Necrotech

SINless, Book 1

By: K C Alexander

Narrated by: A. B. Kovacs

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's Summary

Street thug Riko has some serious issues - memories wiped, reputation tanked, girlfriend turned into a tech-fueled zombie. And the only people who can help are the mercenaries who think she screwed them over.

In an apathetic society devoid of ethics or regulation, where fusing tech and flesh can mean a killing edge or a killer conversion, a massive conspiracy is unfolding that will alter the course of the human condition forever. With corporate meatheads on her ass and a necro-tech blight between her and salvation, Riko is going to have to fight meaner, work smarter, and push harder than she's ever had to. And that's just to make it through the day.

©2016 K C Alexander (P)2018 Random House Audio

Hardcore punk cyberpunk

NECROTECH is probably the most entertaining novel I read in 2020 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 and the pear of 2020 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 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 within 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. K.C. Alexander has a masterfully sharp wit and is able to describe things in ways that pop off the page with every verb and adjective. It's not just a slum but a slum of bare electrical cables, oppressive humidity, mutant cockroaches, and sweaty teenagers trying to look tough with their chrome enhancements as well as cheap bootleg t-shirts.

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. There's a lot of humanity our heroine despite her nasty tough side and we can see how much the death of her girlfriend has affected her even as she's someone who is comfortable with loss as part of her work.

The narration? Well, I think the author could have been a bit harsher. Still, serviceable.

In conclusion, this 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. The heroine is crass, vulgar, and a breath of fresh air to all those "cyberpunk" heroes who completely lack edge. The majority of them are really noir heroes and it's nice to have one that actually feels like a rebel. This is a fantastic book and I think those who like take no prisoners fiction will love it.

Really hit the spot.

I’m always looking for a riveting high adrenaline adventure, and K. C. Alexander’s Necrotech does not disappoint. Somehow Rico the “splatter specialist” managed to charm her way into my heart. I want to give a special shout out to A. B. Kovacs, I listen to a lot of audiobooks and a good reader can make all the difference. Not only does ‘A’ have a delightful voice, but it is clear she ‘gets’ Rico and really brings the character to life. I can’t wait to listen to the second book.

Great Content! Unsure on the rest.

I'll start by saying this is written beautifully, in a logophile kind of way. I couldn't tell if the fault lies in the way the 'action' was written, or the fact that the narrator read everything that wasn't internal monologue by the protagonist like it was stereo instructions or a step-by-step for how to build something from IKEA, but I will admit to just 'getting through' this one.
Not bummed I bought it - again, the use of language, especially vulgarities, was creative and fun to hear, but it's very lacking in plot / continuity and I feel the performance of the narrator only fit for the character, and not as overall narration to set up scenes or handle dialog between characters. So, 3 stars across the board!

Gritty by design, open plot holes nixed book 2

Held my attention mostly, but (and I'm military, no snowflake) the language was excessive and forced.

Fun cyberpunk jaunt.

I'll say that the first half of the book grabs you and holds on if you have any love for the genre, Atleast, it did for me. That said, the protaganist gets a little frustrating at times. I get what the author was going for and think it worked quite well indeed. But certain things about her, her constant struggles with other people were tough to listen to. So many times her saying what she needs to would have made the situation better. The book is descriptive and colorful, and pretty evocative in showing you the world. My main gripe is audio errors in the narration. A weird glitch or two took me out of the narrative more than i would like.

worst ever!!!!

struggled to get through the first chapter. bad narrator, poor voice acting. could not even finish. stopped the story just before the first chapter's ending to write this.

Hooked me at the Resident Evil opening scene

The “perils of tech” setting of Blade Runner without the brooding introspection.
The lost memory plot of Bourne, except with street rat Rico.
The brutal action of Atomic Blonde, minus the style.

I loved every adrenaline filled minute! This is a gritty, frenetic hella-bloody good time. Non-stop action, cyber-punk, and cussing. So much cussing! But, hey, mad respect for the mouthy variety! If you can’t stand Fks & Cnts in every sentence, delivered in endless, biting gusto, then this book is not for you.

There’s a lot to unpack in the terminology (Splatters, Linkers, Necros), the cultures (corporate vs street vs cop), and the burnt-out, tech-corrupted, “apoca-Fked” world (her word, not mine). Great diversity, from gender to race and LGBTQ, organic to the story. Rico’s libido talks big, but the get-togethers are all just mentioned… and in the past (girl’s got as many old one night stands as James Bond). Final warning: this is just the opening act. Answers await in future books. I, for one, had so much fun that I’m this close 🤏 to burning a full credit on the next book. Well done!

Just awful.

I couldn't make myself finish it. It was so over the top Femdom that it ruined any desire to care about the character.

Good, but not Great

If you're into Cyberpunk fiction, you'll find this to be a passable example. The story is okay, but sometimes hard to follow - though I think that's a problem with the performance more than the writing. Kovacs does a good job with the main character, but often the dialogue from the supporting cast is stilted, and her reading of action scenes is as wooden as plain exposition, often in a jarring way. In the end, I finished it because I'm a completionist, not because I was dying to know how it ended. The finale was fairly predictable, with the only twist serving more as sequel-bait rather than a part of this story. Too many overused tropes, too rooted in the habits of the genre, and ultimately good enough to not elicit an angry review, but far from getting a good one.

Cyberpunk mercs

The cursing in the book didn't really feel like something a street merc would use, but then again I'm not a street merc. The story was easy to get invested in, the main character Riko is such a cool chick almost impossible not to fall in love with her.

Just as it was getting some where it ended.

Problem with many stories now adays is people want to make them trilogies or more. What does that do? Kills making a solid complete story. This story has real potential. Good main character, strange happenings, tech, etc. But what it lacks is direction. This isn't a novel but a short story drawn out over a book length. And that sucks. Once it finally was getting interesting the story was over. Nothing was accomplished except the start of a back story. I think we'll find out this series could be made into a single book, maybe two. But alas this is the new problem we face as readers. Sigh.

All description, not much story

I bought this based on a revue and was bitterly disappointed. The majority of the book is descriptions of teck, clothes and men's physical attributes. There is very little story and the charterers are not very engaging. William Gibson it's not!
The street slang is bum-wincing!
Beware if you find bad language offensive she uses cunt a lot as an adverb.