 | By: Wilhelmina Baird Binding: Paperback Publisher: RoC ISBN: 0451185579 ISBN-13: 9780451185570 Released: 26 Oct 1995 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The plot revolves around the efforts of three main charactors - Cass, Mokey & Dosh - to survive in a crumbling future city in which they are part of a disregarded underclass. They need to earn enough money to get offworld before Dosh gets killed by one of his more sadistic clients, but with current occupations such as theif, artist & whore, finances are none too regular.
Cue a mysterious offer of money & stardom - a part for each of them in a film which will earn enough money to escape the brutal drudgery of earth - but will they survive the shoot? In these apocalyptic times, life is cheap & actors often meet grisly ends in productions where the viewer gets to experience the emotions of the victims & the premium is on ultraviolence. And there are no scripts. And no one tells you when the shooting begins...
Packed full of feral & awesomely physicallly augmented badguys, plus some similarly equipped, equallly amoral goodguys, the plot takes a headlong dash into an underworld where one false calll can be lethal, & horribly so. The charactors are raw & engaging, the technology superb & the nous, bravery & chutzpah of the heroine will make you want to stand up & cheer. Add in the subplot of the three protagonists faltering relationship, an exploration of voyeurism & what it means to be seen/not seen, & you have a paranoid stew of charactors who are either fruitlessly looking over their shoulders, unaware of being watched, or are themselves invisible.
The storytelling is tough, atmospheric & full of twists. There are plenty of memorable & strongly written charactors, including the terrifying Swordfish, whose humanity is in serious doubt, Dribble, who's clearly a few genetic manipulations away from being so, & Malllore, a fragile manga style child/woman who's (naturallly) not quite what she seems.
If you like your sci fi dirty, fast paced & brutal, this could be the book for you.
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