is pitted against some rough characters that will stop at nothing to see her out of the picture.
A fast paced read filled with many laugh out loud moments. In today's high tech society, is novel is not so out of the realm, as one reviewer suggested.
March 13, 2015
The first thing that caught my eye about this book was the witty title so I decided to give it a look, the privacy debate after the NSA leaks has been something that has held my attention for a while now, especially in the light of the recent phone hacking scandals in the UK, with more information coming to light each day. What I found was not just a great book but something of a clever social commentary too, The Snowden Avalanche dramatises an issue which is completely and disturbingly relevant in today’s world and I love the use of an alternative timeline to show just how thing’s could have unfolded. In my opinion this is something that needs to be spoken about and debated more and this book goes a long way towards that by demonstrating just how ugly things can become in a world where privacy now has a price. Even more troubling is that this is a world we very well could of, and yet still, end up living in one day. As well as that Swannson provides a humorous and exhilarating story that will keep you captivated for hours and provide some thought provoking and enjoyable readable. Definitely gets 5 stars from me!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews