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Sightseer
Cam Sexton had thought he’d seen it all. As a Looker–an elite group of professional eyewitnesses–he planned to use his upgraded cybereyes to bring him both fame and fortune. But he’s found himself embroiled in tangled intergang politics that have propelled him from being merely a spectator to a participant in a voyeuristic digital deathmatch with one of the most lethal contestants in the world, in the fight for his life. SIGHTSEER, the first book of THE PLASTIC FANTASTIC series, delivers fans of cyberpunk a neon blast of action and adventure in a dystopian world of broken dreams and brokered schemes.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 27, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 8, 2025
Sightseer has a fascinating premise and some truly imaginative worldbuilding. It takes place in a futuristic society where people can rebuild their bodies, modify their senses, and literally monetize what they see. The idea of “Lookers”—like Twitch streamers cranked up to dystopian extremes—is a compelling, high-concept hook. You can tell the author put a lot of creative energy into this world, with layered gang politics, cybernetic enhancements, and digital voyeurism all swirling together.
But for all the creative ambition, the execution just didn’t land for me.
The worldbuilding, while extensive, quickly became overwhelming. There are so many named technologies, factions, and types of people that it became hard to track what was going on. It felt like the book was constantly throwing out new terms and concepts without grounding them in emotional or narrative clarity. At a certain point, it started to feel like a flood of cool ideas rather than a cohesive world I could truly sink into.
The bigger problem, though, was the lack of emotional depth. The characters all felt flat—especially the main character, Cam. He’s being hunted, fighting for his life, caught up in life-or-death gang drama… and yet emotionally? He’s as calm and detached as ever, casually sleeping with random women and showing zero psychological response. It’s bizarre. There's a heavy voyeuristic tone to his sexual encounters that felt performative and disconnected rather than compelling.
Even Cam’s backstory is oddly handled—it's told to us in bursts, but never really explored. The book hovers in this frustrating in-between: not deep enough to resonate, not subtle enough to be mysterious.
To me, this read like a “boy book” in the classic sense: high-tech, action-heavy, full of weapons, sex, and dark themes, but emotionally stunted. It’s not that those things can’t make a great story—but here, they came at the expense of connection and character.
That said, if you’re a hardcore cyberpunk fan and love dense worlds with gritty, voyeuristic stakes, Sightseer may hit the mark for you. I just wanted more substance beneath the style.
But for all the creative ambition, the execution just didn’t land for me.
The worldbuilding, while extensive, quickly became overwhelming. There are so many named technologies, factions, and types of people that it became hard to track what was going on. It felt like the book was constantly throwing out new terms and concepts without grounding them in emotional or narrative clarity. At a certain point, it started to feel like a flood of cool ideas rather than a cohesive world I could truly sink into.
The bigger problem, though, was the lack of emotional depth. The characters all felt flat—especially the main character, Cam. He’s being hunted, fighting for his life, caught up in life-or-death gang drama… and yet emotionally? He’s as calm and detached as ever, casually sleeping with random women and showing zero psychological response. It’s bizarre. There's a heavy voyeuristic tone to his sexual encounters that felt performative and disconnected rather than compelling.
Even Cam’s backstory is oddly handled—it's told to us in bursts, but never really explored. The book hovers in this frustrating in-between: not deep enough to resonate, not subtle enough to be mysterious.
To me, this read like a “boy book” in the classic sense: high-tech, action-heavy, full of weapons, sex, and dark themes, but emotionally stunted. It’s not that those things can’t make a great story—but here, they came at the expense of connection and character.
That said, if you’re a hardcore cyberpunk fan and love dense worlds with gritty, voyeuristic stakes, Sightseer may hit the mark for you. I just wanted more substance beneath the style.
July 22, 2025
Wow! I really enjoyed Dean Vale’s SIGHTSEER! This cyberpunk world is richly developed and the plot kept me fully engaged. The range of characters is diverse and interesting. Make no mistake, the characters in this book are razor’s edge, so to speak. Their world is a tough place to exist in and there is little room for sentimentality. In fact, emphasis on the emotional could be flat-out deadly for them. They do what they need to in order to survive. That being said, the author offers glimpses into the main characters’ difficult pasts that I thought were intriguing. I hope to learn more of them in subsequent books. SIGHTSEER is energetic and entertaining all while offering up an examination of a cold and fairly-brutal dystopian cypberpunk future. I am definitely interested to see how the world of THE PLASTIC FANTASTIC develops in WHEN IN CHROME. I already love some of the characters in this world and I hope it works out well for them! Thank you to Nosetouch Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
May 30, 2025
In a futuristic Chicago (Shytown), its human inhabitants have upgraded themselves with various bits of technology & cybernetic hardware. Cam Sexton traded his eyes for cyberoptics & works as a Looker - where followers subscribe to literally see through his upgraded eyes.
When a ride-along on a police sting goes wrong, Cam finds himself on the run for his life as a contract killer - a weapons-enhanced killer clown named Stabby - is sent after him. Can Cam survive or will his followers get the ultimate front seat to his death?
What I liked/what worked: the plotline & pacing was good, the world vibe was very 'Bladerunner meets Minority Report', & Cam was a fairly likeable protagonist.
What I didn't like/what didn't work: a few instances of 'info dump', the vocabulary took a little getting used to, & the two brief sex scenes added absolutely nothing to the story.
Overall it was entertaining & it looks like there are more planned books in the same world, so I'll probably pick up the next one. If you like cyberpunk dystopian, then give this a whirl. 3.75 stars (rounded up)
My thanks to NetGalley & publisher, BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
When a ride-along on a police sting goes wrong, Cam finds himself on the run for his life as a contract killer - a weapons-enhanced killer clown named Stabby - is sent after him. Can Cam survive or will his followers get the ultimate front seat to his death?
What I liked/what worked: the plotline & pacing was good, the world vibe was very 'Bladerunner meets Minority Report', & Cam was a fairly likeable protagonist.
What I didn't like/what didn't work: a few instances of 'info dump', the vocabulary took a little getting used to, & the two brief sex scenes added absolutely nothing to the story.
Overall it was entertaining & it looks like there are more planned books in the same world, so I'll probably pick up the next one. If you like cyberpunk dystopian, then give this a whirl. 3.75 stars (rounded up)
My thanks to NetGalley & publisher, BooksGoSocial, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
May 9, 2025
Cyberpunk as a subgenre of science fiction has been around since the 1980s. While originally seen as a critique of the consumer-based high technology society of its day, it has evolved as our society has evolved. Unlike many science fiction subgenres, the relevance of cyberpunk has only grown as humankind confronts problems related to technology, income inequality, corporate dominance of society, and environmental degradation.
SIGHTSEER, the first book in the Plastic Fantastic Trilogy by Dean Vale, is a funhouse ride in a stylized cyberpunk Chicago (“Shytown”) set in an unspecified future. The main character of the story is named Cam Sexton, who is a Looker by trade. After losing his parents in a corporate murder plot, Cam has traded his real eyes for cybereyes and is effectively a professional voyeur who engages in risky, ostensibly illegal activities for the titillation of his viewing audience who pay for the privilege of watching his adventures and misadventures and even feeling what Cam feels via sensory links.
Cam’s associations with certain underworld figures, including a Yakuza boss name Oniyaki, lead Cam into being forced to participate in a three-day cat and mouse game with a notorious cyberclown named Stabbo. The object of the competition is for Cam to survive or be killed by Stabbo, with a lot of gambling, taking place as to who will or will not survive.
The odds against Cam are very steep, given that the cyberclown is a very accomplished killer, and SIGHTSEER revolves around Cam’s struggles to stay alive against a superhuman adversary in Stabbo.
That is the core pursuit plot of this novel. I greatly enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book, which offers a whirlwind tour of Shytown at all levels, from the poorest areas to the richest. There is a lot of detail and cultural and political and economic commentary rooted in this story, as well as a ton of fun, slyly whimsical characters who embody all sorts of cyberpunk archetypes (Moxie Monocle, Abby Normal, Serpentina, and so on).
Cam is a charming roguish character, the kind of antihero hustler who is representative of cyberpunk. He does not deviate from those cyberpunk norms, but instead, embodies them fluently. In this way, he reminds me of characters in caper stories or crime stories in that he is not necessarily a good person, while not being a bad person either. He carries some trauma with him and his life reflects that.
Stabbo the cyberclown is a fascinating antagonist in that he barely qualifies as human, owing to all of the body modifications he has, but I found him in many ways to be far more humane than I expected him to be. As such, he offers a contrast to the conniving Cam. Despite his almost cyborg-like body and history as a former super soldier, Stabbo remains in touch with an aspect of his human spirit, and this proves vital.
Dean Vale uses a snappy, ironically hip narrative style that uses a lot of cyberslang, while explaining what it means for the benefit of the reader. As an immersive world, this story has a lot to offer and is a worthwhile addition to cyberpunk literature that fans of this subgenre should both understand and relish.
There are so many details and hints and teases in this book that it makes me want to explore more of it. The fact that it is set in the Midwest, specifically Chicago, is an interesting touch. There is a very real sense that East and West Coasts are a mess and, perhaps more relevant to the present, the impact of global warming is very apparent in ways that it was not heavily explored in the original cyberpunk.
Since this is the first of a trilogy, I am very excited to see what Vale does with the next two books.
SIGHTSEER, the first book in the Plastic Fantastic Trilogy by Dean Vale, is a funhouse ride in a stylized cyberpunk Chicago (“Shytown”) set in an unspecified future. The main character of the story is named Cam Sexton, who is a Looker by trade. After losing his parents in a corporate murder plot, Cam has traded his real eyes for cybereyes and is effectively a professional voyeur who engages in risky, ostensibly illegal activities for the titillation of his viewing audience who pay for the privilege of watching his adventures and misadventures and even feeling what Cam feels via sensory links.
Cam’s associations with certain underworld figures, including a Yakuza boss name Oniyaki, lead Cam into being forced to participate in a three-day cat and mouse game with a notorious cyberclown named Stabbo. The object of the competition is for Cam to survive or be killed by Stabbo, with a lot of gambling, taking place as to who will or will not survive.
The odds against Cam are very steep, given that the cyberclown is a very accomplished killer, and SIGHTSEER revolves around Cam’s struggles to stay alive against a superhuman adversary in Stabbo.
That is the core pursuit plot of this novel. I greatly enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book, which offers a whirlwind tour of Shytown at all levels, from the poorest areas to the richest. There is a lot of detail and cultural and political and economic commentary rooted in this story, as well as a ton of fun, slyly whimsical characters who embody all sorts of cyberpunk archetypes (Moxie Monocle, Abby Normal, Serpentina, and so on).
Cam is a charming roguish character, the kind of antihero hustler who is representative of cyberpunk. He does not deviate from those cyberpunk norms, but instead, embodies them fluently. In this way, he reminds me of characters in caper stories or crime stories in that he is not necessarily a good person, while not being a bad person either. He carries some trauma with him and his life reflects that.
Stabbo the cyberclown is a fascinating antagonist in that he barely qualifies as human, owing to all of the body modifications he has, but I found him in many ways to be far more humane than I expected him to be. As such, he offers a contrast to the conniving Cam. Despite his almost cyborg-like body and history as a former super soldier, Stabbo remains in touch with an aspect of his human spirit, and this proves vital.
Dean Vale uses a snappy, ironically hip narrative style that uses a lot of cyberslang, while explaining what it means for the benefit of the reader. As an immersive world, this story has a lot to offer and is a worthwhile addition to cyberpunk literature that fans of this subgenre should both understand and relish.
There are so many details and hints and teases in this book that it makes me want to explore more of it. The fact that it is set in the Midwest, specifically Chicago, is an interesting touch. There is a very real sense that East and West Coasts are a mess and, perhaps more relevant to the present, the impact of global warming is very apparent in ways that it was not heavily explored in the original cyberpunk.
Since this is the first of a trilogy, I am very excited to see what Vale does with the next two books.
May 18, 2025
Thank you Net-Galley and publishers for an e-ARC of this story!
Ultimately, I think this has a really cool premise, but the execution let it down. For a sub-300 page book, this felt like a drag to get into, mostly due to the writing style.
I can tell the author thought up a really interesting world, but the way we are presented to the world was not cohesive. In the middle of a conversation, we would randomly get page(s)-long asides, info-dumps of the different categories of people (which ultimately don't amount to much since we don't meet people from most of the categories) or someone's backstory (people we don't ever even meet! Just like "oh I knew of this guy once"), then go back into the conversation like nothing happened. Several times I had to re-read sections because the MC would be talking to X, suddenly spend two pages thinking about Y person, and I didn't notice we were back to talking to X because we'd go from flashback-conversation-with-Y back to real-conversation-with-X with no warning.
There was also a lot of sci-fi-invented jargon and slang, which while expected, sometimes made for very jarring paragraphs (think "grandpa trying to sound hip with words he just learned yesterday"). This also led to sections of the book randomly rhyming, like the entire first two chapters I noticed so many paragraphs read like couplets? I still can't decide if that was intentional or not.
I should also mention that I found several typos within this book, but hopefully those are corrected in the final version.
Don't get me wrong- overall a very cool idea, I think this could make a neat movie! But in reality I found I wanted to like it more than I think I ultimately did.
Ultimately, I think this has a really cool premise, but the execution let it down. For a sub-300 page book, this felt like a drag to get into, mostly due to the writing style.
I can tell the author thought up a really interesting world, but the way we are presented to the world was not cohesive. In the middle of a conversation, we would randomly get page(s)-long asides, info-dumps of the different categories of people (which ultimately don't amount to much since we don't meet people from most of the categories) or someone's backstory (people we don't ever even meet! Just like "oh I knew of this guy once"), then go back into the conversation like nothing happened. Several times I had to re-read sections because the MC would be talking to X, suddenly spend two pages thinking about Y person, and I didn't notice we were back to talking to X because we'd go from flashback-conversation-with-Y back to real-conversation-with-X with no warning.
There was also a lot of sci-fi-invented jargon and slang, which while expected, sometimes made for very jarring paragraphs (think "grandpa trying to sound hip with words he just learned yesterday"). This also led to sections of the book randomly rhyming, like the entire first two chapters I noticed so many paragraphs read like couplets? I still can't decide if that was intentional or not.
I should also mention that I found several typos within this book, but hopefully those are corrected in the final version.
Don't get me wrong- overall a very cool idea, I think this could make a neat movie! But in reality I found I wanted to like it more than I think I ultimately did.
January 8, 2026
This story follows Cam , a looker as he goes through a wild match of cat and mouse organized by the yaks along with a cyberclown named Stabbo;where the winner gets to keep his life.
This was an exciting and interesting read ,I loved the narration and the pacing .the story flowed very naturally and had a lot of twists and turns which made it very hard to put down the book. It was very thrilling to see Cam outsmart people and at times being outsmarted by others.
The world building was so nicely done so it didn’t feel like information overload but a very natural progression .
I really liked the character description ,especially Moxie and Serpentina .the descriptions were so well written that I was able to visualize the characters and the settings.
To sum up,this was a light read .If you love cyberpunk or even if you are new to this genre you will have fun reading this book.
This was an exciting and interesting read ,I loved the narration and the pacing .the story flowed very naturally and had a lot of twists and turns which made it very hard to put down the book. It was very thrilling to see Cam outsmart people and at times being outsmarted by others.
The world building was so nicely done so it didn’t feel like information overload but a very natural progression .
I really liked the character description ,especially Moxie and Serpentina .the descriptions were so well written that I was able to visualize the characters and the settings.
To sum up,this was a light read .If you love cyberpunk or even if you are new to this genre you will have fun reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews