Up the Tower
by J. P.
Lantern
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Disaster
brings everybody together. A cloned corporate assassin; a boy genius and his
new robot; a tech-modified gangster with nothing to lose; a beautiful, damaged
woman and her unbalanced stalker—these folks couldn't be more different, but
somehow they must work together to save their own skin. Stranded in the
epicenter of a monumental earthquake in the dystopian slum, Junktown, there is
only one way to survive. These unlikely teammates must go...UP THE TOWER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
“This kid comes in, okay? Starts doing all this stuff with
Wallop's tech fists. Powering them up and such. You know, they can bend steel,
they can punch a man so far a distance, all of that. At first, I think the
kid's pretty young, but then I see his eyes—they're old enough. I seen his
eyes, they're about my age, those eyes. And it’s important, okay, how old he
is. Because this kid? He looks a h*ll of a lot like me.”
“So what? Lots of kids look like you.”
“Yeah. So do Georgeson. So do Jonesboy. So do Figueroa.”
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying…” he palmed the side of his head. “I’m saying,
it ain’t no secret that you got yourself a certain type of person that you pick
up. A type of boy. I sort of thought I knew why. Last night I found out for
certain.”
Konnor was right. Ore was angry.
“The h*ll are you saying to me? Just say it.”
“You said you had a brother. His name was Samson. He was
good with tech, you said. Well this kid? The one tailoring Wallop's new fists?
Samson. That's what Wallop called him. ‘Samson, touch here.’ ‘Samson, look at
that, is that right.’”
Ore didn't say anything.
“He's alive. Your brother. In The Tower. He’s maybe been
alive this whole time.”
Silence, then. Even the eyebots outside seemed to get quiet.
That godd*mn Wallop. Her job, her Haulers, and her eye. Now
he had her brother, or near enough. Everything.
Would he take everything from her?
Konnor stood up and headed to the door. The shack squeaked
beneath him.
“If it was any other sort of job…if it was a job that maybe
wouldn’t have gone against the Faces…”
“Shut up, Konnor. It’s all against the Faces. It’s under ‘em
or it’s with ‘em. You know that.”
“All right. All right.” He opened the door. An argument had
started down the street; someone lit a fire in a barrel on the balcony above
her shack; an eyebot stopped, scanned the two, and then zipped away. “It’s a
h*ll of a plan, though, Ore. A h*ll of a plan. And maybe I won’t get around to
telling Wallop what’s what for a little while.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
J.P. Lantern
lives in the Midwestern US, though his heart and probably some essential parts
of his liver and pancreas and whatnot live metaphorically in Texas. He writes
speculative science fiction short stories, novellas, and novels which he has
deemed "rugged," though he would also be fine with
"roughhewn" because that is a terrific and wonderfully apt word.
Full of
adventure and discovery, these stories examine complex people in situations
fraught with conflict as they search for truth in increasingly violent and
complicated worlds.
Blog/website:
http://jplantern.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JpLanternBooks
twitter:
@jplantern
My Review:
This was an interesting take on a dystopian novel. I say that because it involves an earthquake, a robot, and a boy genius. I loved the name Junktown and thought that it was a perfect fit for the setting. I did not like the part about the dog. However after an earthquake damages your town you are looking for loved ones and just trying to survive. The Five Faces of power were well written and they were corrupt. This raised an interesting argument for democracy, at least for me. I liked that they had to go up the tower to survive, it was like a quest and they were climbing over debris, etc. I really liked this book, excerpt for the dog part (which did cost the book a star for me), and I would love to read more from this author. The ending was interesting and the last line made me smile. It amazes me what happens when things become chaotic. There are riots, death, family, "touching greatness", and so much more in this book. I liked that the book centered on 5 people that were affected by this earthquake, rather then the whole area, because I felt like the characters were more developed. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
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