Snipe

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Podium for an advanced copy of this science fiction novel.

Reading science fiction as a kid I was always amazed by the ideas of what was to come. Computers in your pocket, all the knowledge of the world, books, music all at one beck and call. The future was so bright, to paraphrase a song, we'd all have to wear mirrorshades. Now we are tethered to our technology, jobs are 24/7 in being able to call, or to track us, and the future that once seemed so bright is getting darker and darker day by day. However science fiction is really about hope, hope that humans will make it to the future, and maybe find something that will make the world a little better. Or even better for the lead character in Snipe, by Lily Lashley aka Etzoli, the truth about who she really is.

Kara, known better by her street name Snipe, is a shooter known for her skill in making difficult people go away sometime in the near future. Snipe freelances, but most of her tasks are for her brother Darius, an major player in the digital drug scene who controls his territory, and the police and politicians with a strict hand. Darius has given Snipe everything, her gun, her cybernetic implants to replace her damaged body, but Darius might be keeping a few things from Snipe, especially the truth. After an assignment, Snipe is surprised to find her hideaway occupied by a street girl on the run, who has bypassed her security, and even more Snipe's sense of control. Soon Snipe's world is much more confused, and everything she ever knew, might not be true.

Snipe is sort of a throwback to the the good ole days of cyberpunk, pre- Matrix, with biotech upgrades, gangs, guns, and characters on the run in a brave new future. Sort of like old Shadowrun stories, which if loved to read as a kid. The story has twists, turns, tech and a really big, big story, that might run a tad long, but is still good and very interesting. The characters are well written, some surprises, might not be surprises, but make sense in the story. The world is developed with enough hints and plenty of ideas to make other adventures possible.

Recommended for cyberpunk fans both classic writers like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and those of new writers like Dan Chaon and Steven Kotler's whose characters would feel very much at home in this failed future. This is the first that I have read by Lily Lashley but I enjoyed it quite a bit and can't wait to read more.