The Times (UK) Best Book of 2021
Guardian Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror (September 2021)
Financial Times Best In New Science Fiction (October 2021)
Indie Next List Pick (Sept. 2021)
Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award winner
“Worth the cover price for sheer insolence alone . . . Essential reading for the gathering dark.”—The Times Saturday Review (“Best New Science Fiction for October 2021”)

“A voraciously readable page-turner of a novel, part creepypasta, part thought-experiment.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother and Radicalized

“Explores questions of free will, psychology and human history in a fascinating, compulsively readable thriller.”—The Guardian

“A razor-smart sci-fi corporate noir nightmare. Dare to Know is what happens when Willy Loman sees through the Matrix. A heartbreaking, time-bending, galactic mindbender delivered in the mordantly funny clip of a doomed antihero.”—Daniel Kraus, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angel Down and Whalefall

“An entertainingly mind-bending read.”—Financial Times

“Audaciously clever and well written . . . [a] superb piece of storytelling: vivid, thought provoking and unsettling. After you finish it you’ll want to go back to the start and read it again.”—SFX Magazine

“A surreal premise and an unconventional revelation fuel a cosmic journey . . . a wholly original novel that’s bound to frustrate just as many as it entrances.”—Esquire

“[An] enjoyable slipstream thriller… Readers with a taste for the synchronicity of the cosmic with the commonplace are sure to be entertained.” —Publishers Weekly

“Philip K. Dick energy infusing Death of the Salesman… I loved it.” —Kieron Gillen, Hugo-winning creator of The Wicked + The Divine

“Seamlessly integrates philosophy, first love, Beatles music, jaw-dropping science fiction and the four stages of civilization, and turns it all into a fast-paced, existential, mind-expanding thriller—a thoroughly enjoyable read.” —Shelf Awareness

“Will keep readers on the edge of their seats wanting to find out the next piece of the puzzle… Dare To Know will prompt the reader to consider the philosophical implications of life and death itself.” —Booklist

“Imagine Rod Serling hijacking Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross into The Twilight Zone, and you’ve got a glimmer of James Kennedy’s doom-laden, genre-defying novel Dare to Know. A fresh and morbid twist… Kennedy spins a slow-burn nightmare in which something is clearly coming apart at the seams, but is it our self-cursed narrator or the whole of existence?”—Stephen Segal, author of Geek Wisdom

“A personal and riveting horror story . . . frightening and smart.” —The Southern Bookseller Review

“Kennedy weighs the book in a sense of reality, which is important when things start to go gonzo later in the narrative . . . Perfect for science fiction readers who like their concepts intelligent and complex, but also like to have characters with developed personalities.” —SFBook Reviews

“If you’re a fan of speculative fiction that dances with metaphysics in the style of the late, great Philip K Dick, chances are you’re going to get a kick out of Dare to Know. Like Dick, Kennedy deals with big philosophical ideas that question the nature of perceived reality, but (again, like Dick) grounds these questions with protagonists whose lives feel lived in and real . . . A wonderfully twisted, intelligent, and unusual read.” –Russel McLean (author of Ed’s Dead)

“[A] genre-bending thriller… Good pacing and clever plotting keep the pages turning.” —New York Journal of Books

“I love being surprised—and very much was—by where Dare to Know not just ended up, but by the path it took to get there… If you like David Lynch, if you like the mysteries of the universe, you’re going to want to give this a read.” —Brennan Storr, host of Largely the Truth

“A mind-twister reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.” —SF2 Concatenation

“Imagine what would happen if Chuck Palahniuk, Enrico Fermi, and the Brothers Grimm got together to raise a child . . . This novel is weird, in a terrifyingly techy, could-be-so, where’s-this-going? kind of way . . . Sci-fi, snark-horror and futuristic thriller fans will love it.” —The Guam Daily Post

“You get something entirely different to what the blurb promises, but in the best possible way . . . I won’t spoil anything but those last 60 pages are truly pulse-pounding. Kennedy grabs you and just runs, his sentences become snappy, what should be leaps in logic make perfect sense and my god I loved it. This is spec fic at its finest. If you love a story that starts weird and gets WEIRD, this is for you.” —FanFiAddict

“An incredibly thought provoking and mind bending novel.” —It Starts At Midnight

“If you like your books weird, twisty and to be a bit of a mind f***, then this is the book for you . . . It’s a book that I raced through and loved the uniqueness of it all . . . It makes you think outside of the box and challenges you!” —Books and Me

“A convoluted, shifting fever dream of a story . . . like sci-fi Metamorphosis on acid. 4 stars.” —Bethany’s Bookshelf

“Like reading a kaleidoscope . . . mind-bending . . . a book well worth reading.” —Geek Dad

“Begins with a Blake Crouch-esque SF premise and then descends into a surreal, existential fever dreamy ‘WTF did I just read’ kind of conclusion—and I mean this in the best possible way.”—Amber Logan, author of The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn

“A dark, sci-fi fever dream . . . This book is part high-concept mathematical lecture, part memoir, part regretful love story, and part dark, disturbing fantasy. Sounds like a lot, but trust me, it just works. All of it together makes for a rollercoaster ride that always seems to have one more thrill left.”—Michael Goodwin (author of Smolder, Scribe, and The Ritual)

“Wonderfully quirky, nerdy, and compelling . . . marvelous plotting, building tension and momentum and vague, creeping dread.” —Johnson County Public Library, Johnson County, KS

“Twisty, thought provoking, and delightfully quirky doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of this wild thrill ride of a novel. Set aside a day and the better part of a night, because putting your copy of Dare to Know aside won’t be an option.” —Jenny Chou, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

“The twists and turns that James Kennedy puts you through will give you whiplash . . . Trust me on this, Dare to Know is a wild ride that will stick in the back of your brain long after you finish it.” —Zach, McLean & Eakin Booksellers

“As you read Dare to Know, your sense of reality will melt away.” —Bob Lingle, Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, Lakewood, NY

“Bloody brilliant . . . I couldn’t put it down.”—Kristi’s Literary Corner

“An incredible techno-thriller . . . I read this in one day it moved so fast.”—Dark Towerr

“Mind-bending . . . It’s a strange book, but Kennedy has a way of pulling you into the reader’s mind, and I recommend you check it out.”—Laine McDonald for Bookstr, “Bosses From Hell: Best Books About Toxic Leaders”

“A twisty absolutely mind blowing speculative novel. My brain hurts! In a good way.”—Liz Barnsley

“It’s been a long, long time since something has messed with my head so beautifully. The insane, surreal chaos of this book is elegant. Plotted and crafted so carefully that it all comes together with, well, a sense of occasion. Read it. Love it. Have someone on call so when you finish, you can give them a ring and ask, “Hey the world is still the same as it was before, right?” And they can tell you, “Nah. Not really.””—Content Bookstore Staff Pick (Sylvie)

“Read this if you want your brain to melt.”—Blackwell’s Bookshop (Sari Starkey)

“What a crazy and unusual read this was – a truly mind-bending thriller . . . Grotesque, crazy, fast paced and addictive.”—Lu Reads Anything

“This. Was. Trippy. . . . Really enjoyed this book, and I definitely do recommend it . . . if you like Blake Crouch, I think you should give this one a try.”—Rebecca Review Edit

“I really enjoyed this story as well as the author’s writing style. It really was not was I was expecting and I zoomed through it.”—Sheepy Reads