The Punch Escrow
by Tal M. Klein
Published July 25th 2017
by Geek & Sundry
"An
alt-futuristic hard-science thriller with twists and turns you'll never see coming.
I couldn't put it down." -Felicia Day, founder of Geek & Sundry
It's
the year 2147. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging.
We've genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of
blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of
transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport—a secretive firm
headquartered in New York City. Their slogan: Departure... Arrival... Delight!
Joel
Byram, our smartass protagonist, is an everyday twenty-fifth century guy. He
spends his days training artificial intelligence engines to act more human,
jamming out to 1980's new wave—an extremely obscure genre, and trying to
salvage his deteriorating marriage. Joel is pretty much an everyday guy with
everyday problems—until he's accidentally duplicated while teleporting.
Now
Joel must outsmart the shadowy organization that controls teleportation, outrun
the religious sect out to destroy it, and find a way to get back to the woman
he loves in a world that now has two of him.
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It’s
2147 and the world is a fascinating place to live. Don’t want to age? No problem as due to nanotechnology, humans
can live as long as their heart desires.
Hungry? Just ask your fancy 3D
printer to whip you up a meal. Need to
take a trip across the world? All it
takes is a blink of the eye due to teleportation. Yes, the world is a perfect place for those
looking for instant gratification.
But not
everyone is excited about all these advancements that science has given
them. There is a religious group that is
opposed to teleportation, believing that it basically is playing God and that
when people use the teleportation device, they are dying in one place and
resurrecting in another. And these
thoughts aren’t as farfetched as one might believe.
Enter
Joel Byram. Joel’s a smart guy. His job is to train artificial intelligence
to act more human and he is really good at what he does. His marriage however is not the best. His wife, Sylvia, is never at home as she is
working on a top-secret project that she can’t discuss, but it’s big and will
change the world. Determined to rekindle the romance that they once knew, Joel
and his wife plan a trip to Costa Rica.
Sylvia leaves before Joel and they are to meet up once Joel
arrives. Those plans are destroyed
however when someone blows up the teleportation center that Joel was in. But
due to a glitch, Joel is still alive……in two different places.
And
that my dear reader is when the action ramps up and this story gets exciting. I’m not going to say anymore for fear of
giving anything away, but there are some serious twists and turns that will
keep you turning the pages until the very end.
If you
are a fan of hard science fiction, then you’re going to love The Punch Escrow, a new and exciting
novel by Tal M. Klein. I’m not even
going to pretend that I understood some of what was going on while reading this
story, but I can appreciate the author’s writing and his talent for storytelling,
and the research that went into writing this book. The characters are believable and the suspense
is gripping. Most of the story moved
along at a steady pace. I say most
because there are a few footnotes throughout that slowed down my reading somewhat. I can understand the importance of having the
added information, it just slowed me down a bit.
Mr.
Klein did a fantastic job telling this story which will instantly hook readers
from page one and with its compelling narrative, keep them captivated until the
very end.
Pick
this one up…..you won’t be disappointed!
4 stars
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