Backburn: The Fixer: 9

by Andrew Vaillencourt

Still hounded at every turn, Roland and his team limp home to find Dockside in turmoil. Clandestine corporate operations have weakened the treaties between Dockside’s gangs just in time for a disaster at the docks to shut down Earth’s mightiest marketplace. On the verge of economic catastrophe, Gateways Inc. lands an army of corporate troops to seize control. Criminals and corpos make for a tense pairing, and it’s only a matter of time before something breaks and the shooting starts. Not content to wait for that to happen, OmniCorp springs for a little extra muscle. The only surviving full-prosthesis cyborg in the galaxy shows up to have a go at New Boston’s most famous fixer, and a fair fight is not how this shooter likes to operate. It’s a full-metal slugfest as all the players collide on the streets of New Boston for one final bloody showdown. But what is all the fuss really over? Lucia has her doubts about the corporate line, and even her father seems to be hiding important information from her. As their losses mount and total destruction inches ever closer, the fixers will have to uncover the real reason all these MegaCorps are brawling it out in their backyard. The fires of corporate warfare are raging across New Boston, and only Roland Tankowicz and his group of misfits can stop it before all of Dockside burns to the ground. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and New Boston’s least favorite army-surplus cyborg has brought his matches… Time to light a BACKBURN.

Genres: Science Fiction

382 pages, Paperback

Published July 17, 2023

Reviews

[David P. Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Backburn” continues the “The Fixer” series in a well written manner. The storyline crisply flows with the caveat that while the characters are engrossing and entertaining, the story never reaches a conclusion, an ending.

[Pierre-Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit worried by the slow start, but then the story takes off and makes for a good read.
Nevertheless, I feel Andrew Vaillancourt is starting to struggle to write new stories, even though there a few good ideas here and there and some great battle scenes.

[Fletcher Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could read some other SciFi book like Blindsight or Anathem, and get lectured on the glaring flaws in consciousness or failings in philosophy. Or you could read the Fixer series about a cranky cyborg solving problems with kinetic force and righteously-focused PTSD.

[Aro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like to hear from Lucia and Roland again - I love the series, thank you