Book Review: Proxy

Title: Proxy

Author: Alex London

Genre: Sci-Fi

Book Blurb:

Knox was born into one of the City’s wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death.

Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.

Then again, neither is Knox’s. Knox and Syd have more in common than either would guess. So when Knox and Syd realize that the only way to beat the system is to save each other, they flee. Yet Knox’s father is no ordinary Patron, and Syd is no ordinary Proxy. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test both boys’ resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay. Some debts, it turns out, cannot be repaid.

Review:

When I first read the description of this book on Amazon, my first thought was This whole proxy/patron scenario sounds like The Whipping Boy (another book I read in middle school.) And indeed, the whole proxy-patron relationship is virtually identical; the only difference is that Proxy takes place in the future.

The action...it was a helluva of a ride! It was quite litereally nonstop action from page one till the very end (more about the end later because that ending requires a whole paragraph to itself.) So yeah, basically the entire book was like an intense roller coaster.

The world building was simply I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. All those flashy, high tech gadgets really stretched my imagination, but are still totally plausible at the same time. And I loved the idea of integrating computer code into human DNA. All the citizens have computer codes running through their bloodstream, a constant stream of data flowing through them. I personally just find that idea mind boggling. I also loved how it is possible for someone to write out a computer code and then inject it into themselves and *bam* that person could start glowing in the dark, change eye color, etc, depending on what was written in the computer code.

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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