A young wife's new job pits her against the unfeeling machinations of the universe as she uncovers the unnerving nature of bureaucracy.

After 18 months of unemployment, a young wife named Josephine finds a new job as bureaucrat inputting endless strings of numbers into “the Database.” Josephine begins to question her sanity as the monotony of the job begins to take its toll over the next several weeks. Finally, after a series of strange occurrences, she uncovers the haunting truth about her job and realizes she must infiltrate the system to save those she holds dearest.

The book opens with JOSEPHINE NEWBURY during an interview with a FACELESS PERSON after a long stint of unemployment. After they discuss Josephine’s husband JOSEPH JONES, …show more content…
Despite this, Joseph takes his wife for a celebratory dinner at a local diner where a the fortune-telling waitress, HILLARY lets they stay all night. The next morning, they drop their belongings at a storage facility before subletting a tiny one-bedroom apartment.

During her first day at work, She asks the Faceless Person what the database is for, but the Faceless person tells her that it is none of her concern. Afterward, she meets a coworker named TRISH in the bathroom. After work, she and Joseph discuss there trouble conceiving.

At first Josephine finds her new job monotonous, but it quickly engulfs her. She returns home a few weeks later to find Joseph missing. He suspiciously returns home a few days later with news that he’s found them a new apartment. He disappears again a few days later and when Josephine tries to call him she only gets gibberish before she is disconnected. Despite no one knowing the new address, she finds a strange parcel with Joseph’s name on it when she returns …show more content…
After finding his office, Josephine discovers that Joseph didn’t just entry the birth file, he created it, which is why he kept disappearing at night. She gives him his death file. They try to escape, but end up in an office with Trish and the Faceless Person. They reveal that Joseph had created fraudulent birth file and accidentally entered his own birthdate as he did so. They correct Joseph’s file causing Josephine to have a miscarriage. Afterwards, the Faceless person fires both of them.

The there is a decent Science Fiction concept locked away somewhere within THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT. However, it full shows itself on the page. While the world and imagery could provide some compelling cinematic content, the story is repetitive and dull, and the characters are flat and, at times, annoying.

The book is a very surreal read. While the premise is strong, the execution falters very quickly. The plot itself is extremely depressing and, at times, too bizarre to engage the reader. The biggest problem is that the story never is that it never establishes a distinctive tone for itself. Is it a dystopian tale? Is it a thriller? Is it a mystery? At times, it plays with all three, but it never establishes a clear direction to build suspense off of. Furthermore, Josephine’s constant uses of wordplay and anagrams during the second half of the novel becomes board line nonsensical,