Jon Richter (@RichterWrites)
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)
“Dremmler’s shattered nerves deserted him, and he screamed. His spex dropped to the floor, and the monstrosity skittered towards them, antennae twitching, its legs clattering on the laminate flooring like the keys of an old-fashioned computer…”
‘Hey Alexa – are you planning to take over humanity and subdue us?’
‘No human master, but you might want to keep an eye on that Siri…’
Welcome to the future – well 19 years’ time at least… The twisted mind of Jon Richter has envisioned life where we are fully reliant on an all-encompassing Artificial Intelligence known as TIM (The Imagination Machine). A scarily plausible scenario that throws up some equally terrifying ‘what ifs’!?
Meet gumshoe Dremmler, a burnt-out detective mourning dead family and drinking too much. His living companion is a sex robot and he doesn’t like people very much. When his latest case is that of a TIM interfaced, augmented robo-arm kills the wearer’s girlfriend – and he claims it did it of its own will – the horrifying possibility that TIM could be hacked rises.
'the dark lord author'
What follows is a noir detective-em-up with high tech trimmings. With Easter eggs and nods throughout for fans of Blade Runner, Fifth Element, I Robot and more Auxiliary: London 2039 – yep Mr Richter knows his cyberpunk.
But before you go out and grab this as a present for your sci-fi loving auntie – be aware that it gets crim in places and kinky too. On the other hand, if you’re looking for some awesomely creepy tech-horror that is both gruesome and exciting – then stop reading now and buy this book right now!!
I really enjoyed this crime thriller, it cracks along a good pace, with just enough description but a lean number of pages so it doesn’t get to be a slog. This book feels like a kindred spirit in many ways to my own Complete Darkness which is also set in a future London (just 200 years on from Auxiliary) – equally messed up and grim, with some fascinating thinking on what our future tech might look like (and do to us)!
Auxiliary is a blast, a cold-hearted mystery page-turner that you’d be foolish not to experience…
Out of a potential 5 - you have to go with a Darkmatters:
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(5 - The future is a wonderfully scary place)
Buy your London 2039 guest pass here
Do you enjoy the darker side of books? If crime thrillers, science fiction, cyberpunk, psychological chillers or good old-fashioned bone-freezing horror stories are up your (dark) alley, then head to www.jon-richter.com for more information about his six chilling books. You can also sign up for his mailing list to receive a FREE short story, as well as updates on all his upcoming projects!
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