Description
Elliott is a struggling musician who is trying to piece together enough cash every month to keep his dream of performing alive while also paying his rent. That's when he discovered the new app TASK LYST. As a service provider, he sets his own hours, his funds are delivered covertly in bitcoin and the rates continue to grow...but so does his suspicion over the type of tasks that he is being asked to complete. Is the anonymous nature of app-based freelance work enough to abate Elliott's suspicions...and conscience?
Meanwhile, the glossy new Task Lyst corporation is looking for start-up capital and perhaps an extra way to make the app profitable, by assisting the government in spying on users. Alice Seeger is a smart and beautiful executive who once had a promising future in Silicon Valley, but a few bad investments have put her on the edge of being fired and saddled with a lifestyle that she can no longer afford. At first glance, Task Lyst seemed like an app to pass on...until she discovers it's dark underbelly which makes it more appealing financially while also being an enormous legal liability. She must test her own professional judgment against her morals in determining at what price she finds her own success.
This gig-economy thriller takes a look at the on-demand service industry, and it's shady possibilities. Apps have become all-encompassing in our fast-paced modern lives and their utility is undeniable. In this gripping thriller, we follow the many sides, shades and shadows of the app economy and test the question: how far is too far?
- Listed in Parade Magazine's "Books We Love"... "If you like thrillers with a twist, check out Scott Hylbert's debut, TASK LYST (Turner). It's a modern-day morality mystery set in San Francisco's tech, music, and surfing cultures."
- Excerpted on Crime Reads (subset of LitHub)
- Listed in Bookstr's Three to Read
- Featured in the Nashville Scene, ""Everybody younger than 35 ought to be able to relate to Elliott, the protagonist of Task Lyst, the debut thriller from Nashville writer Scott Hylbert."
- Featured in Nashville Edit
- Featured in StyleBlueprint, "Sizzling Summer Reads for July 2019 . . . this is SO GOOD!"
- National Book Store, stops included San Francisco, San Diego, Nashville, Memphis, Hollywood, Denver
- Book Tour featured in San Francisco Chronicle,San Fransico Examiner, San Diego Union- Tribune, San Diego Reader, Memphis NewsChannel 3
- Panel Speaker at AmericanaFEST
- Panel Speaker at Southern Festival of Books
About the Author
Scott Hylbert spent most of his youth surfing in San Diego before attending Denison University in Ohio to play soccer. Amidst a stalled-career as a rock-n-roller in San Francisco, he packaged spring break tours and ski trips for students before finding a niche in the alternative newsweekly business. There, he sold advertising to concert promoters and record companies for over a decade before enrolling in a masters program at Vanderbilt University while continuing to work and raise two kids. With a focus on creative writing, he pursued a career-long goal to pivot from the marketing side of the media business to the editorial. Recently, with his photographer wife Ashley, he opened a rental photography studio and boutique event space in Nashville called White Avenue Studio.
Reviews
"The genius of Hylbert's novel is that its narrative hews so shrewdly to the real and perceived dangers of the online gig economy" - The Nashville Scene
Book Information
ISBN 9781684423170
Author Scott Hylbert
Format Hardback
Page Count 448
Imprint Turner Publishing Company
Publisher Turner Publishing Company
