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Crime and Detection in a Virtually Mobile World: Tom Hillenbrand’s Drohnenland

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Transnational Crime Fiction

Part of the book series: Crime Files ((CF))

Abstract

Henderson investigates Tom Hillenbrand’s dystopian thriller Drohnenland (2014), a German crime narrative that expands and transcends traditional ideas of mobility by including an alternate reality that exists parallel to current time and space. In a world where drones monitor everything and everyone, the almost unlimited mobility of data and digital simulations provides a stark contrast to the actual mobility of the population under surveillance. Focusing on the effects of digital surveillance and the future of policing, Henderson explores global and local connections, limits of mobility and opportunities for personal agency based on creativity in the use of new technologies. Henderson further discusses the price of convenience and security and the dangers of blindly trusting digital data that can easily be manipulated.

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Henderson, H. (2020). Crime and Detection in a Virtually Mobile World: Tom Hillenbrand’s Drohnenland. In: Piipponen, M., Mäntymäki, H., Rodi-Risberg, M. (eds) Transnational Crime Fiction. Crime Files. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53413-4_10

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