In an effort to break free from the box Amazon has put me into, I tried a recommendation from the San Francisco Chronicle to read a science fiction novel related to the local area. I'm glad I did. This is a highly imaginative novel about a post apocalyptic United States in an alternative universe where Argentina wins the Falklands war through the use of a mind altering pigment that could wipe a person's mind, uplift a depressed person's mood, create puppy love, incite unrelenting rage or any number of other emotions. The pigment was useful as a recreational drug, a therapeutic drug or a powerful chemical weapon. It could be taken internally or absorbed through the skin. At sufficient strength it could cause one to forget to breath or turn one into a vegetable. All the major cities were wastelands due to their having been bombed with the pigment that remained. Thus Daley City was merely an outpost to the big city of Boise.
Daley City was considered the sticks, but a big case involving illegal pigment had shown up with fake sunshine pigment hitting the streets. This "shamshine" was determined to be a blind and a subterfuge to hide the fact that a different pigment was being developed that would cause the exposed to bond to an individual with religious fervor. A secret organization was attempting to create world domination through use of this pigment. The story develops through following the shamshine trail to seeing hints of the big picture to everything escalating to the point where everything looks hopeless. One last Hail Mary is all that's left, and it doesn't look too promising. Then at the last minute a seemingly failed and abandoned attempt at getting aide brings success just like the old movies where the cavalry suddenly appears. The hand of God descends from the skies.
I could find no misspelled words or words out of place. As is now typical with modern writers, there was rampant misuse of the word like, and failure to use the possessive with a gerund. Otherwise the writing was highly interesting and visual. The numerous characters were all interesting. Most unusual for apocalyptic novels, I saw no stupid moves. Each character played his part without breaking character or suddenly becoming something else. The storey developed logically without gimmicks, and concluded without being abrupt. This is a well written story. I hope the author keeps it up for a long time.
I made it 20% into the book before I decided to put it down. It's a mix of alternate reality set in 2009 and dystopian/science fiction noir. Psychopigment Enforcement Agent, Kay Curtida, is the main character who goes from working humdrum cases to something much more life threatening and steeped in conspiracy.There is a large amount of characters, pigment speak and an almost clinical writing style that my mind wasn't grasping onto. I hate stopping less than a quarter of the way into a book but it just wasn't clicking the way I had hoped.Even with my brief acquaintance, there were a few items I did enjoy in the narrative such as:✔️ Latinx voice✔️ Emotion altering drugs✔️ Alternate realityThough the novel didn't hit my high points, I still ended up grabbing the audiobook and more than likely I'll be listening down the road. I've found audio can bring out a lot in books when reading doesn't cut it. We shall see!Since I didn't make it to the end, I recommend checking out reviews from those who did finish and can give deeper insight into the novels intricacies.
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Top reviews from the United States
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William S. Morris
I highly recommend it
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2023Cayla
Page turner filled with wit and social commentary
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2023
Permanently_Booked
Unique but Not for Me
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2023
I made it 20% into the book before I decided to put it down. It's a mix of alternate reality set in 2009 and dystopian/science fiction noir. Psychopigment Enforcement Agent, Kay Curtida, is the main character who goes from working humdrum cases to something much more life threatening and steeped in conspiracy.
There is a large amount of characters, pigment speak and an almost clinical writing style that my mind wasn't grasping onto. I hate stopping less than a quarter of the way into a book but it just wasn't clicking the way I had hoped.
Even with my brief acquaintance, there were a few items I did enjoy in the narrative such as:
✔️ Latinx voice
✔️ Emotion altering drugs
✔️ Alternate reality
Though the novel didn't hit my high points, I still ended up grabbing the audiobook and more than likely I'll be listening down the road. I've found audio can bring out a lot in books when reading doesn't cut it. We shall see!
Since I didn't make it to the end, I recommend checking out reviews from those who did finish and can give deeper insight into the novels intricacies.
There is a large amount of characters, pigment speak and an almost clinical writing style that my mind wasn't grasping onto. I hate stopping less than a quarter of the way into a book but it just wasn't clicking the way I had hoped.
Even with my brief acquaintance, there were a few items I did enjoy in the narrative such as:
✔️ Latinx voice
✔️ Emotion altering drugs
✔️ Alternate reality
Though the novel didn't hit my high points, I still ended up grabbing the audiobook and more than likely I'll be listening down the road. I've found audio can bring out a lot in books when reading doesn't cut it. We shall see!
Since I didn't make it to the end, I recommend checking out reviews from those who did finish and can give deeper insight into the novels intricacies.
Images in this review
Valleri
A lot of people and things to keep straight!
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2023