While thick at times, this tale about a sinister company eventually delivers plenty of atmosphere and action.
A debut sci-fi novel focuses on a powerful corporation and its dark quest for control.
Judging by his serious demeanor and his ability to wash Tylenol down with whiskey, Jonathan Romero might seem like any stressed businessman. The company he works for, however, is far from ordinary. With origins that date back to Colonial times and resources that include an immense collection of “occult and philosophical treasures,” the Strand Corporation of Philadelphia engages in activities that even the most morally bankrupt executive might find shocking. Working to steal ideas, patent them, and sell the rights, the company has come a long way from its founding principles. As Romero reflects, rather sourly (particularly as he is suffering from a brain tumor), “The founding fathers of The Strand Society would turn over in their graves if they were to observe the travesty built upon their ideals.” Utilizing people called “Conductors” for “hacking dreams” and a beautiful, H.R. Giger–loving assassin named Macaria to eliminate any threats, Strand has quite the method to its madness. Meanwhile, a writer named Blake William garners the attention of the company, particularly after a former Strand employee named Alex Tannersly (an ex-Conductor whom the corporation has been “hunting” ever since he left) attempts to contact him. William commands success as a writer but he fears he might be losing his mind. What does someone like Alex want with William? Dense with explanation, there is a lot for the reader to absorb. No sooner is Romero finishing his Tylenol than Conductors and a Watcher are being discussed and Macaria’s origins explained. Once things get going, though, the plot is rife with spookiness and “dark atmospheric doom metal.” Incorporating the gothic and the William Gibson–esque, the story reveals that many complex things are possible in this world of dream hacking and murder for hire. While lacking the intricate, futuristic pizazz of Gibson’s Neuromancer, this novel features its share of adventures as well as escalating oddities. A sense of suspense is maintained, allowing readers intrigued by an unlikely hero like William to be decidedly curious as to how this caper will end.
While thick at times, this tale about a sinister company eventually delivers plenty of atmosphere and action.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dark Revelations Media
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A fine novel for those who like to immerse themselves in alternative worlds.
Set in the future and reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, this novel dramatizes a story of vengeance, warfare and the quest for power.
In the beginning, Darrow, the narrator, works in the mines on Mars, a life of drudgery and subservience. He’s a member of the Reds, an “inferior” class, though he’s happily married to Eo, an incipient rebel who wants to overthrow the existing social order, especially the Golds, who treat the lower-ranking orders cruelly. When Eo leads him to a mildly rebellious act, she’s caught and executed, and Darrow decides to exact vengeance on the perpetrators of this outrage. He’s recruited by a rebel cell and “becomes” a Gold by having painful surgery—he has golden wings grafted on his back—and taking an exam to launch himself into the academy that educates the ruling elite. Although he successfully infiltrates the Golds, he finds the social order is a cruel and confusing mash-up of deception and intrigue. Eventually, he leads one of the “houses” in war games that are all too real and becomes a guerrilla warrior leading a ragtag band of rebelliously minded men and women. Although it takes a while, the reader eventually gets used to the specialized vocabulary of this world, where warriors shoot “pulseFists” and are protected by “recoilArmor.” As with many similar worlds, the warrior culture depicted here has a primitive, even classical, feel to it, especially since the warriors sport names such as Augustus, Cassius, Apollo and Mercury.
A fine novel for those who like to immerse themselves in alternative worlds.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-345-53978-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
