gHost

by Jonathan Wright

In the 23rd century you can jack into the web, shop at a mall floating half a mile above the street, kill yourself with the drug of the week, and wake up in a new body.

The rich can have what they want -- and they want immortality. What they get is gHost, generic Host Somnambulant Transfer. The dead become re-animated hosts for the living. The trade is controlled by megacorps and is highly regulated. Getting on the list is the perk for any corporate ladder-climber. But the price is steep.

Brady Woods is a smart-ass hacker fighting to survive in the dim streets at the bottom of the canyons between two-hundred-story buildings, where smog and anti-grav shopping malls block out the sun and predators prowl the shadowed alleys.

Brady has talent. He can fix anything. And he can surf the web like no one can. Code is his junk food; blind killers and security bots are his nemeses; information is his currency and his rush.

Sleen's girl Deel has eyes for Brady; a battered cat knows its own. Brady knows what he wants, and he wants Deel. Problem. Sleen thinks he owns Deel, and he's not about to give her up. In a barter economy Deel's

132 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Jonathan Wright is a British journalist and literary translator. He studied Arabic, Turkish and Islamic civilization at St John's College, Oxford. He joined Reuters news agency in 1980 as a correspondent, and has been based in the Middle East for most of the last three decades. He has served as Reuters' Cairo bureau chief, and he has lived and worked throughout the region, including in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the Gulf. From 1998 to 2003, he was based in Washington, DC, covering U.S. foreign policy for Reuters.
Wright came to literary translation comparatively late. His first major work of translation was Taxi, the celebrated book by Egyptian writer Khaled al-Khamissi. This was published by Aflame Books in 2008 and republished by Bloomsbury Qatar in 2012. Since then, he has translated several works including Azazeel and The State of Egypt.

Reviews

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to live forever? All that is needed is the body of a person who recently passed away. The rich are able to transfer their existence into these "hosts". Ready for a world where people jack into the "information highway" to find information? Unfortunately, depending on the wealth of a person determines what kinds of drugs are used to help surf the net. The poor are given addictive and destructive drugs. The rich can afford the good stuff. It's like drinking grain alcohol versus Cristal. Which ones rots the mind faster?

In this new highly controlled world imbalanced with have and have-nots, Brady is an anomaly. For no explainable reason, he can surf the web without any drugs. He's been just getting by in the slums. Both his parents are gone and he's protecting his sister. This is until one day, he sees his mother. It's impossible because he knows her body was cremated when she died. The only way she can be up and around walking is if she were turned into a gHost. Brady's paperwork of her death states otherwise. Brady's outrage motivates him to track this person down and find answers. Answers lead to more questions and ultimately consequences he doesn't accept and conspiracies unravel.

Mr. Wright creates a fantastic world. He does a great job of intermixing computers and speculative technology into a plausible world. This story is filled with just enough techno concepts for a gadget lover to enjoy. His sense of humour shines through the quirks of his characters. I lust for more books in this amazing world he's created.

The characters were endearing. Brady is the underdog fighting against "The Man". He's easy to root for and admire. Brady is not perfect and his flaws only make him more attractive. The sexy dominance displayed in Brady's character is HAWT! There is some great BD and D/s in this tale and it will have many a female searching for a "gadget" to help increase enjoyment of this book.

The plot development is also good. This story is tightly written between the world building and the characters. The secondary characters all had a purpose. There were no side tangents that ended up in a dead end. Instead, Mr. Wright brought them all back in alignment for a fitting end. All questions are answered with a happily ever after conclusion. What is amazing is that this jam-packed tale is only about 130 pages. If this were a full-length novel of closer to 400 pages, I can only imagine an even more wonderful book. I highly recommend this cyberpunk story to kinky readers who also love their gadgets.