Shadowrun 22: Dead Air

Shadowrun Novels #22

by Jak Koke

When Jonathan Winger, leader of Los Angeles's superstar Combat Biker team, sees his teammate die in a crash with an opposing player, he vows to seek revenge, only to become the next target in a deadly conspiracy. Original.

Genres: Cyberpunk, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Role Playing Games, Dystopia

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Jak Koke writes and edits from Seattle, where he lives with his partner, Karawynn Long. Jak has authored seven published novels and many short stories under his own name. He has also ghost-written novels and edited manuscripts by other authors. He is currently the Managing Editor of an award-winning small press — Per Aspera Press.

Reviews

[Lee Gunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to evaluate a book based on three criteria: plot, characters and writing style. This book scores highly in all three. The plot/story was good. up til the last few pages there were things I had not figured out yet. This is no small challenge as I am a pretty good figurer-outer kind of guy. We have revenge. We have untidy alliances and betrayal. The sort of stuff that makes life horrible and fiction wonderful. Of the three, I rate the character development the least. It was good, very solid, but just a hair below the other two. When a major protagonistic character dies, you're gonna' lose points here (which you gain back elsewhere if you do it well). There were a lot of bodies to keep your eye on... thus a list at the start of the book. Some were developed better than others. A few of the seemingly major players didn't quite get the pages I'd have liked to see. A couple others a bit more than I needed. I imagine this is a "your mileage may vary" sort of thing. The writing style was very polished. Which honestly surprised me. I don't read a lot of "based on a game world" type literature. Or expect what I do read to be great. Also, when I wind up reading a book because I know the author, I set a pretty low bar. I didn't need to bother for Jak. This book is well written. It reads well. the exception tot hat is something inherent to the genre. I was overwhelmed with countless gadgets, gizmos, technologies and magics that left me feeling like I was trying to play checkers with an opponent who was playing chess. This caused me to get a slow start on the book, but once I got a hundred or so pages in, I got a little more comfortable with the world I was reading in and the writing style overcame the challenge.

Lastly, the only other thing that took away from the book for me was the "prevalence of easy". No matter what was needed done, there seemed to be an easy way to do it. This happens a lot in the more imaginative genres. I like to refer to the police radar/radar detector race in way of explanation. Better radars beget better detectors beget better radars, etc, etc, etc. In this story the ability to bypass rules seems overwhelmingly beyond the ability to enforce. I suspect this is true of the whole Shadowrun world and books, but only know for sure about what I've read. On the other hand, over explaining or developing too many constraints to overcome can bog down a story and kill pacing. I think Tom Clancy is a brilliant writer, but he does this too much for my liking. So where is the balance? To each one his own I guess. It's just one more piece of the pie that is a totally personal thing.

I would not recommend this book to realists. It's way too out there, full of magic, elves, trolls, and diverse interesting technologies. Probably not to the impatient who don't already know the Shadowrun world. You'll give up trying to keep up with all the jacking in, flying motor bike and astral projection kind of stuff going on.

I do recommend to someone who plays or reads Shadowrun. Fans of science fiction would like this, and fans of speculative fiction should love it. Fantasy fans will be right at home with all the dwarfs, trolls, elves, elementals and whatnot wandering about. Not to call names, but if you are already called a geek or a nerd by others, this could fit well on your bookshelf.

[Hyann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe because it was a long since my last Shadowrun novel, but I really like Koke style and enjoy most of the book.

He didn't waste time to explain the world of Shadowrun and goes directly in the action with a ton of characters that make you feel it. By the cover, I was thinking most of the book would be very technical combat bike arena story where the good guy win in the end with a impossibe move. I was completely wrong!

Sure, combat bike is there, but you have a lot more. Mega-corp treachery, shadowruning with the past mixing with the present. You mage, troll, shaman, elf, drone, rigger, decker... a good range of Shadowrun gritty world. Not only bad guys vs good guys, many factions in play!

The end suffered a little. Less credible to have two of the biggest star players a few days before the championship match doing shadowruning (fighting and gunning all around the city) without interference and always incognito. Or the hero tapping in the combat bike communication system to easily.

Ending is surprising but not sure it a good one. I wouldn't be interested to read a sequel.

I still really enjoy it and I will look for other Jak Koke work.

Not really recommended for people not familiar with Shadowrun.

[Georg Gänzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Roman bringt Abwechslung in die Shadowrun Reihe. Und das im positiven Sinn. Die Hauptperson sind Combatbiker der ersten Liga. Runner spielen hier die Nebenrollen.

Die Handlung startet direkt, ohne großes Vorgeplänkel. Spannende Story, gut durchdacht. Tolle Charaktere, mit denen man sofort mitfiebern kann. Der Autor versteht es den Leser zu fesseln.

Für mich bisher einer der herausragenden Titel der Shadowrun Reihe. Klare Leseempfehlung für Fans von Shadowrun.

[David Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty good compared to most shadowrun books. The series as a whole is hit and miss as the books are quite dated but I still find them a guilty pleasure at times. This one captures the feel nicely but is a bit clunky. I'd recommend it for shadowrun fans but probably not for the wider world.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why didn’t he die!!! He needed to die!!

[E J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read, cinematic, over-the-top action. I would recommend other SR novels but this is still a decent one to immerse oneself in the SR world. 3.5 stars.

[Puuush · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ich habe es nach der Hälfte weggelegt. Die Story war okay, aber nicht sonderlich fesselnd. Der Stil hat mich verjagt. Wiederholungen, plumpe Satzführung und langatmige Erklärungen von überflüssigen Details.
Schade, ich hatte Lust auf Oldschool-Shadowrun.