WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
“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.”
“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.”
Parade Magazine (every Sunday paper, September 22 issue) “BOOKS WE LOVE!” column
“CRAFTING A PAGE-TURNER: PARKER ALUMNUS PENS INAUGURAL NOVEL”
“Do you need to have someone walk your dog? How about to deliver your groceries? Or your drugs? How about carry out a hit? Are you looking for a side hustle to pay the rent, but want to hide your influx of cash in bitcoin? Then the new on-demand services app, Task Lyst is all you need.”
“a San Francisco-set story that’s both a techno-thriller and literary fiction”
“Real-life Applications: Scott Hylbert’s debut thriller is scary because its implications are so authentic”
— A Q&A with Liz Garrigan for Chapter 16 (a Program of Humanities Tennessee)
“Former Rancho Bernardo resident returns for inaugural book tour”
“The following is an exclusive excerpt from Task Lyst, a debut technothriller by Scott Hylbert about a new share economy-based app that connects freelancers with jobs in Silicon Valley. But the app has another more profitable and nefarious function: it aids the government in its quest to tap users. Here, a musician pursues a strange gig.”
— CrimeReads.com Click to read their excerpt
“It's good to see that love and hope and sex and dreams
are still surviving on the street.”
— Mark Meyer, Technologist and digital thought-leader
“Hylbert is a musician, producer, and debut novelist”
“Hylbert, in his new thriller, dives into those convenience apps you use on your smartphone and that “help” might be too good to be true”
— Mary Beth Conley and Alex Coleman on Memphis’ Newschannel 3 News @9
“Sizzling Summer Reads for July 2019 . . . this is SO GOOD!”
“Local Author, Scott Hylbert, Talks Inspiration and Reclaiming Your Own Narrative.”
“Intriguing and timely debut . . .”
"The compelling plot of TASK LYST leads one to assume, not the future, but rather the presence of mankind’s new dark age.”
— Joe Henry, author of LIME CREEK
“In a thriller start to finish, Hylbert steps up and buries this shot into the net. TASK LYST is a film or binge-watching series in the making.”
— James Frey, Best-selling author of A MILLION LITTLE PIECES and KATERINA
“. . . Cybertechnology emerges as the great antagonist, the new Hal (9000). In other words, Task Lyst has, to my mind, all the ingredients to rival the success of 2001: A Space Odyssey that became more than a cult hit (and in retrospect appears thematically to be one-dimensional). And the novel offers sexual attraction, skiing, sailing, surfing, and song-writing to boot.”
— John A. McCarthy, Professor of German & Comparative Literature emeritus Vanderbilt University
"What happens when money, culture and bohemia collide? Task Lyst offers a fast-paced, accurate, and chilling deep-dive into silicon-fueled vulture capital and the broader culture it permeates. Luminaries, futurists, micro-dosing, Big Sur off-sites, tantric meditation . . . Task Lyst captures the current zeitgeist of our society's drive for money and search for our place in history”
— David Howitt, Author of Heed Your Call and CEO of The Meriwether Group
“Task Lyst takes you on a thrilling ride by surfboard and by Vespa scooter from a Silicon Valley startup to a sun drenched North African souk. Hylbert weaves a witty narrative that cleverly evokes memories of laid back late sixties rock star hedonism while confronting the immediacy of the ethical dilemmas we all face when embracing modern technology.”
— Alistair Millar, Author/International Security Expert, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University
"An imaginative and believable tale of start ups, upstarts and cyber shennigans in the fast paced world of Silicon Valley complete with the jargon and feel of the time and place. Hylbert possesses a gift for detail which draws the reader in chronicling contemporary California in the bargain.”
— Webb Wilder, Actor/Musician
“Skin-crawling realism with heart.”
— Miriam Mimms, Award-winning Poet
“Complex and nuanced, Mr. Hylbert’s opus magnum makes us rethink our flyover-state views of success in America, filtered through San Francisco’s and Silicon Valley’s past and present. This is a battle of the conscience between corporate-worship and artist-worship. Neither wins. Deceptions and deceit swirl woozily through page after page. Speaking of woozily, is Cardinal Woolsey High for real? I think I know somebody who went there. The end game for Mr. Hylbert’s central characters, regardless of their convictions, status, spiritual searchings and dangers faced, is freedom. But here, freedom is expensive, corrupt and fleeting, even for the privileged. ★★★★★”
– Kris Woolsey, Der Spaniel
“San Francisco comes alive! Like Armistead Maupins tales of the City only grittier and updated.”
— Jason Nedelman, Goodreads
“A intriguing tale of how technology intertwines a captivating cast of characters and takes them to the edges of morality. Riveting because it could totally be happening around us today. A helluva ride.”
— Seven Harkey, Goodreads
“If you hate any Stones album post Aftermath, you’ll love this book.”
— Drew Hylbert, hoodie-wearing coder extraordinaire
“This account of seemingly parallel narratives deals in suspense like Life of Pi deals in metaphor. Painting a romantic, noirish cityscape of the West Coast’s crown jewel (with its tarnishing well underway) each character study veers steadily toward a boom or bust collision course. Task Lyst has pace to spare, and provocative questions about the social and economic machinery we sink or swim in. Ultimately, it explores the idea of individual choice, and to what extent it does and doesn’t still exist in the era of the one-click con(venience).
— Baz duRhone, Pop Madders
“The frequent song references, notably to the works of Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia, will keep music lovers of a certain age humming along.” — Publishers Weekly
“Task Lyst is a novel of and for our times.”
— Dr. John A McCarthy, Professor of German & Comparative Literature emeritus, author of Remapping Reality: Chaos and Creativity in Science and Literature
“Hylbert sheds light on the problem of internet privacy while astutely capturing the details that define the lifestyle of the too rich and yet still greedy.” — Publishers Weekly
