Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Neurogarden (NeuralTech Rising #) by Bryon Vaughn

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Neurogarden by Bryon Vaughn. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a guest post from the author. There's also a tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card and a signed copy of the book. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Neurogarden
Series: NeuralTech Rising #1
Author: Bryon Vaughn
Publication Date: August 2nd 2020
Print Length: 218 pages
Genres: Science Fiction, Techno Thriller

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Where can you run when there is no place to hide?

Brenna Patrick is a brilliant technologist specializing in neural-cognitive functions and AI. She has cracked the code to solve one of the most troublesome problems in the field, and turned that into the multi-billion dollar NeuralTech Corporation.

Working quietly with the U.S. Department of Defense, NeuralTech is poised to leapfrog the competition with a revolutionary system for tracking people, starting with the world’s most wanted terrorists. But there are only so many terrorists in the world, so who’s next?

When a pair of Columbia graduate students, Jenny and Leo, stumble on the dark secret of NeuralTech’s success, it kicks off a tense game of cat and mouse. As they fight to defeat the powerful forces arrayed against them, nothing less than the fate of humanity hangs in the balance…

NEUROGARDEN is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller, one that will have readers pondering the nature of memory, and of reality, long after they've read the last page.

Goodreads * Amazon *
Book Depository * IndieBound

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EXCERPT:

Settling into a location near the bottom of the dome, the zone transitioned to red. She pointed toward the red node, and up popped Henry Alan Foster's mugshot, coupled with his current location. The crowd murmured, their faces masks of disbelief.

"What say we send the authorities to pick up Mr. Foster?" Brenna outstretched her arms with her hands giving a "thumb's up" sign as if to ask for the crowd's approval, answered by a rise of clapping and a smattering of cheers. At that moment, Jenny saw how much Brenna enjoyed being not only the center of attention, but the person with all the power. It was a look she had seen earlier in Brenna's office, but in the moment she’d thought it was a look of infatuation, or perhaps love. Now, however, it was clear to Jenny that Brenna relished control more than anything else.

Brenna scanned the viewers at The Podium glass. "Or should we send a bullet?"

The crowd roared its approval, and with that, Brenna turned her thumbs downward as she nodded to her engineer. After a few taps, and about ten seconds, the mugshot of Henry Alan Foster disappeared from the dome and the room erupted in resounding approval.

Jenny watched Brenna bask in the glow of this moment, and while she was still in awe of the majestic raven-haired figure before her, her stomach lurched as if she were dropped out of an airplane. At this moment she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in Leo's strong arms and to forget this whole day happened.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ever since reading Douglas Adams back in my formative years, I have had an interesting relationship with humor, science fiction, and technology. My first computer was a TI-99/4A, so yeah, I’m old, but only until scientists have cracked the code on transplanting our brains into shiny new vessels.

My body may be showing signs of wear, but I’m keeping my brain tight.

When I am not dreaming of far off worlds and writing, I am living a semi-normal life working in New York City, and watching movies with my wife and her spastic cat, Moss.

Website * Amazon *
Facebook * Instagram * Twitter

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GUEST POST:

The Inception of Neurogarden

Inspiration can come from anywhere.

I have spent the last twenty years wanting to write a novel, but I could never come up with an idea that made me feel like it was worth the blood, sweat and tears that I knew it would take to complete it. That is, until one evening in class at Columbia. Our professor had a scheduled speaker for this week’s lecture. His name was Pranav Yadav, founder and CEO of a company called Neuro-Insight.

He came to tell us about the work that his company was doing in monitoring the brainwaves of consumers as they watched marketing and helping to improve the messaging based on the study of their biological reactions. While that is fascinating, it was a single slide in his presentation deck that started me down the path of Neurogarden. It was an image of Serena Williams zoomed in very tight to show only the inner area of her face. The point of the slide was to show how the emotion of a face out of context could be easily misinterpreted. The tight shot looked like she was angry, but zoomed out she was clearly excited. A computer would see anger 100% of the time, but a person would know the right emotion immediately.

It was such a small thing, but on the walk home from class my mind was abuzz about the possibilities for a story based on that underlying premise, and from there Neurogarden was born. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but I knew that solving the problem of facial recognition by helping technology with biology would be a solid foundation that could support a story. In fact, as the story evolved, it became clear that it was actually enough for a three book series.

My advice is to always be on the lookout for inspiration. It can truly come from anywhere.

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GIVEAWAY:

Bryon Vaughn will award a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card or a signed copy of Neurogarden to two randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway