What do you think?
Rate this book
Quota: When Life is Just a Number..Who Counts?
* UK POPULATION EXPLODES TO OVER 70 MILLION. * A QUARTER ARE PENSIONERS* DEMENTIA CASES EXCEED A MILLION AND CARE SERVICES COLLAPSE * WHO SURVIVES?...THE GOVERNMENT QUOTA POLICY DECIDES In 2032, life is rationed. After Kate's husband dies in an accident, the goverment slash her Quota. Kate has to choose which of her family is the next to die. All their lives will be shortened and her mother-in-law is named for immediate euthanasia. Kate's vulnerable daughter is at risk and her son wants to fight the system. Kate faces an impossible decision. She needs help. But who can she trust?
308 pages, Paperback
Published October 16, 2017
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 2, 2021
I had to keep reminding myself this is set only 10 years from now. It really is a story that you could see becoming reality. I really enjoyed the book and it really made me think about the future. Highly recommended.
June 11, 2018
Jack Bold is the penname for the writing partnership of Brian Bold and Jackie Green. The authors have put together an excellently crafted novel. The characters are believable and, as in the case of all good narratives, drive the plot. The story centres on the activities of one family living in an all too credible dystopian world where people have the length of their lifespan determined by the government.
The scientific basis for the increase in dementia as being due to consuming meat from cloned GM cattle was sketchy as was the case of these animals having a mild case of mad cow disease. Dementia is a health problem in the developed world and it might have been better that the authors left it as that and not speculated on its cause.
Despite this minor point, I found the tale completely absorbing and my desire to discover how the central characters would fare kept me reading right to the end.
The scientific basis for the increase in dementia as being due to consuming meat from cloned GM cattle was sketchy as was the case of these animals having a mild case of mad cow disease. Dementia is a health problem in the developed world and it might have been better that the authors left it as that and not speculated on its cause.
Despite this minor point, I found the tale completely absorbing and my desire to discover how the central characters would fare kept me reading right to the end.
November 2, 2024
Quota sets a chilling atmosphere even before the story begins. At the front of the book, there is a clever double page of newspaper headlines giving a potted history from 2017 to 2031: an assisted dying bill goes live in 2018; 75% of the NHS is privatised in 2021; voluntary euthanasia introduced in 2025 and the Quota Act, which includes compulsory euthanasia, is passed in 2031. This is the government's attempt to cope with an ever-growing elderly population. Euthanasia is a topical issue in the UK today and, as with many good storylines, it takes that idea a few steps beyond acceptable, resulting in a very sinister world.
The tale centres on Kate Appleby and her family as they struggle with bereavement after her husband's unexplained death, together with the challenges of how that death affects her family in relation to the Quota system. There are various subplots, for example Clive, a corrupt worker in the Ministry of Life who works on the Quota system, holds a grudge against Kate going back to their university days, and is determined to make her pay. Grant Spencer, who has been brought in to review Quota, has a son who needs a kidney transplant but is not eligible under the system. Kate's daughter, Lisa, is pregnant by a married farmer, which is classed as an unlicensed pregnancy.
The book is fast-paced and at the beginning, I found it a little confusing with the introduction of so many characters, but I got totally caught up in the story, and as things came to a head and people were rioting in the streets, I was there with them, cheering them on.
Quota is a fascinating, if slightly uncomfortable read that is thought provoking and has stayed with me since I finished reading it.
The tale centres on Kate Appleby and her family as they struggle with bereavement after her husband's unexplained death, together with the challenges of how that death affects her family in relation to the Quota system. There are various subplots, for example Clive, a corrupt worker in the Ministry of Life who works on the Quota system, holds a grudge against Kate going back to their university days, and is determined to make her pay. Grant Spencer, who has been brought in to review Quota, has a son who needs a kidney transplant but is not eligible under the system. Kate's daughter, Lisa, is pregnant by a married farmer, which is classed as an unlicensed pregnancy.
The book is fast-paced and at the beginning, I found it a little confusing with the introduction of so many characters, but I got totally caught up in the story, and as things came to a head and people were rioting in the streets, I was there with them, cheering them on.
Quota is a fascinating, if slightly uncomfortable read that is thought provoking and has stayed with me since I finished reading it.
September 30, 2021
Exquisitely gut wrenching and, sublime writing.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review:
This novel expressed all my fears for the ‘near-future’, combined into a well-crafted story of family, love, trust and betrayal, fight against an oppressive system, and most of all, hope.
I am not sure I could do the complexity of this novel justice in my own synopsis, but simply put, we have an Orwellian, dictatorial government, controlling the population by many means, not least dementia and euthanasia. Add to that the inevitable rogues manipulating the system, and those warrior scientist who fight the establishment, and you have a classic good-v-evil novel that I found engaging in narrative and, personal emotion upheaval.
Depending upon your philosophical standpoint, this book is not a comfortable read. But, it is in my view, not meant. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, a book that I understand is a debut, and if this is the case then I can only look forward to more in the, ‘near-future’. 5 stars.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review:
This novel expressed all my fears for the ‘near-future’, combined into a well-crafted story of family, love, trust and betrayal, fight against an oppressive system, and most of all, hope.
I am not sure I could do the complexity of this novel justice in my own synopsis, but simply put, we have an Orwellian, dictatorial government, controlling the population by many means, not least dementia and euthanasia. Add to that the inevitable rogues manipulating the system, and those warrior scientist who fight the establishment, and you have a classic good-v-evil novel that I found engaging in narrative and, personal emotion upheaval.
Depending upon your philosophical standpoint, this book is not a comfortable read. But, it is in my view, not meant. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, a book that I understand is a debut, and if this is the case then I can only look forward to more in the, ‘near-future’. 5 stars.
January 27, 2024
Oh! My! Word! Quota by Jack Bold is an amazing book!
This is a dystopian novel, but 100% believable and relevant for today. We have big government, bigger establishment, and little people. There is data manipulation and over-reliance on an industrial scale (think post office Horizon on steroids).
We already have a postcode lottery where a person born into a life in one set of circumstance will outlive and out-thrive that of a person born into a different life. Quota extrapolates and reconciles this to envelope middle class England.
The characters, relationships, loves, aspirations and lives are beautifully portrayed. I started crying towards the beginning where Kate opened a letter whilst sat on her decking - and periodically throughout. Thankfully, there is also a thread of hope.
I have never read a book before that is totally character led, and at the same time, completely plot led.
Very very highly recommended.
This is a dystopian novel, but 100% believable and relevant for today. We have big government, bigger establishment, and little people. There is data manipulation and over-reliance on an industrial scale (think post office Horizon on steroids).
We already have a postcode lottery where a person born into a life in one set of circumstance will outlive and out-thrive that of a person born into a different life. Quota extrapolates and reconciles this to envelope middle class England.
The characters, relationships, loves, aspirations and lives are beautifully portrayed. I started crying towards the beginning where Kate opened a letter whilst sat on her decking - and periodically throughout. Thankfully, there is also a thread of hope.
I have never read a book before that is totally character led, and at the same time, completely plot led.
Very very highly recommended.
June 11, 2024
This intriguing dystopian thriller was written in 2017 and is set in an imagined UK in 2032, only eight years from where we now stand, where the government has introduced an act – the Quota of the title – which forces the populace to choose which family members should be (for want of a better word) culled to keep within their overall quota of years. This is assisted dying taken several steps too far but, with the western world’s present lurch towards the right (although hopefully, we in the UK may be about to start bucking the trend) it is not hard to imagine such a scenario unfolding in an attempt to curb overpopulation, especially as the percentage of elderly and vulnerable citizens increases and the welfare state fails to keep up. Like all good books – and Quota is certainly that – the future portrayed here is scarily possible.
The story centres around Kate Appleby and her family and is exceptionally well written. This is especially commendable as the “author”, Jack Bold, is actually two people. I have no idea how this works but in this case it really does: I for one couldn’t spot the “join”. This a well-constructed, cleverly realised tale with some surprises, complete with bolshie teens, elderly activists and a thoroughly despicable villain. It becomes more and more unputdownable as it reaches its gripping and all-too-realistic denouement. Highly recommended.
The story centres around Kate Appleby and her family and is exceptionally well written. This is especially commendable as the “author”, Jack Bold, is actually two people. I have no idea how this works but in this case it really does: I for one couldn’t spot the “join”. This a well-constructed, cleverly realised tale with some surprises, complete with bolshie teens, elderly activists and a thoroughly despicable villain. It becomes more and more unputdownable as it reaches its gripping and all-too-realistic denouement. Highly recommended.
January 6, 2024
I love dystopian fiction and the way it makes us look at the world from a new perspective – often from a point in time in the very near future. It takes our contemporary anxieties and transforms them into a fictional reality, creating a world that is uncomfortably familiar.
Quota gives us an eerie glimpse into a future world where the elderly are living longer and the overeducated yet unemployed young are growing impatient. To make the population sustainable, drastic measures have been put in place.
The majority of chapters follow one of three main characters: Kate Appleby, a recently widowed hospital worker whose family Quota has just been reduced; Grant Spencer, a Civil Servant in the Ministry of Life, responsible for overseeing the Quota project; and the sadistic Clive, whose position in Quota Control gives him the power to exact revenge for decades old wounds.
I was intrigued by the story from the start, and was quickly pulled into Kate’s fight to save her family from both the Quota system and the evil intentions of Clive. The various strands of the plot are equally engaging, and the short chapters help to keep the tension high throughout. Quota really was a page turner I couldn’t put down.
Quota gives us an eerie glimpse into a future world where the elderly are living longer and the overeducated yet unemployed young are growing impatient. To make the population sustainable, drastic measures have been put in place.
The majority of chapters follow one of three main characters: Kate Appleby, a recently widowed hospital worker whose family Quota has just been reduced; Grant Spencer, a Civil Servant in the Ministry of Life, responsible for overseeing the Quota project; and the sadistic Clive, whose position in Quota Control gives him the power to exact revenge for decades old wounds.
I was intrigued by the story from the start, and was quickly pulled into Kate’s fight to save her family from both the Quota system and the evil intentions of Clive. The various strands of the plot are equally engaging, and the short chapters help to keep the tension high throughout. Quota really was a page turner I couldn’t put down.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews