Cox fuses the deeply flawed revenger of crime noir with nuanced portrayals of a cyberpunk future and nascent post-humanism to demonstrate that for some schmucks the only thing the future brings is more ways to end up in an alley with an aching head.
This is the fifth volume of Cox’s Awakened series. Risk of electronic and psionic corruption of previous volumes beyond this point.
When telekinetic Division Zero Officer Aaron Pryce and his partner—in work and life—answered a routine call, he accepted it could be dangerous. What he didn’t expect was that a rogue psionic would compel him to kill his partner. In the moment he lost the battle of wills, Aaron’s mind broke. When he recovered, the area was rubble and the rogue was gone. With only his word for what happened, his superiors order a telepath to review events, triggering another mental collapse and another maelström of lethal telekinetic force. His powers somehow vastly amplified but also threatening to slip his control, Aaron flees investigation for the dubious sanctuary of a grey zone: his goal to find the rogue who shattered his life before the law finds him; not to clear his name, but to take revenge.
As with the previous books in the series, psionic abilities of immense power are a major feature of this novel. Readers who prefer their cyberpunk purely technological are therefore likely to find some segments less immersive. However, unlike some of Cox’s books in this universe, both telekinesis and Aaron’s goals are deeply visceral things, making this very much a physical rather than metaphysical narrative.
While the plot and characters do overlap with previous volumes—granting readers familiar with the world fresh insights—this focus on Aaron’s life and problems rather than broader questions of the world also means the majority of events require no knowledge of previous novels; as such this forms a sound point for readers to enter Cox’s nuanced vision of cyberpunk.
With a hard-drinking, womanising protagonist on a quest for vengeance and prepared to break the law to get it, the plot echoes classic crime noir. Cox both enhances this endemic social decay with the equal flaws of classic cyberpunk and subverts it with the inherent hope of post-human evolution, creating a story that reveals the grimy underside of human nature without losing the dream of a meaningful victory.
Aaron himself is an ideal protagonist for this plot: an ex-professional sports-star, he possesses the archetypal self-absorbed addictive nature of a footballer, making him unpleasant enough that every beating and reversal he faces has a certain air of being justice rather than authorial cruelty; yet, also a husband traumatised by a horror beyond most readers experience, making his quest for vengeance deeply sympathetic.
The supporting cast are equally stained with the complexity of a world free of the truly virtuous. Prostitutes might have a heart of gold, but they bought it with stolen money. Criminals carry out violent crimes to buy their children a better life. And freedom fighters threaten their own success for stupid pranks.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking cyberpunk with a strong focus on the grimy social aspects rather than simply the shiny trappings.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
