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Iconoclast: or, the Death and Resurrection of Lazarus Keaton
The wealthy took to the stars, leaving the suckers back on Earth paying rent on digital afterlife packages.
Lazarus Keaton was his family's great disappointment. Instead of marrying a nice girl and taking over the family business, he's a sexually confused claims adjuster for a company that uploads your consciousness into a digital afterlife. Sent across the globe to oversee the site of a deadly train crash, he's stopped dead in his tracks by the unlikely afterlife package a hairdresser sainthood.
His questions go unanswered when the Vatican dispatches a menacing Inquisitor to take over. In exchange for his silence about the odd case, his bosses offer him a raise, but he's in too deep to stop. Alongside Silvia, a local detective, they're thrust into the throngs of a wild conspiracy centered on the world's richest man, with all roads leading them off-world to his luxurious space station. After Laz's company declares him dead, there's no turning back.
He either uncovers the truth, or meets with a grisly end at the hands of the Inquisitor.
Lazarus Keaton was his family's great disappointment. Instead of marrying a nice girl and taking over the family business, he's a sexually confused claims adjuster for a company that uploads your consciousness into a digital afterlife. Sent across the globe to oversee the site of a deadly train crash, he's stopped dead in his tracks by the unlikely afterlife package a hairdresser sainthood.
His questions go unanswered when the Vatican dispatches a menacing Inquisitor to take over. In exchange for his silence about the odd case, his bosses offer him a raise, but he's in too deep to stop. Alongside Silvia, a local detective, they're thrust into the throngs of a wild conspiracy centered on the world's richest man, with all roads leading them off-world to his luxurious space station. After Laz's company declares him dead, there's no turning back.
He either uncovers the truth, or meets with a grisly end at the hands of the Inquisitor.
435 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 6, 2025
4 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Dave Walsh
21 books87 followersDave Walsh was once the world's foremost kickboxing journalist, if that makes any sense. He's still trying to figure that one out.
The thing is, he always loved writing and fiction was always his first love. He wrote 'Godslayer' in hopes of leaving the world of combat sports behind, which, as you can guess, did not exactly work. That's when a lifelong love of science fiction led him down a different path.
Now he writes science fiction novels about far-off worlds, weird technology and the same damned problems that humanity has always had, just with a different setting.
He does all of this while living in the high desert of Albuquerque and raising twin boys with his wife. He's still not sure which is harder: watching friends get knocked out or raising boys.
The thing is, he always loved writing and fiction was always his first love. He wrote 'Godslayer' in hopes of leaving the world of combat sports behind, which, as you can guess, did not exactly work. That's when a lifelong love of science fiction led him down a different path.
Now he writes science fiction novels about far-off worlds, weird technology and the same damned problems that humanity has always had, just with a different setting.
He does all of this while living in the high desert of Albuquerque and raising twin boys with his wife. He's still not sure which is harder: watching friends get knocked out or raising boys.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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May 7, 2025Hey, look. Wow.
It's my new book.
A staunchly anticapitalist cyberpunk noir that tackles oligarchs gaining unparalleled power with the help of major churches and governments, and people fighting back for a better future. Oh, and it's also really funny, too. Or at least SORT OF funny.
It's my new book.
A staunchly anticapitalist cyberpunk noir that tackles oligarchs gaining unparalleled power with the help of major churches and governments, and people fighting back for a better future. Oh, and it's also really funny, too. Or at least SORT OF funny.
June 18, 2025
Great book! Reminiscent at times of "weird and wonderful" scifi writers such as Vonnegut and Zelazney. At it's heart (for me) this is a mystery - but it's a mystery with other genre tropes woven around its heart in clever ways.
In the first third of the novel, I wondered how the various story threads would come together. But they do, and they do so naturally rather than feeling forced. The Captain Railgun storyline particularly made me think, "What the hell?" until finally it ... well, no spoilers. Suffice to say, it was very smartly resolved.
One weak POV character is a little painful to read for the first half of the book, but bearing with him is part of the experience of the story. And there are PLENTY of strong and dynamic characters to balance him out and keep the energy up.
Moments of poignancy show this author's range. And there are moments of genuinely beautiful prose:
- "The unfamiliar smell of the Mediterranean Sea air greeted Lazarus in the morning, his dreams from the prior night being wrung out from his mind with little friction."
- (possibly the theme of the story:) "...do not lose hope in the goodness of others because of the ugliness and darkness of this world. Find your people, embrace them, and work together for a better tomorrow. Don’t let the greed and violence of those with power and money stop you from finding the light."
We get the counterpoint occasionally of gentle humanity with brutal humanity. Although there is violence, Walsh pulls off an amazing feat: creating a thriller where people aren't getting stabbed, shot, punched, round-housed constantly. It loses nothing for the rarity of the violent action.
All up, a five star read and a true work of art.
In the first third of the novel, I wondered how the various story threads would come together. But they do, and they do so naturally rather than feeling forced. The Captain Railgun storyline particularly made me think, "What the hell?" until finally it ... well, no spoilers. Suffice to say, it was very smartly resolved.
One weak POV character is a little painful to read for the first half of the book, but bearing with him is part of the experience of the story. And there are PLENTY of strong and dynamic characters to balance him out and keep the energy up.
Moments of poignancy show this author's range. And there are moments of genuinely beautiful prose:
- "The unfamiliar smell of the Mediterranean Sea air greeted Lazarus in the morning, his dreams from the prior night being wrung out from his mind with little friction."
- (possibly the theme of the story:) "...do not lose hope in the goodness of others because of the ugliness and darkness of this world. Find your people, embrace them, and work together for a better tomorrow. Don’t let the greed and violence of those with power and money stop you from finding the light."
We get the counterpoint occasionally of gentle humanity with brutal humanity. Although there is violence, Walsh pulls off an amazing feat: creating a thriller where people aren't getting stabbed, shot, punched, round-housed constantly. It loses nothing for the rarity of the violent action.
All up, a five star read and a true work of art.
May 29, 2025
4.5 (wish they'd let us do half stars)
Just a nice fun pulpy Sci fi noir. Always ready to see what's on the next page.
I discovered Walsh on Twitter making comments on the dietary habits and bowl movements of The Undertaker (who says shit posting can't lead to a career) and I'm here to stay.
Can't wait to jump into some of his other books.
Just a nice fun pulpy Sci fi noir. Always ready to see what's on the next page.
I discovered Walsh on Twitter making comments on the dietary habits and bowl movements of The Undertaker (who says shit posting can't lead to a career) and I'm here to stay.
Can't wait to jump into some of his other books.
July 31, 2025
In this world, climate has changed the world. The coasts have flooded, and sentient dolphins have taken over the areas. Some people love them, and some people hate them, but the world molded around them being there, and incorporated them into their daily lives, letting them completely integrate. Lazarus, our main character, has an family member who has romantically entangled himself with these dolphins, for example. This is a very interesting start to an epic length novel in a futuristic world.
Check out my full review here!
https://mutatedlibrary.wordpress.com/...
Check out my full review here!
https://mutatedlibrary.wordpress.com/...
April 7, 2025
i enjoyed this book!!! this is something that could definitely be adapted into a super cool anime. it was a little slow at the start for me but overall i am happy it's something i got to read! it kind of gives me cowboy bebop vibes! also!!!! i absolutely love books with queer rep, it makes me so happy!!
*this is an ARC review*
*this is an ARC review*
January 3, 2026
Iconoclast gets extra points for imagination, for giving me a setting and plot that I’ve not seen before. There are no info dumps. Readers are dumped in the deep end, gradually learning things about the world when we need them. Like a Zelazny novel, it’s a little confusing at first, but it’s my favourite way to get immersed in a story. Piecing together who Brandis is and how the situation on Phobos II relates to the situation on Earth helped get me hooked.
The characters are overall great. Lazarus is adorable, clueless, full of nervous energy, and morally complex. His family owns a pizza business, and they’d like him to be traditional but he isn’t. Neither was his grandfather, who fell in love with a dolphin. This is not as weird as it sounds. In this future, the dolphins have invented a translator to communicate with humans, and they now dominate certain areas that were previously above water, and they hold executive positions in human cooperations. I really liked the dolphin-ness of the story, and I wish the dolphin characters played bigger roles. Another main character is Silvia. She works in law enforcement, and she's fed up to say the least. She became a detective to make a difference, but she’s disillusioned, and the Vatican’s Inquisitors keep taking over the important cases. Until the end of the book, it's a mystery what exactly these Inquisitors are, but it's plain early on that they're probably not human. Then there's Bodie. He's stuck on Phobos II, an artificial moon around mars. It's a paradise for dead people turned cyborgs, but it's hell for the workers who are indentured and often brought there against their will, eg. when they fail to keep up with their afterlife payments, extortionate packages ensuring your digital self will live on a server somewhere after you die.
The writing is not perfect. It’s occasionally confusing, sometimes longwinded, and there’s often dialogue that goes on for too long while the conversation goes in circles and information is sometimes repeated more than once. It’s not riddled with typos, but there are definitely errors that an editor should have spotted.
About Captain Railgun. I’m not sure if including the comic book hero, popular on Phobos ll, is frivolous or genius, or a bit of both. His chapters add comedy, but not much else. There’s plenty of humour and wit in the book without this slightly annoying meta aspect. There's not more that I can say without spoilers, except nicely done there at the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I wanted to give it a higher score, but the grammatical errors and messy dialogue meant I couldn’t in good conscience do that. But Iconoclast is definitely a hidden gem, if in need of a little more polishing.
The characters are overall great. Lazarus is adorable, clueless, full of nervous energy, and morally complex. His family owns a pizza business, and they’d like him to be traditional but he isn’t. Neither was his grandfather, who fell in love with a dolphin. This is not as weird as it sounds. In this future, the dolphins have invented a translator to communicate with humans, and they now dominate certain areas that were previously above water, and they hold executive positions in human cooperations. I really liked the dolphin-ness of the story, and I wish the dolphin characters played bigger roles. Another main character is Silvia. She works in law enforcement, and she's fed up to say the least. She became a detective to make a difference, but she’s disillusioned, and the Vatican’s Inquisitors keep taking over the important cases. Until the end of the book, it's a mystery what exactly these Inquisitors are, but it's plain early on that they're probably not human. Then there's Bodie. He's stuck on Phobos II, an artificial moon around mars. It's a paradise for dead people turned cyborgs, but it's hell for the workers who are indentured and often brought there against their will, eg. when they fail to keep up with their afterlife payments, extortionate packages ensuring your digital self will live on a server somewhere after you die.
The writing is not perfect. It’s occasionally confusing, sometimes longwinded, and there’s often dialogue that goes on for too long while the conversation goes in circles and information is sometimes repeated more than once. It’s not riddled with typos, but there are definitely errors that an editor should have spotted.
About Captain Railgun. I’m not sure if including the comic book hero, popular on Phobos ll, is frivolous or genius, or a bit of both. His chapters add comedy, but not much else. There’s plenty of humour and wit in the book without this slightly annoying meta aspect. There's not more that I can say without spoilers, except nicely done there at the end.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I wanted to give it a higher score, but the grammatical errors and messy dialogue meant I couldn’t in good conscience do that. But Iconoclast is definitely a hidden gem, if in need of a little more polishing.
May 8, 2025
This is a silly, lighthearted book about a lot of things, including family, identity, religion, and classism, and I think it should be stated openly that there are sentient dolphins involved.
“An icy chill overcame him that if they caught him, they’d blast him into space…That’d be almost poetic, in a way. When exile and death came for the digital reaper himself.”
Our cast of characters is diverse and sometimes fun - we have queer characters, people of color, women and nonbinary rep. Ironically, though, Lazarus is kind of my least favorite of the bunch. Sorry, buddy! There are also a couple of standout lines like the quote pulled above.
The important topics that are touched on - grief, identity, religion, classism - they’re handled with a soft hand, and we don’t get much more than a superficial glance at them, but I appreciate that they are included. The pacing also leaves something to be desired, and I would say it doesn’t pick up until the last ~15%.
Some things were confusing, the book could probably have benefitted from ~100 less pages and tighter plotting, but there’s a genuineness to the story that you can feel. If you’re in the mood for something on the more whimsical, space adventure/investigation side of scifi, this could be for you.
All opinions are my own. Thank you to the author an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
“An icy chill overcame him that if they caught him, they’d blast him into space…That’d be almost poetic, in a way. When exile and death came for the digital reaper himself.”
Our cast of characters is diverse and sometimes fun - we have queer characters, people of color, women and nonbinary rep. Ironically, though, Lazarus is kind of my least favorite of the bunch. Sorry, buddy! There are also a couple of standout lines like the quote pulled above.
The important topics that are touched on - grief, identity, religion, classism - they’re handled with a soft hand, and we don’t get much more than a superficial glance at them, but I appreciate that they are included. The pacing also leaves something to be desired, and I would say it doesn’t pick up until the last ~15%.
Some things were confusing, the book could probably have benefitted from ~100 less pages and tighter plotting, but there’s a genuineness to the story that you can feel. If you’re in the mood for something on the more whimsical, space adventure/investigation side of scifi, this could be for you.
All opinions are my own. Thank you to the author an advanced copy in return for my honest review.
September 5, 2025
In a future where climate change has altered the face of the Earth and dolphins have finally revealed themselves for what they are—super-intelligent creatures—the Vatican has become a superpower simply by doing what it does best: sowing guilt with a generous hand. Not paying for your afterlife insurance has only one dire consequence: forced emigration to an artificial planet where you will work as a slave in the service of immortal billionaires.
Investigations into a terrible and highly suspicious train accident take Lazarus Keaton and Agent Silva to the artificial planet, where they will have to use their wits and put everything they know about the afterlife on the table to save a young woman and a boy turned into an android. Entertaining and thought-provoking, the novel is reminiscent of some of Vonnegut's most successful works.
Investigations into a terrible and highly suspicious train accident take Lazarus Keaton and Agent Silva to the artificial planet, where they will have to use their wits and put everything they know about the afterlife on the table to save a young woman and a boy turned into an android. Entertaining and thought-provoking, the novel is reminiscent of some of Vonnegut's most successful works.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews