UK review copies of The Quiet Con are now available for selected reviewers in the UK.
Most people who drink regularly are not falling apart.
They are working, parenting, socialising, relaxing, replying to messages, making dinner, holding things together and getting on with life. They are not in crisis. They are not waking up in a ditch. They are not the cautionary story that alcohol culture keeps safely at the edge of the room.
And yet some of them are starting to wonder whether the story they inherited about alcohol still makes sense. Not because they have been told off. Not because they want a new identity. Because the old explanations are beginning to sound thin.
That is the territory of The Quiet Con: What the Alcohol Industry Hopes You Never Figure Out, the new non-fiction book by Ian Wilkinson. Synthos Press is now opening a limited UK review copy programme for readers and reviewers who want to engage with the book seriously.
In this post
UK review copies for The Quiet Con
We are offering a limited number of digital review copies of The Quiet Con to suitable UK-based reviewers, journalists, writers and public voices with a genuine interest in the subject.
This is not a free-book giveaway. It is an invitation to people who can read the book thoughtfully, question it fairly and, where appropriate, share an honest review with their audience.
Who the copies are for
The programme is open to UK-based reviewers and writers whose work touches on alcohol culture, sober curiosity, public health messaging, midlife habits, commercial persuasion, social ritual, books, publishing or contemporary non-fiction.
That may include:
- Book reviewers and bloggers
- Journalists and feature writers
- Newsletter authors
- Sober-curious writers and commentators
- Health and culture writers
- Bookstagrammers and BookTok reviewers
- Facebook page owners with an engaged readership
- Thoughtful social media reviewers who write beyond a quick star rating
You do not need a national platform. You do need a real audience, a clear reason for wanting the book and a willingness to review it honestly.
What the book is about
The Quiet Con is not a memoir, recovery manual, medical guide or twelve-step sobriety book. It is a systems story about how ordinary drinking became the unexamined default.
The book looks at the world in which most drinking happens: the after-work glass, the weekend reward, the stressful day softened by something cold, the social event where not drinking becomes the detail people notice first.
It examines commercial persuasion, social ritual, distorted science, lobbying, stress as a sales tool and the quiet cultural reversal that makes not drinking feel like the choice that requires explanation.
The book is sharp, but it is not anti-drinker. Its interest is not in shaming ordinary people for ordinary habits. It is in asking who benefits when those habits are protected from scrutiny, softened by language and sold back to us as personality, adulthood, connection and relief.
What we are asking for
We are asking for honest reviews, not favourable ones.
A thoughtful critical review is acceptable. A mixed review is acceptable. A review that disagrees with the book is acceptable. What matters is that the review reflects a genuine reading experience and is clear with readers about how the copy was received.
Receiving a review copy does not create any obligation to praise the book, endorse Synthos Press or publish promotional copy. We are interested in serious engagement, not manufactured approval.
How delivery works
Digital review copies are supplied through Amazon Send to Kindle only. Synthos Press does not send downloadable EPUB or PDF attachments, and we do not provide open file download links through this programme.
If your request is accepted, you will need to provide a Send to Kindle email address linked to your Amazon account so the review copy can be delivered to your Kindle library or compatible Kindle app.
Please read the full Synthos Press Review Policy before requesting a copy.
Disclosure
If you publish a review after receiving a free copy, you must include a clear disclosure wherever the review appears. This applies to Amazon, Goodreads, blogs, newsletters, social media, video platforms and any other review outlet.
A simple disclosure is enough:
“I received a free copy of this book from Synthos Press in exchange for an honest review.”
The disclosure is not a technicality. It protects the reader, the reviewer and the credibility of the review itself.
How to request a copy
To request UK review copies, email arc@synthospress.co.uk with:
- Your name
- Your review outlet, blog, newsletter, publication or social platform
- Your Send to Kindle email address
- A brief note about why the book is of interest
We will respond where UK review copies are available and the request is a good fit for the programme.
If The Quiet Con sounds like a book you would genuinely want to read, question and review, we would be glad to hear from you.
UK review copies are limited, and requests will be considered based on relevance, audience fit and genuine interest in the subject.