The Five Year Lie

In the novel, the impact of technology on personal lives is multifaceted. The novel’s plot hinges on the misuse of technology that is trusted to make homes safer, as unscrupulous actors use access to ostensibly secret information to victimize the vulnerable via invasion of privacy. Chime Co. markets its cameras as protection, something that Jay believed when he purchased them for his foster family; in fact, greedy insiders use them to trade private footage for personal gain. At the same time, even accidental mishaps with technology imperil relationships: Text messages delivered five years late sow chaos.

While the novel’s main antagonists are a malicious Chime Co. owner and his employee, the company’s product is suspect even when used correctly. Chime Co. emphasizes its contribution to safe neighborhoods, hiding the reality of how freely police departments can access footage without oversight or limits. Lulled into a false sense of security, Ariel doesn’t think twice about where her trust fund wealth comes from; she considers her job a boring necessity to enable her glass blowing until she is forced to account for her uncle’s actions. The harm caused by an evil predator like Ward is easy to understand; however, the novel also asks readers to consider the more pernicious effects of commercializing and outsourcing technology in sowing neighborhood fear and distrust.

Layered over this atmosphere of constant surveillance are the crimes of evildoers like Bryan Zarkey and Ray Cafferty. Bryan points out that his drug dealing and blackmailing are enabled by the fact that people quickly forget about being on camera. This allows him to capitalize on private information on behalf of Ray, who is eager to sell access to Chime Co. footage. The most devastating effect is on Amina, whose recorded sex life becomes fodder for Ward’s exploitative harassment and sexual assault and leads to her death by suicide. Less dramatically, when Ariel learns about her uncle’s role in issuing fake warrants for camera footage, she tries to escape, only to have Chime Co. security cameras track her.

Other devices are also implicated to some degree. When a malfunctioning cell phone tower releases messages, one of them prompts Ariel into investigating Drew/Jay’s disappearance, but another almost destroys the marriage of Larri and Tara. Although Tara has assured Larri that she is no longer using drugs, Larri is more willing to believe the seeming appearance of Tara’s former drug dealer in the text message than what her spouse is telling her. Overreliance on the supposed objective nature of technological information leads to a breakdown of trust between the couple. The unintended messages emphasize how dependent we are on technology, which sometimes glitches with potentially disastrous results.

The end of the novel does not address the issues it has raised. After Ray’s arrest, Chime Co. continues to manufacture and sell its door cameras; neither Ariel nor her mother considers the ethics of maintaining this business. The devices and systems that have betrayed characters are so entangled in daily life that no one remembers the threat they pose or changes anything about their lives to adjust.