Henri is having a torrid affair with Taylor, a beautiful young first-year med student who isn't in the top echelon, and is therefore destined to fall into the category of the Absolved, but Henri is going to try to prevent that and salvage her future. His best friend of 20 years is Serena, who is also his boss and very wealthy in her own right, and she can possibly put in a good word for Taylor, hopefully without realizing Taylor is Henri's mistress. After all, Henri doesn't want to upset the delicate balance at home with his wife Rachel, who has lately taken to dressing up as Snow White, and his young son Julian, although he doesn't seem overly concerned with them.
Among Henri's many questionable decisions is the fact that he frequents a dive bar called Anodyne and it is there that he meets Lydia, the gruff but competent bartender and her pal, Karl, a perpetually angry laborer. Both of these folks, along with an ever-growing group of grass-roots fans, support Presidential candidate Bradford, a Luddite who is calling for an end to the machines who rule everything and have taken away jobs from the masses. Henri doesn't really share their beliefs, but eventually these folks become his friends, so he goes along to get along.
When Serena comes up with an algorithm destined to save millions of dollars in healthcare, but also one that radically changes Henri's future, he finds himself making yet another series of questionable decisions, only these lead to his utter destruction. Once he is framed for a terrorist attack, his situation becomes dire. He's not the man people think he is, but when push comes to shove, what will he become?
The Absolved is an oddly funny take on where our technology-driven future might be headed. Henri is not the most likable guy, so I didn't find myself really caring what happened to him, as most of his calamity is solely his own fault, but Matt Binder has created an engaging tale about what can happen when people are pushed to the limit, either as a collective or individually.
