The LiDek Revolution

W. Bruce Wrigley is a Toronto-based bank treasury advisor.

Have you ever asked yourself what the world would be like with no lies
from government, business, or individuals? The LiDek Revolution is about
the havoc that follows the introduction of a revolutionary new piece of
technology—a lie detector.

Victor Helliwell, a taxi driver-cum-inventor, perfects lie-detector
technology in a small, easy-to-duplicate device. When the device goes to
market, a torrent of change sweeps most parts of the globe. Governments
fall, personal relationships come under scrutiny, and people begin to
test some of their most deeply held beliefs—all because of a device
that can detect a spoken lie.

Stark captures the reader’s interest in various ways. The narrative
is fast-paced, the majority of the characters are believable, and their
diverse motives are explored in ways that support the novel’s premise.
The depiction of police and politicians is somewhat heavy-handed,
however, and there is a current of cynicism running throughout that
seems overdone. Nevertheless, James Stark succeeds in getting readers to
think about the nature of truth while entertaining them at the same
time.