Book Review: The Debt Collector

Title: Delirium

Author: Susan Kaye Quinn

Genre: Cyberpunk/Thriller

Book Blurb:

What's your life worth on the open market? 

In this gritty urban fantasy, debt collectors take your life energy and give it to someone more "worthy"... all while paying the price with black marks on their souls. 

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. 

That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

Review:

Wow...just wow...this was a very well crafter short story (the series is broken up into 9 "seasons", each about 50 pages long.) Since this is the first part of the series, much of the book is dedicated for acclimatizing readers into this gritty, new world and introducing characters.  But that doesn't mean it's boring! No, the world building was well planned with no info dumps.  Although there are some concepts the author does have to outright describe (ie. the job of a debt collector), most of the world building was relayed across to the reader through descriptions and word character interaction--basically showing, not telling. It's done so subtly that readers don't really notice the author is sneakily presenting information about this futuristic society :)

So basically there is no such thing as "money" in this society; credit is measured in "life" or "life energy." Basically once a person no longer contributes to society, his/her life energy is transferred to a person who is considered worthy of living a longer, youthful life. The debt collectors--what Lirium, the MC, is--are basically the people who take the "life" from one person and transfer it to another. It should be noted that only authorized "high potential" people are allowed to receive life energy; transfers to other people are forbidden and highly illegal.

And gosh--that character voice! Lirium (aka Delirium) has such a distinct, almost cynical, voice. I love how beneath his tough guy exterior he is still human. I thought the author made an awesome choice choosing to write in first person, because I loved seeing what was going through Lirium's mind; his snarky remarks really livened up the pages!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a futuristic thriller with a gritty setting.

Rating:

About the Author

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy and the Debt Collector serial, as well as other speculative fiction novels and short stories. Her work has appeared in the Synchronic anthology and has been optioned for Virtual Reality by Immersive Entertainment. Her business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" but she mostly sits around in her PJs in awe that she gets to write full time.

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Book Review and Giveaway: Proxy

Title: Proxy

Author: Daniel Moore

Genre: mystery/cyberpunk

Review:

Proxy would be a good read for readers looking for a blend of a political thriller/mystery and sci-fi.  I guess this genre is called "cyberpunk" (according to the book description....if that is the case, then this is the first cyberpunk book I have ever read.)  The setting of the story takes place in future day America.  There is enough similarities between future day America and present day America so that readers aren't completely lost.  This is probably a good thing because the author kind of builds a description of the setting as the story progresses instead of setting the scene at the beginning (something readers who like to read fast-paced books would appreciate.)

Alyz, the main character of the story, is quite...out there.  I would love some more background information about her, but still think she is a solid character.  I must say, I am fascinated by her digital/computerized eyeballs (who doesn't want enhanced vision?)  She's also kind of a recluse and will go out of her way to avoid people-to-people interaction.  Luckily, she has two friends, Maria and Ian, who checks on her from time to time.  From the beginning of the novel, I get the sense that Alyx spends most of her time holed up in her apartment.  However, the need for money forces her to accept a black market job: acquiring illegal information for a woman named Miranda.

Miranda was definitely Janus-faced (did I use that term correctly?)  At first, Miranda simply seeme dlike a power/money hungry woman.  It soon became clear she was pulling multiple strings as the plot thickens.  

I will be quite frank right now: I got pretty lost in the plot.  Sure, I got who were the "good" guys and who  were the villains, but I could not for my life follow who killed who and why.  I think the main reason why I couldn't keep the plot straight in my head was because I couldn't keep track of all the names of the characters.  If some more background info had been provided about each character, I think that would've helped.  On the other hand, if you enjoy reading mysteries and books with twisted plots, you'll probably follow along just fine.

The writing itself was great and the pacing was good as well.  I just wished I could've understood the plot better since it was kind of confusing to me.  I really thought Alyx's character stayed true throughout the entire book.  What I mean by that is she acted like her character the whole time (doesn't it annoy you when a character suddenly does something out of character for no reason?)

As I said before, Proxy would be an excellent read for lovers of mysteries with a dash of sci-fi.

Rating:

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