The Punch Escrow
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4.5 • 31 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There are lots of witty moments in Klein's debut (the winner of Geek & Sundry's hard science fiction contest), but its flaws turn a potentially fun adventure into an exercise in frustration. In 2147, Joel Byram, who makes his living teaching AIs how to appear more human, is about to teleport off on a vacation with his estranged scientist wife, Sylvia. When a terrorist attack takes down the teleportation network, Joel learns the awful truth (which experienced readers of SF will already have guessed): rather than literally transporting people, it recreates them at their destinations and then destroys their earlier selves. Thanks to a complicated series of events, Joel's previous body isn't killed, and there are now two of him running around. In spite of the predictability, this setup has potential, but there's either too much or not enough goofiness. Lengthy footnotes that are too long to be serious but not funny enough to entertain, gags such as a pet dog named Peeve, and excessive 20th-century pop culture references all keep the novel from committing to being a thriller, but it never feels like a romp, either.
Customer Reviews
Wonderful
Amazing story, I felt like I was pulled into the world. I would love to see a second installment.
Way Better Than I Expected
Even if you're not super into science fiction, you owe it to yourself to give this a shot. If you've read Dark Matter, maybe you'll recognize some of the ideas in this book, but even then, the twists and turns and originality that is added on top of that and layered throughout is above and beyond what most would think. It's technical without being overly technical in a super boring way. It's futuristic without being overly futuristic in an unrealistic way. And it a whole lot of fun. Oh, and it makes you think! Be prepared to question the world around you, the choices you'd make, and if where we're headed is a good thing or not.
I love the world building done by Klein. It's a futuristic society, but it's not so far removed from the realm of possibility based on how far we've come just in the past 30 years. Sure, it's different and has been altered by technology, but it's not unrecognizable from our world today. Which is key to relating to our characters.
I'm not going to dive into plot points, I never do much of that. I think books are best enjoyed without spoilers and without knowing details going in. I will say this. Be prepared for a fun journey to the future, where things are never what they seem.