RUNNERS

In Hale’s SF thriller, a ragtag band of gunrunners find themselves at the center of an unexpected crisis.

The planet Nera’s human population is mostly concentrated in enormous cities spiked with massive towers of technologically advanced, “smart” buildings; it’s been 300 years since nanotechnology saved the planet’s inhabitants from ecological devastation. As the narrative opens in the sprawling Serana Metro, an operative is carrying “some fate of the world thing” on a mission for the most wanted man on Nera, Dietrich Boateng. That “fate of the world thing,” a physical document, is crucial to the liberation of humanity from the all-powerful corporations (and the Triumvirate, the planet’s all-encompassing religion), and it’s also at the heart of a case being worked by Deputy Marshal Akira Sudo, who’s stumbled across a weird substance at one of her crime scenes and is determined to investigate it even though she's been warned that people who ask too many questions have “either been relieved of their duties or their heads.” Hale keeps the pace of his story at a high pitch throughout the narrative, deftly shifting from high-concept tech descriptions to thrilling action sequences. His large cast of characters has its fair share of stock stereotypes pulled from movies; Akira’s boss predictably yells at her, “Look, you’re a damn good cop, maybe one of the best to ever do it, but you’re also the most stubborn, insubordinate human being I’ve ever met”—and, of course, he throws in for good measure that if she keeps pushing things, she might lose her badge. Clichéd material like this is genuinely groanworthy, but Hale keeps the ideas and explosions coming at such a well-orchestrated clip—all moving toward a hugely satisfying climax that brings all of his plot threads together—that readers will be willing to overlook some tired tropes.

A breathless, high-tech thriller that entertainingly goes through some familiar paces.