BUT THEY WILL REMAIN

Various people survive in the brutal landscape of a tech-heavy future America in Deaton’s debut SF novel.

It’s 2070, and James-Patrick “JP” Boseman is one of several Scrap Miners salvaging old technology for the Zhì Shàng Commonwealth, which was once part of the United States. When armed assailants interrupt one the Miners’ relatively standard deliveries in California, JP teams up with a Zhì Shàng cyborg employee to figure out who exactly their new enemies are. Three more stories follow, centered on other men but set in the same post-World War III America. Rhys Hanson, a sniper-trained killer for hire in Florida, joins and befriends a group of mercenaries to whom he soon reveals a dark secret. In Detroit, Donovan Grimes relies on pills to quiet “the Demon”: a scary part of himself that revels in others’ pain and suffering. His addiction costs money, and to secure gainful employment, he agrees to get extensive cyber-implants. Finally, Texas street racer Franklin Blanchard has a corporate job that may be threatened if anyone discovers what he’s doing late at night. Deaton’s somber depiction of a post-apocalyptic future comes with a bleak but memorable view of technology. For example, Scrap Miners sift through piles of discarded or forgotten equipment, people tend to weaponize their cybernetic body parts, and Franklin is in danger of losing his memories if his cerebellum implant fails. The four main characters mingle with a well-developed secondary cast, and their relationships help to alleviate the pervasive gloominess; JP’s camaraderie with white-eyed cyborg Liu Kê Xīn and Franklin’s potential romance with motorcycle-riding street racer Bethany Iyuuk are highlights. Perhaps the book’s strongest elements are its action scenes, in which characters fight, evade, and gun down “gangers” and assassins; Texas is the site of a series of frenzied, increasingly dangerous street races. Overall, Deaton’s unadorned, concise prose keeps scenes moving at a steady clip.

A well-realized cast breathes life into a deadened dystopian world.