Richard W. Bown - writer, engineer, corporate survivor

writer, engineer, corporate survivor

After thirty years of corporate work, I decided it was time to start writing stories.

I write about the ambitious rubbing shoulders with those who just want to put in an honest shift. About alienation at work, where outside perspectives meet with the system and where mental health meets classism.

My debut novel, Human Software, explores what happens when IT projects go dangerously wrong. A world where data centres, the AI threat and job cuts impact real lives. As one reviewer put it, “freaked me out more than any Stephen King”.

The follow-up, One More Island will be available in early 2027.

When corporate wants you gone, who does the dirty work?

BETH WALTERS has kept Gerbach’s IT systems running through skill, stubbornness and too many sleepless nights. She works hard to support her family and community.

CHRISSIE HEGARTY is a new executive on a mission. She’s flown in from New York with a mandate, a deadline, and little patience for sentiment. She’s done this before. She knows how it ends.

They are not enemies. Not yet.