‘Divinity Game by Lou Gilmond

Published by Armillary Books,
17 July 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-914148-71-2 (PB)

If we choose to believe that even a fraction of the world Lou Gilmond’s trilogy of political thrillers shows us might really exist, it means the future is a dangerous and frightening place. In Divinity Games, the culmination of the three-part story, the worst has happened: the new government is in thrall to the mighty techno-barons and ‘security’ legislation is in place which allows every detail of ordinary citizens’ lives to be tracked.

CCTV has advanced to the point where the tiniest button has listening and video capacity. Deepfake video has progressed so far that anyone could have an AI-generated alter ego. And the skies are alive with delivery drones – but not all of them are delivering parcels. They have the ability to swarm and coerce, even attack people who oppose this new regime. The super-surveilled world that former government chief whip Esme Kanha and backbencher Harry Colbey fought valiantly to prevent has come to pass.  

Harry himself has been cancelled. His credit card, train pass and mobile phone no longer work, and he is trapped inside the House of Commons. Esme has friends in useful places and still moves around relatively freely. The have both taken steps which enable them to communicate with each other, and they are slowly gathering evidence to present to their supporters.

Harry has another problem. His beloved daughter is engaged to the son of one of the main investors in the technology which rules this chilling world. His ex-wife also owns shares in it, which provide her with a lifestyle way beyond the means of ordinary folk, and the privileges afforded to Owners, as the shareholders are called, are hard to resist.

Harry, Esme and their believers and supporters are, each in his or her own way, determined, shrewd and when necessary underhand in the interests of restoring the rule of democracy. Clarissa, Harry’s ex-wife, and Chloe his daughter love the luxury but are far from stupid, unlike Jameson, the inept prime minister, who is taken in by Henri Lauvaux, the smooth-talking and calculating mastermind behind the all-encompassing system he calls Divinity.

The action moves effortlessly between shabby basement offices and conspicuous consumption, stopping off at Chequers, Harry’s Gloucestershire home, Esme’s borrowed London apartment and the more luxurious habitat of the Owners along the way. Lou Gilmond seems as familiar with the back rooms of pubs where the good guys plot as with the Royal Enclosure and exclusive Car Park One of the Ascot races.

The tide of AI seems relentless and all-embracing, and it’s a tortuous and breathless ride to the finish. But is this a battle that can ever be won? The scariest thing of all is the realization that the nightmare technology that Lou Gilmond presents as fiction is either in use or in development right here in the real world. The only thing that prevents this scenario from becoming reality is ordinary people. This book is a rollercoaster read which will keep you up all night on the edge of your seat – but it isn’t just that.

It’s a warning.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Lou Gilmond is an alumna of the Curtis Brown Creative Writing School and also has a diploma in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford, England. The Tale of Senyor Rodriguez is Lou's debut novel, inspired by the magical City of Palma and the surrounding countryside to the south west of the island. Here sheep still wander freely with bells around their necks and potter along to the whistle of the shepherd.  Lou is hopeful another book will follow soon, but as London is the location for the writing, it is likely to involve less sheep.  

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.