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51%
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Expected 28 Apr 26In a future where corporations own everything—including people—one murder could ignite a revolution.
Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments… even human beings.
When a young immigrant woman—51% owned by the syndicates—is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, crime marketing consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can’t crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer.
Their search for the truth leads them to Juke’s ex, a Resistance leader on the syndicates’ most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom. To rescue fifty-one percenters—and everyone else—from syndicate control, they’ll have to defeat the Red Queen, the most ruthless, powerful AI in the world.
51% is a gritty, fast-paced thriller about power, justice, and what happens when everything—even people—can be owned.
Twenty years from now, the United States is completely privatized. The Big Six syndicates own schools, roads, police departments… even human beings.
When a young immigrant woman—51% owned by the syndicates—is brutally murdered, NYPD, Inc. detective Juke O'Keefe and his partner, crime marketing consultant Haylee Navarro, catch the case. Pregnant and broke, Haylee knows they can’t crowdfund enough from a dead immigrant to pay for basic forensics, let alone their paychecks. But Juke, with his old-school sense of justice, is determined to find the killer.
Their search for the truth leads them to Juke’s ex, a Resistance leader on the syndicates’ most wanted list. As the three join forces, they stumble onto a conspiracy designed to destroy the last shreds of American freedom. To rescue fifty-one percenters—and everyone else—from syndicate control, they’ll have to defeat the Red Queen, the most ruthless, powerful AI in the world.
51% is a gritty, fast-paced thriller about power, justice, and what happens when everything—even people—can be owned.
402 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 28, 2026
2 people are currently reading
About the author
Matt Witten
11 books169 followersMatt Witten is a TV writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who has written for many TV shows including House, Pretty Little Liars, Law & Order, Medium, Supernatural, and CSI: Miami. His thriller novel The Necklace is published in eight languages, is an Amazon Editors' Pick, and has been optioned for film by Leonardo DiCaprio. His novel Killer Story won a Foreword Indie award for best mystery and has been optioned for TV by Endgame Entertainment. Matt wrote four amateur sleuth novels that were published by Signet, including the Malice Domestic Award-winning Breakfast at Madeline’s, and he has been nominated for two Edgars and an Emmy. His published stage plays include The Deal, Washington Square Moves, and The Ties That Bind. He wrote the movie Drones, produced by Whitewater Films. His futuristic thriller, 51%, comes out in 2026. NBC has hired Matt to cowrite a TV pilot based on 51%.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I've been reading Matt Witten's excellent books for many years. This one is a real departure from his previous mysteries. It's a true thriller, with an intriguing and well thought out setting -- a future America in which everything has become privatized, it's all about ownership, everything is a commodity, even people. In debt for whatever reason - college tuition, illness, bad luck -- people sell out and can become 51% "owned" which traps them as pawns for the big companies running the world. An independent and ideosyncratic detective, Juke, who would like to stay apolitical, attempts to solve a murder with his partner, crime marketing specialist Haylee, herself in danger of being owned. But can they raise enough money to finance the investigation? Meanwhile Juke's ex girlfriend is working behind the scenes to start an insurrection and to free a first batch of 51%ers by sneaking them into Canada, and Juke and Haylee are drawn into this vortex. The author has created a convincing and nightmarish world, through which we are led by both an intriguing mystery, and by our sympathy for Juke. A fine balance, peppered with exciting action, and characters we care about. Recommended.
March 10, 2026
Review of advance copy received from Author
If Matt wrote it, I have read it, and this is a treat! The questions
and answers posed here are so important, and in some places
are actually scary and nearly here. A futuristic, dystopian world for
some who just cannot pay anymore for what we all expect to have~
a high believability factor in a total work of fiction. I also love
the vocabulary he created, which, of course, includes the
51%'ers, and chocolate, which became so well laid out.
I am not usually a dystopia / chocolate reader, but I became
SO attached to everyone that last night I was up so late I
had to read several chapters over again! I'm hooked
So, I recommend d this book for everyone ~ this is a
first class genre buster.
If Matt wrote it, I have read it, and this is a treat! The questions
and answers posed here are so important, and in some places
are actually scary and nearly here. A futuristic, dystopian world for
some who just cannot pay anymore for what we all expect to have~
a high believability factor in a total work of fiction. I also love
the vocabulary he created, which, of course, includes the
51%'ers, and chocolate, which became so well laid out.
I am not usually a dystopia / chocolate reader, but I became
SO attached to everyone that last night I was up so late I
had to read several chapters over again! I'm hooked
So, I recommend d this book for everyone ~ this is a
first class genre buster.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I've read several of Matt's books now and I'm always ready and excited to come back for his next novel! This one is amazing, a futuristic world that seems just down the road from where we're headed (corporations owning not just the country, but actual people and civil servants basically requiring a go-fund me to solve a murder). It's a thrilling and fun mystery that hits all the right notes I want from a page-turner, in an entirely new world that is smart and provocative without ever being preachy. Matt's a master writer for a reason and I love that he's set his next story in the future.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Fun, absorbing, scary and hopeful
I loved this book! The world is imaginative yet completely believable and the main characters worked their ways straight into my heart. I couldn’t wait to get home from work every day and find out what happened in the next chapters - and I can’t get the story out of my head. It’s original and heartbreaking and hopeful, and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.
I loved this book! The world is imaginative yet completely believable and the main characters worked their ways straight into my heart. I couldn’t wait to get home from work every day and find out what happened in the next chapters - and I can’t get the story out of my head. It’s original and heartbreaking and hopeful, and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews