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The Digital Meltdown

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The Digital Meltdown

By: Roger Ley
Narrated by: Craig Bowles
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When humanity's cure for pollution triggers a high-tech apocalypse, the digital age ends—and the steam age begins.

Hoping to eliminate plastic pollution and make a fortune, scientist Dr. Martin Riley engineers a revolutionary new strain of bacteria. But the organism mutates, developing an insatiable appetite for synthetic polymers, silicon coatings, and insulation—the core components of modern electronics.

Within days, data centers collapse, power grids fail, and global communication networks vanish into thin air. Microchips dissolve, smartphones become inert blocks, and automated infrastructure crumbles.

Stripped of the digital technology that runs the modern world, human survivors are thrown into a brutal battle for existence, forced to rebuild society using steam power, mechanical engineering, and sheer human grit.

Can humanity adapt and reconstruct civilization from the ashes of the digital era, or is this the end of species dominance?

The Digital Meltdown is an explosive, hard-hitting apocalyptic techno-thriller perfect for fans of Neal Stephenson, Michael Crichton, and retro-futuristic survival fiction.

©2023 Roger Ley (P)2026 Roger Ley Dystopian Genetic Engineering Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

"Five stars. The premise is almost too on-the-nose to summarise without spoiling the joke: Dr Martin Riley, ambitious Cambridge biochemist, breeds a more aggressive strain of bacterium to clean up the world's plastic, gets a Nobel Prize, gets onto the Sunday Times Rich List, and accidentally ends civilisation." - Dr. Sanjay Basu, Senior Director of AI Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering, Oracle
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Listener received this title free

Engaging plot & well described characters. Highlighted by the great narration.

Thanks for the complimentary copy.

Engaging

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Listener received this title free

I have read all 3 Harry Lampeter books and like them this book dose not disappoint.
This one will tell you how Harrys world came to be and you will find that very interesting I did,

You do not even need to have read the Harry Lampeter to enjoy although I do recommend that you do

Before Harry Lampeter

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Listener received this title free

This is amazing to learn the story of how the Riley bug started and affected different people throughout the world, and space

Amazing

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Listener received this title free

Having listened to the other three books of Harry Lampeter made the digital meltdown that much more enjoyable, loved listening about Rileys family and Mary's story and I'm glad they went back for Jackson,

The Riley Bug

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Listener received this title free

A great read (listen) the story highlights several issues we have with the world today and the terrifying consequences of relying so heavily upon them. How would mankind cope losing all modern 'comforts' of the modern age.
Well written, a great story line and narrated excellently. highly recommend

A great prequel to the Harry Lampeter books

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