Task Lyst, Scott Hylbert
Task Lyst, Scott Hylbert
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

Task Lyst

Author: Scott Hylbert

Narrator: Andrew Eiden

Unabridged: 10 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/16/2019


Synopsis

"Intriguing and timely debut..." ―Publishers Weekly 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?

About Scott Hylbert

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

Goodreads review by Ryan on August 24, 2019

This audiobook was incredible! It will definitely be in my top five for the year. You have a wide range in your cast of characters with something for everyone. The scariest part about this audiobook is that how real it could actually be. The author does a fabulous job of writing this book weaving in......more

Goodreads review by Jason on July 07, 2019

Absolutely fantastic read. Couldn’t put it down. San Francisco comes alive! Like Armistead Maupins tales of the City only grittier and updated. The storyline drives a weaving journey through all the great Bay Area spots from Silicon Valley to Marin and a hundred local sf hot spots. Written from the......more

Goodreads review by Sandy on October 23, 2019

A cautionary tale illustrating the moral dichotomies that may be unleashed by the proliferation of tech startups using social media and personal data. What seems to benefit many may actually cause harm and reward only a select few, while putting personal privacy and societal norms at risk. Interesti......more

Goodreads review by Sean on September 18, 2019

Three characters in the San Francisco Bay Area face ethical choices that will define their lives’ directions, each of them focused on a new app, Task Lyst. Loved the novel, start to finish, for the author’s nuanced treatment of early-mid-life dilemmas. A story that made me want to re-visit the area......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on July 18, 2019

Task Lyst is a fictional expose of the new tech world and how far it reaches into our lives. There is no such thing as anominity any more. What would you give up to earn money without really knowing all the facts? Is it really fiction--or ? An exciting read to the end, as the three main characters'......more