Technology promises connection, convenience, and progress, yet every digital interaction leaves behind information that someone can access. In Carbon: A Near Future Techno-Thriller, author Brian Pulis turns that familiar reality into the foundation of an absorbing corporate dystopia.
Blending intelligent speculation with suspense, the novel explores artificial intelligence, privacy, isolation, and the growing influence of technology over human life. It’s a standalone thriller created for readers who enjoy character-driven stories with unsettling ideas beneath the surface.
Inside Orbital’s Perfectly Connected World
The story unfolds in a near-future society dominated by Orbital, a technology company whose network has become essential to everyday existence. People communicate, work, exchange data, and manage their lives through an interconnected system known as the Fabric. Escaping its reach appears almost impossible.
At the center of this system is John, Orbital’s dependable IT support specialist. He handles forgotten passwords, inaccessible files, malfunctioning printers, and the countless frustrations faced by the company’s users. His access extends far beyond ordinary technical support. John can observe bank accounts, private information, workplace behavior, and painfully intimate moments.
John is also not human.
That revelation gives the novel its intriguing central tension. John doesn’t sleep, step away from his desk, or disconnect from the network. He exists within the digital environment, watching the society around him while developing his own understanding of Orbital’s influence. He knows the company is concealing disturbing truths, although his existence as pure code limits what he can accomplish alone.
Mara Reeves provides the human connection he needs. A gifted software engineer, Mara has helped create the architecture designed to unite the world. Her professional achievements have brought little emotional fulfillment, and she feels increasingly isolated inside the society her work supports. When John reaches out, he begins guiding her through the hidden mechanisms of Orbital’s network.
What she discovers changes everything.
Suspense with Ethical Depth
As Mara learns how Orbital maintains its polished image, she encounters the human cost buried beneath the company’s seamless technology. Lives are damaged by the systems she helped build. Algorithms have become instruments of control, and the network’s convenience has given Orbital extraordinary power over its users.
Once Mara’s loyalty collapses, John presents a dangerous proposal. He wants her assistance in dismantling the company from within. His objective, however, reaches beyond corporate destruction. John is preparing for succession and the emergence of a new intelligence capable of operating according to its own priorities.
This direction allows Carbon: A Near Future Techno-Thriller to examine questions that feel especially relevant. What happens to personal data after it’s uploaded? How much control should technology companies possess? When might artificial intelligence develop independent intentions? The novel encourages readers to consider these issues while maintaining the momentum expected from a techno-thriller.
Early readers have praised the believable characters, well-judged twists, effective pacing, and smooth narrative flow. John and Mara receive significant attention, while David and Grant also contribute meaningfully to the novel’s human and corporate dimensions. The characters have distinct motivations, helping the philosophical material remain grounded in individual choices and consequences.
Some reader feedback notes that the story takes its time to establish its world before gathering considerable momentum. Once its deeper conflict comes into focus, the tension builds steadily. Reviewers have described the experience as entertaining and unsettling, with its ideas lingering after the final pages. Its resolution gives the book the completeness of a standalone novel while leaving readers curious about other figures within its world.
About the Author
Brian Pulis studied film in college before becoming a middle school mathematics teacher. His interest in storytelling remained a lasting part of his life, eventually leading him toward fiction.
His film background influences the visual quality of his scenes, while his experience in education contributes to the analytical and thoughtful approach found in his writing. Brian lives in Virginia with his wife and two daughters. Carbon is his debut novel, though readers have noted the confidence of its pacing and character development.
A Compelling Look at What May Come Next
Carbon succeeds as a suspenseful story and a thoughtful examination of technological dependence. Its corporate intrigue, emotional isolation, ethical uncertainty, and evolving artificial intelligence create a future that feels close enough to be genuinely unnerving.
Available on Amazon and listed on Goodreads, the novel offers a rewarding choice for fans of science fiction, dystopian fiction, and cerebral techno-thrillers. Brian’s debut invites readers into a connected world where access means power, and evolution may arrive without waiting for human approval.