The Alarming Reason Why Numbers Sometimes Just Don’t Add Up

There’s something uniquely unsettling about a world that feels almost like our own.

That’s exactly what Clare Evans explores in When the Numbers Don’t Add Up, a dystopian thriller set in a London that mirrors reality, with one chilling difference:

Everyone has a visible, measurable lifespan.

Each person is born with 100 years. Every decision has consequences. And every mistake costs time.

But the story doesn’t just ask what if time could be controlled.

It asks something far more disturbing: What if you could lose time… for something you didn’t even do?

When a new law begins punishing children for their parents’ actions, our couple, Cooper and Lexie, are pushed into an impossible situation: their newborn daughter is already losing time.

What follows is not just a fight against a system, but a deeply personal battle:

• Against generational power

• Against institutional control

• And against the idea that some lives are worth less than others

As tensions rise, the story expands beyond one family:

• A neighbour who refuses to stay silent

• An insider who starts to question everything

• A public awakening driven by social media

At its core, this is a story about who decides the value of a life.

And how far people will go to protect the future of someone they love.

💡 Pre-orders are now open

To celebrate the release on April 3rd, the ebook is available for £0.99 for a limited time (rising to £2.99 after the first three months).

👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GTYL9F1Q

If you’re drawn to thought-provoking dystopian fiction with emotional weight and real-world resonance, this is one to add to your list.

More about the author, Clare Evans

Clare Evans is a novelist whose work probes the intersections of literature, technology, and ethics. Drawing on her debut novel, When the Numbers Don’t Add Up, Clare examines how contemporary writers are reimagining menace for a data-driven age.

As algorithms increasingly shape healthcare, policing, and even life expectancy projections, Clare asks pressing questions: Where does accountability lie? Who decides what is “optimal”? And why does so much modern control arrive under the guise of convenience?

With a background in IT and professional services marketing, Clare brings a unique perspective to her writing, combining technical insight with literary imagination. She graduated with Distinction from the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and has been longlisted for both the Mslexia Novel Competition and the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award.

Growing up immersed in stories connected to her relatives, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley, Clare developed an early fascination with how fiction explores fear, power, and progress. In her work, she invites readers to consider whether today’s monsters are so subtle that, unlike Victor Frankenstein’s creation, they may have outpaced us before we even recognise them, a provocative lens for anyone interested in the stories we tell to make sense of a rapidly changing world.