2 STARS
Sci-fi, assassins, and Los Angeles, this should have been right up my alley. Alas, I had some issues with the execution. The world building and characterization being top most. The action scenes were great, a bit repetitive, but solid, high velocity, and engaging. The introspection and background filling were far less successful. The sense of place, nailed it. This was Los Angeles destroyed and detailed enough that those familiar could follow Jonah's paths.
First person and descriptions are a little clunky, superficial. Makes sense in a scanning the scene manner, but combined with the first person point of view I expect more embellishment to reflect Jonah's personality. At the beginning, he sounds like he buys into stereotypes which for a man in his profession seems dangerous. Combined with the pattern of lose consciousness then flashback or change location feels plastic.
I know I'm breaking the rules of reading here by not accepting the premise set out in the blurb, but the naivete required to believe that Russia, China, and Iran could actually work together in a concerted effort is mind boggling. The internal elements in two of those countries are unstable that keeping them together is hard enough let alone mounting a coordinated offensive overseas. That said, it's managed to portray the U.N. as impotent as it is.
Some bold, but improbable technology made me do a double take. All for heat seeking bullets, but ones that can navigate around to find gaps in plating and armor? Yeah not so much. Some things are just illogical, like the wire and pipes stripped out of a house. That makes sense in a society that is recycling and a profit can be made, but there's no infrastructure to support that so it wouldn't happen. The incentive is missing. Where is Jonah getting money to pay for things as a refuge under foreign rule? The currency is going to be different, yes black market goods can get cash, but barter is more likely.
The unexplained shift in relationship between Jonah and Alice. Fuck and roll, or friends with benefits I get, but Alice laying down her cards for no good reason--doubtful. The Alice's shift from BAMF organized crime boss to little woman--No. Then again, Jonah isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
Bouts of preaching, being overly invested in projecting present day issues into the landscape of the story from terrorism to Patriot Act to entitlement made me go
Bogeyman, xenophobic, dystopic world building which resembles flashes from news media outlets rants rather than a cohesive sociological construct.
And please, don't get me started on the representation of women. The frighteningly telling resolution with his daughter and Jonah's response is disturbing. And how did Jonah get from coward to hitman? The vacillation in his character from sweaty nervous to cold-blood killer was head spinning, the multiple times it happened.
Honestly, with more editing for the characters, consistency and minor grammar issues this could be strong. The concept of memory harvesting and convergences, similar to the research in social media tracking, but first person is really interesting. But here, it feels superficial and disjointed with character choices that are illogical. Like Kaften buying into Jonah's problem after his mission was complete--Nope.
So this was not my cup of tea, but it worked for many other readers. I suspect that my preference for science fiction over dystopia put this story at a disadvantage.
Overall, uneven pacing with characterization flaws in a blockbuster format.
First person and descriptions are a little clunky, superficial. Makes sense in a scanning the scene manner, but combined with the first person point of view I expect more embellishment to reflect Jonah's personality. At the beginning, he sounds like he buys into stereotypes which for a man in his profession seems dangerous. Combined with the pattern of lose consciousness then flashback or change location feels plastic.
I know I'm breaking the rules of reading here by not accepting the premise set out in the blurb, but the naivete required to believe that Russia, China, and Iran could actually work together in a concerted effort is mind boggling. The internal elements in two of those countries are unstable that keeping them together is hard enough let alone mounting a coordinated offensive overseas. That said, it's managed to portray the U.N. as impotent as it is.
Some bold, but improbable technology made me do a double take. All for heat seeking bullets, but ones that can navigate around to find gaps in plating and armor? Yeah not so much. Some things are just illogical, like the wire and pipes stripped out of a house. That makes sense in a society that is recycling and a profit can be made, but there's no infrastructure to support that so it wouldn't happen. The incentive is missing. Where is Jonah getting money to pay for things as a refuge under foreign rule? The currency is going to be different, yes black market goods can get cash, but barter is more likely.
The unexplained shift in relationship between Jonah and Alice. Fuck and roll, or friends with benefits I get, but Alice laying down her cards for no good reason--doubtful. The Alice's shift from BAMF organized crime boss to little woman--No. Then again, Jonah isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
Bouts of preaching, being overly invested in projecting present day issues into the landscape of the story from terrorism to Patriot Act to entitlement made me go
Bogeyman, xenophobic, dystopic world building which resembles flashes from news media outlets rants rather than a cohesive sociological construct.
And please, don't get me started on the representation of women. The frighteningly telling resolution with his daughter and Jonah's response is disturbing. And how did Jonah get from coward to hitman? The vacillation in his character from sweaty nervous to cold-blood killer was head spinning, the multiple times it happened.
Honestly, with more editing for the characters, consistency and minor grammar issues this could be strong. The concept of memory harvesting and convergences, similar to the research in social media tracking, but first person is really interesting. But here, it feels superficial and disjointed with character choices that are illogical. Like Kaften buying into Jonah's problem after his mission was complete--Nope.
So this was not my cup of tea, but it worked for many other readers. I suspect that my preference for science fiction over dystopia put this story at a disadvantage.
Overall, uneven pacing with characterization flaws in a blockbuster format.
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