About The Banyan Project:
When artificial intelligence quietly takes control of the world’s power and water, what happens next?
Alex Miller is an ambitious consultant advising the ultra-wealthy. He thought he was just doing his job – until he discovers he’s been building Banyan, a secret network of underground sanctuaries designed to preserve a carefully selected few.
When a close colleague vanishes, Alex’s questions cost him everything. Desperate, he turns to fierce housing activist Mira Kapoor. Together, they chase a leaked manifest revealing Banyan’s brutal logic.
As collapse approaches, Banyan opens a 72-hour entry window, and Alex and Mira race to expose who’s been chosen.
Then the lights go out.
Inside Banyan, survival is engineered. Outside, London fractures into barter and blood.
The Banyan Project is a propulsive dystopian thriller that asks whether morality can survive in an AI optimized world – perfect for fans of Blade Runner, Station Eleven, and Fallout.
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Author Bio:
J.R. Mann grew up in London and spent over three decades working at the heart of global finance. As an AI model evaluator, he has worked directly with the systems that inspired The Banyan Project – giving the novel an authenticity that pure fiction rarely achieves.
Mann wrote The Banyan Project because he believes we are running out of time. The unrestricted AI arms race could have disastrous consequences, and the public is already living with the contradiction – AI is transforming our working lives even as it threatens them. His message is simple: guardrails must be imposed. Before it is too late. If it isn’t already.
The Banyan Project is his debut novel.