A Book Review: Dogs of DevTown
Title of the book: Dogs of DevTown
Author: Taylor Hohulin
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: 16th of April 2021
Genre: Science-fiction, Cyberpunk
Why I picked up this book:
Sooo if you have read my recent reviews, you probably noticed I have gone down a bit of an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) rabbit hole. This one is no different. In fact, this one is hot of the presses – so to speak, you know with it being an e-book and all – as it was only released a few short days ago.
Now I am not naturally drawn to the cyberpunk genre. I don’t know what it is, it is not that big of a leap from science-fiction, but it just doesn’t speak to me in the same way. That is until someone very cleverly managed to weave the seedy underbelly of society and not so subtle crime syndicates through it as a red thread. You may not have had my interests at first, but now you certainly have my curiosity.
About the author:
Taylor has worked in the Christian radio industry since 2008, in roles ranging from on-air personality to webmaster. Currently, he is a morning show host in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he lives with with his wife, his cat, and his dog. He has lost track of the number of times he's eaten a whole sleeve of Oreos.
Synopsis:
Welcome to DevTown.
In this city, holo ads lumber like neon giants seeking advertising targets. Men and women pop Oracle tabs in search of relief or enlightenment or both. Creatures of unknown origin stalk the darkest alleys. In the center of it all, NexDev Tower looms over the city, home to hundreds of floors of top-secret research.
And in its shadow, Shan Hayes kills people for money.
Rejecting the mechanical enhancements so popular in DevTown, Shan needs only two things: The resynth serum that can reshape her body's entire cellular structure, and her hand-cannon containing a sentient parasite capable of converting her blood into weaponized wasps.
As a hired gun for various crime syndicates, there's little of the city's underbelly Shan hasn't encountered. But when a longtime business associate hires her to track down an underling who's vanished into the neon night, Shan finds DevTown still holds secrets more deadly and terrifying than anything she could imagine.
Review of the book:
Man, this book is a wild-ride. From the very first pages, you feel like you have been strapped to a rocket, hurtling off to god knows where. There are no gentle introductions, no exposition dumps, no explorations of culture or history. No, Shan knows this seedy, grimy world like the back of her hand and she expects you to learn quickly, or you risk being left behind in Tabber Alley.
It is an exciting mix of science-fiction, action and crime, that introduces us to some new and interesting concepts. Take the Resynth serum for example – while utterly outdated to most around Shan – it allows her to literally alter her physical make-up. Looking for a set of fleshy, bat-like wings, hey presto! Need to run like a cheetah, a set of highly evolved front legs coming right up. Oh, you want to jump several stories vertically, I’ve got just the thing for you: the lower half of a mantis. Sure it is a strain on her system as her cells clamour for every bit of energy she has, but in my eyes, that is a trade worth making. I can only imagine the dramatic exits you could make at work as you launch yourself out of a 15th story window, soaring up into the sky without looking back.
What I liked so much about Shan is that she clings to this ‘back-wards’ technology, whilst society has long since moved on. Upgrading their bodies with mechanical parts, uploading their consciousness into the next stage of the internet. Shan is wary of these developments in a way that is new and refreshing. She’s not the recluse at the edge of the world, pointing a gun at their printer. She is a part of this world, she has found her way in this world, without sacrificing her ideals. You know – what little ideals a gun for hire has.
Another huge plus for me was that this book didn’t carry a whiff of romance. Don’t get me wrong: if the story calls for a romantic relationship, by all means, include it. It’s just that all too often authors will include a romantic relationship for the sake of including it. Which cheapens the story, the characters and their involvement. Of course Shan is not an island, as much as she might try to be and the friendships and wary bonds of trusts she forms with Andromeda and Kim are expertly done.
All in all this book would have been a 5-star for me if it weren’t for a few niggling things. First of all, there were the odd spelling / grammatical errors. On top of that one of the characters, Aldis is called by an entirely different and new name towards the end of the story. Ok, this only happens once but it was enough to pull me out of the story.
It also felt like some of the sidelines to the story ultimately weren’t resolved. How had people been recruited into the Hellscrapers? Sure there is a suggestion each and every one of them stumbled into a bit of corrupted code whilst browsing the Net, but this isn’t fully confirmed.
Or take the antagonist who is two steps away from being omnipotent. In the end, he is easily fooled. Even Shan herself questions whether it wasn’t too easy. Why had everything been delivered to her neatly wrapped in a bow? I can only agree with her here. The stakes that have been high throughout suddenly feel lowered in favour of a gimmicky ‘boss-fight.
All of that being said though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Even if you are a novice when it comes to the Cyberpunk genre, like myself, you’ll easily get stuck in. Most of the characters are well-developed and believable and the story itself is fast-paced and action-packed.
What are your thoughts? Is Cyberpunk one of your all-time favourite genres and do you have some recommendations? Is this just too far outside of the realm of possibilities for you? Let me know in the comment section below and, until then - just one more page!