Wages: Future Tales of a Hired Gun

by Zack Parsons

The short stories collected in Wages: Future Tales of a Hired Gun form a blood-soaked and bitterly satirical firsthand tour of the war zones of the near future. Private military contractors have all of the firepower of the military and none of the accountability. Join the 21st century's mercenary cowboys as they protect the interests of a royal DJ in Dubai, undertake a false flag operation for union-busters in Michigan, shoot it out with separatists in East Texas, and end up as stars on a Hollywood reality show.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2012

About the author

Zack Parsons is a Chicago area writer known for his acerbic commentary and bleakly humorous science fiction. He has authored two non-fiction books, MY TANK IS FIGHT! and YOUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR IS A DRAGON. His works, including That Insidious Beast and CONEX: Convict Connections, have appeared online and in various published anthologies including A COMMONPLACE BOOK OF THE WEIRD: THE UNTOLD STORIES OF H.P. LOVECRAFT and OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS: DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS.

His debut novel, LIMINAL STATES, will be released in April of 2012.

Reviews

[Nils · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stylish and political badassery, reminiscent of Gibson's work. Good stuff imo.

[Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stars for the somewhat amateur characterization and writing but an extra star (into "I liked it" territory for the setting and concept.

Zack Parsons is a much better writer in short form, and I think that his short stories show a lot of promise. The setting here is fantastically depressing in the best possible way, but I feel like Parsons has more potential as a writer than he exhibits here or in any of his other work. If his style continues to mature, he will be an excellent author of dystopian short fiction.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I enjoyed Your Next-Door Neighbor is a Dragon much more, but this was on about par with Liminal States. This one made more sense at the end, although in both cases I would have liked a bit more exposition on the state of the world.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate this one. Action was great, but characters weren't that interesting or likable. Even the narrator wasn't that interesting or likable until the last chapter, where you get to see what his experiences as a mercenary created and he tries to talk son out of following in his footsteps. That was redeeming for the narrator.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zack Parson's writing is always compelling. I love just about everything he writes for Something Awful (which is where I first read most of this) and the fact that he can make me interested in the near-future exploits of an almost cliche, hard-bitten merc shows talent.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the gritty, cybernetic mercenary action that William Gibson always hinted at but couldn't be bothered to write.

[Pete731 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable near future semi-dystopian thriller.

[Lee Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable book, but very brief - if the phrase "always leave them wanting more" applies, then this book accomplishes its mission well.