Necrotech (SINless)

If you're looking for a colossal book that supersedes generic fiction labels, then look no further than Necrotech by K.C. Alexander. I had no idea who K.C. was and had no knowledge of any of the books she's previously written, but was intrigued enough prior to Necrotech's release to do some worthwhile internet stalking. Definitely have fallen in love (or lust?) with her writing style! With Kevin's personal review on the cover below that of Chuck Wendig's, I was more than encouraged and excited to start reading.And K.C. did not disappoint.Necrotech is set in a futuristic society reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop distilled with scum injections of Judge Dredd, 1984 by George Orwell, and Omega of Mass Effect. From synthetic drugs to heads' up display ads to genetic enhancements and registered SIN codes for all, K.C. has constructed a world of "what if's" that very well represents where Earth and humanity as a whole today might end up dependent upon the technological and moral choices we make tomorrow. The Mecca is any bounty hunter's haven, with the rest of the city from its slums to the more privileged sectors displaying the social spectrum that the government has finally gone corrupt to a point of no return. What really drew me in, however, was beyond the intricately built world and all of its small details that weave together the believable backdrop for our protagonist's story - it was the violent protagonist herself.Riko is the no-effs-given, sick neon ink for days, ass-kicking splatter specialist that could only be compared to the likes of Tank Girl or Trevor Philips of GTA. A fierce and vicious protagonist, she only occasionally comes off as the devil may care type, and the rest of the time she's too busy getting to the bottom of the shit-storm she's in to think twice about anything outside of rebuilding her reputation or bringing her girlfriend's killers to their graves. Along with a slew of calculating and bodacious friends, foes, and every flavor of acquaintances in between, K.C.'s first book of Riko's story will snag you harder than a grappling hook attached to a fighter jet.The trials and tribulations Riko gets pulled into are so thought-provoking that I was instantly more enthralled with each page read, and when I came to the last one I wanted to flip over a desk because I was so engaged and invested in Riko's journey that I didn't want to wait for the release of her second installment of the series.Job well done K.C. - go write more books for you!

NECROTECH is probably the most entertaining novel I read in 2017 and is the best way I can finish off this year. I say this as a huge cyberpunk fan and someone who has often felt the genre has suffered since The Matrix. Basically, the original cyberpunks grew up to become thirty something year old people who had to work for a living and were briefly deluded by the tech of Steve Jobs as well as the Clinton Administration into believing the world was getting better.It took the War on Terror to remind us the world was a scary place with violent chaos on one side along with the politicians as well as corporates willing to take advantage of it. Even so, I wrote my first cyberpunk novel (AGENT G: INFILTRATOR) with the cultured assassin of the super-rich rather than the penniless hacker on the ground.In a way, Necrotech is a throwback to the original cyberpunk novels of Case and Molly. Riko is a Runner and professional thief who wakes up in a laboratory one day with months missing of her life. The rude, irreverent, and crude heroine doesn't make it out of the laboratory without some serious damage. Not only does she find her reputation in tatters, all of her old allies having abandoned her, and missing time but she's also lost her girlfriend to whoever was experimenting on her.Riko can't conclusively prove she didn't sell out her girlfriend as while that's not something she would normally do, their relationship had also fallen apart. Instead, she soon finds herself surrounded by men who want to use her and manipulate her. The secrets of the laboratory she escaped from have a substantial credit amount and everyone wants her to guide them back to find out its secrets--government quarantine or not.The future described in Necrotech is a true cyberpunk one with society on the verge of collapse. The government still exists but corporations have disproportionate power, organized crime is utterly vicious, and the police are corrupt as hell. Riko is a product of the streets and feels authentically punk in a way which very few authors are able to claim.I love Riko's complicated and fascinating relationships with the characters around her. Bisexual representation in fiction is rare enough but she's a character who is active in her sexuality as well as unapologetic. Love is not in the cards for her and that's okay. I will say I think the book was a bit sexless despite large amounts of innuendo. I could have used a bit more Riko getting to act on those urges. What can I say.The action is great in the book but I mostly appreciated the hard edged negotiations and characterizations of the book's first half. The second half of the book is mostly action and a heist story with a team of dangerous hackers as well as mercs hitting the laboratory. That part felt a bit too long and didn't have enough interaction but it still worked.In conclusion, Necrotech is a great novel for fans of cyberpunk and I immediately picked up the sequel. It's a truly punk novel which has a character who embodies the "give no ****s" attitude of the movement and serves as one of its iconic characters almost immediately out of the gate. I hope the author writes many more installments.9/10

Riko is one foul-mouthed, crass, rage-filled badass. If you like that sort of character, you'll love this book. She makes no apologies for who and what she is and no effort to be anyone else. Often that causes as many problems for Riko as it solves.Be warned: this is the first book in a series, and a lot of questions won't be answered by the end. Riko makes progress on her goals, and kicks a lot of ass along the way, but this is only one step on the path to solving the big mysteries. I had no problem with this being a setup for more story, as the implications of what Riko discovers seem way too big for one book. However, if you're the type of person to demand a bow tied on everything by the end of a book, you'll be frustrated.I'm most impressed with her action scenes. The final climax mission of the story was back-to-back firefights and gore, but she managed to keep it from getting overwhelming or repetitive. Hard to maintain good roller coaster pacing with something like that, but she did it.I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Nanoshock.

Very fun book. The action is almost non stop. I may have been late to work this morning trying to get to a stopping point in the book. I never reached one. Points to the author for teaching me new usages of swear words.

Cyberpunk, well, it's a bit of a niche taste these days. Retrofuturism. If I'd caught this 20-something years back it could have been a formative experience - a heartbusting genretwisting adventure in the vein of GAEffinger or the Dryco novels of Jack Womack. It's got the energy, the sincerity, the soul.... It's just a bit too late. If you're in the mood for cyberpunk, though, this does it full well.

This book really is action from start to finish but without compromising the storyline or character building. Thoroughly enjoyed it and if you are a fan if this genre, I thinking will too!

badass cyberpunk :)

Old school cyberpunk with a truly fresh voice, Necrotech was a terrific read. As noted in plenty of other reviews, and on the front cover, the action is nonstop, brutal and a lot of fun. I’m usually not a fan of first person narrators that swear and ramble like they’re telling the story at a pub half-drunk but Alexander kind of makes it work.The character development is terrific, even if the narrator seems to be actively fighting against becoming anything more than two-dimensional because in her world it’s just a hell of a lot easier to live that way. My favourite aspect though was the world building, lots of little moments, or walls of text, that fleshed out a terrific environment with plenty more to explore in other books.One star off because the writing is a bit dense, not a problem within itself, and especially toward the end there are sections where the narration just seems to be repeating the same things over and over again in different ways. On top of that…(MINOR SPOILER)…… Necrotech starts off with a beautifully pure kind of mystery, the main character wakes up in a strange place, no memory of what’s been done to her. But instead of resolving it we’re left with a sequel hook. I was already planning on buying the second book by that point but it was a bit obnoxious.

This book gives you exactly what you'd expect from the back of the book. It's a cyberpunk action thriller. The protagonist, Riko, wakes up with time missing and has to unravel the mystery of what's happened to her.It's gritty, it's vulgar all the time. And it's extremely fun. Riko is fleshed out very well. She's a walking, talking mess of contradictions and her humanity shines through brilliantly in a world filled with high-tech cybernetics, nano machines, and augmented reality. She gets beat down, she reacts believably, sometimes shedding her rough exterior when warranted and her internal monologue always satisfied me and never de-protagonized her.There's some very human moments that come to mind easily, while always maintaining that she's come from the streets and worked her way up for her street cred. The fiction has great pacing and shifts between these moments and some great action sequences seamlessly and leaves some questions open for the next book. This felt like a great blend of 80s cyberpunk made relevant again with both updated tech but also a female protagonist. It could easily make a great action movie (with Angelina kicking ass).I need to reiterate it's pretty great having a believable, conflicted bad ass woman that's depicted really well in cyberpunk fiction. It's sometimes hard to come by and It's a small thing that makes a lot of impact on the fiction.I also loved that she was bi-sexual, but in the way that clearly wasn't there just because men find it hot. There's no obligatory woman on woman action that comes with the tag sometimes, and her thoughts about what she likes in people always originate outward from physical appearance. It really does make a huge difference for the story for me.

Only gave this 3 stars because I think for the right audience this is a 5 star book. I took a chance on the book as it is a bit out side of my regular genre of reading and just couldn't get into it. I think the author does a good job here and I will be checking in on them to see if they have some items more in my preferred area of reading because I did like their writing but I just couldn't get into this one.

Wow! Wer auf Cyberpunk steht, der findet hier genau die richtige Dröhnung! super!

A great book. Just a heads up that the language can be extremely vulgar, not a deal breaker for me and it does fit in the setting, but any shrinking violets will hate.