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Reapers
Action packed and laced with dark humor,
Quota
is an exciting tale of survival and redemption from the author of
The Feeding.
Implantation was supposed to be the savior of humanity. Enhancing brain function and skills for millions, it transformed the world…until The Glitch. Five years ago, implants suddenly malfunctioned. Many who had them dropped dead; those who lived became zombie-like drifters or murderous psychopaths. It was up to the un-implanted to rebuild a damaged society…or just survive another day.
Dalton falls into the survivor category. A convict turned Contracted Collection Agent, he is on a mission to earn his freedom in “The Sector,” an entire city abandoned to the Glitched. Once part of a team—now alone and edging ever closer to madness—he thinks only of his the number of implants he has to collect, by any means, in order to get out.
Then things begin to change. The Glitched start acting more human, displaying an increased awareness, moving in groups. Strange symbols start appearing on walls. When Dalton’s unseen handler orders him to investigate, Dalton has no choice but to obey. Soon he uncovers a terrifying secret at the heart of the Sector, one that could rule out the possibility of survival altogether…for anyone.
Implantation was supposed to be the savior of humanity. Enhancing brain function and skills for millions, it transformed the world…until The Glitch. Five years ago, implants suddenly malfunctioned. Many who had them dropped dead; those who lived became zombie-like drifters or murderous psychopaths. It was up to the un-implanted to rebuild a damaged society…or just survive another day.
Dalton falls into the survivor category. A convict turned Contracted Collection Agent, he is on a mission to earn his freedom in “The Sector,” an entire city abandoned to the Glitched. Once part of a team—now alone and edging ever closer to madness—he thinks only of his the number of implants he has to collect, by any means, in order to get out.
Then things begin to change. The Glitched start acting more human, displaying an increased awareness, moving in groups. Strange symbols start appearing on walls. When Dalton’s unseen handler orders him to investigate, Dalton has no choice but to obey. Soon he uncovers a terrifying secret at the heart of the Sector, one that could rule out the possibility of survival altogether…for anyone.
- GenresScience FictionHorror
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2026
About the author
Anthony Ryan
122 books10.3k followersAnthony Ryan was born in Scotland in 1970 but spent much of his adult life living and working in London. After a long career in the British Civil Service he took up writing full time after the success of his first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. He has a degree in history, and his interests include art, science and the unending quest for the perfect pint of real ale.
For news and general wittering about stuff he likes, check out Anthony's blog at: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com
For news and general wittering about stuff he likes, check out Anthony's blog at: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The scariest books are the ones that have truth and a prophetic set-up to them.
A popular neural device turned the majority of the population (who weren’t killed) into walking zombies after the Glitch.
Dalton is former convict working as a Reaper - a Contracted Collection Agent, hunting down and extracting Glitched’s implants.
There’s more to it than that, but this was such an exciting, pulse-pounding RIDE that I’ll leave you to discover what happens.
This is a book you will want to read in one-sitting. Ryan (per usual) shows characterisation with little effort through dialogue, actions, and small ticks.
There are extracts starting each chapter (what he’s known for), counting down the days before the Glitch. They are so realistic: taken from magazines, reporters, consumers, influencers, haters, marketing.
It is hard not to compare our current capitalist, ‘three-second-attention-span’ society with this scarily realistic dystopian.
Wall-E, Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R Weaver, Rising Thunder by Neal Shusterman, Toothsucker by Kaden Love, The Infinite State by Richard Swan….
Media that is being considered sci fi, thriller, horror, etc are indicative of our current trajectory which makes ‘Reapers’ (and others like it) more melancholic and reflective.
The action is fantastic, the pace fast, the plot like that from a blockbuster.
Physical arc gifted by Orbit.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
A popular neural device turned the majority of the population (who weren’t killed) into walking zombies after the Glitch.
Dalton is former convict working as a Reaper - a Contracted Collection Agent, hunting down and extracting Glitched’s implants.
There’s more to it than that, but this was such an exciting, pulse-pounding RIDE that I’ll leave you to discover what happens.
This is a book you will want to read in one-sitting. Ryan (per usual) shows characterisation with little effort through dialogue, actions, and small ticks.
There are extracts starting each chapter (what he’s known for), counting down the days before the Glitch. They are so realistic: taken from magazines, reporters, consumers, influencers, haters, marketing.
It is hard not to compare our current capitalist, ‘three-second-attention-span’ society with this scarily realistic dystopian.
Wall-E, Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R Weaver, Rising Thunder by Neal Shusterman, Toothsucker by Kaden Love, The Infinite State by Richard Swan….
Media that is being considered sci fi, thriller, horror, etc are indicative of our current trajectory which makes ‘Reapers’ (and others like it) more melancholic and reflective.
The action is fantastic, the pace fast, the plot like that from a blockbuster.
Physical arc gifted by Orbit.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cortexia swore by their implants, they may not make you superhuman but they would definitely make you a better human. Smarter, prettier, skinnier, everything so many of us dream of being every day, all you needed was a tiny implant in the back of your brain. At first it was only the Elites of the world that could afford, but Cortexia, wanted to ensure everyone had access to their groundbreaking technology, so they rolled out payment plans. Within months millions of people have been implanted changing almost every aspect of human society. Sure there were strange mutterings about people hearing voices, but, it was most likely nothing, probably heard them before the implant anyway. This all changes on G-Day. The day that the implants Glitched and every single implanted became nothing more than the living dead.
First of all, if you follow me on Bluesky I will not apologize for anything I said about Walt.
Moving on.
Right off the bat I am going to say that if you hate GenAi this is going to be the book for you. Sure, it is absolutely a standard dystopian hellscape and yes, I can guarantee there are going to be a million books written similar to this one, however, I don't think you'll find one more brilliantly done.
On our first level of brilliance we have Dalton our MC, ex con and drug dealer extraordinaire. To understand Dalton we have to understand the situation he finds himself in. Dalton was as far as I can tell a kid from a perfectly decent background who decides to become a drug dealer and ultimately ends up in prison on trumped up bs charges. Upside here is he never gets implanted because of this; downside is that he basically becomes cannon fodder for what replaces the U.S. Government. Dalton's job as an ex con turned sacrificial lamb for the government is to go out into what has become a no man's land of GenAi implanted zombies to kill the "host" and then recover its implant.
Now as the story progresses, we find out, as one does with the U.S. Government, that they lied. About a lot, which means Dalton has done some shit that he's not exactly proud of and that people are going to view him as a monster for. The phrase "just following orders" gets thrown around. Now, this could have gone in one of several ways with this story. Dalton could have completely shouldered the blame for everything. He could have pointed out that as a product of the American prison system, he's learned that he doesn't think for himself the government thinks for him and taken absolutely zero blame. Or he does the much more difficult dance of being able to say "Yes, I made some mistakes, but this is not all on me." For one it really drives home what a complicated mess this is in terms of fault (more on that later). In terms of Dalton as a character, it simply makes him more interesting, because I don't think that would be the route most people would take. Accepting fault (even when it doesn't belong to you) is an easy route. Choosing to place all blame on others is even easier. The middle ground is hard; it actually takes self-reflection, asking really hard questions of yourself and of those around you. Not a position most people like to be in. Makes it a tad bit more difficult to write too when you've got to stop a zombie apocalypse with a kid as the action hero who is in his own head a lot. But Ryan pulls it off wonderfully. That's just who Dalton is from the first page of the book. He's just a human trying to survive and he's had to make choices but he's willing to admit which of those choices are wrong.
In terms of pacing this definitely moves quickly, but in the best possible way. There isn't a lot spent on worldbuilding, which I found to be absolutely fine. It doesn't take much to picture a dystopian hellscape in anywhere Southern Ca. Or maybe it was Tx, doesn't really matter, a dystopian hellscape in Anywhere, USA. Lots of fire fights that were blessedly short (guys, I mean that as the highest of compliments. Way too many people drag out gun battles for way to freaking long, like they have a military grade weaponry, it really is over in a few minutes) but perfectly timed to push our heroes forward, and a freaking cat. Yeah, a cat. Because every dystopian hellscape needs a cat. It's the rules. It's all very much expected of a dystopian story.
Where I think the most time is spent (outside of in Dalton's head) is going over the morality of the whole thing and especially who exactly is to blame. This is also where it starts to get scaringly hard to distinguish between reality and the story. You would think that these topics are brought up as dialogue and while that certainly does happen, it's actually quotes at the beginning of each chapter where these conversations really take place. Quotes that begin to look very, very familiar, ones that more than once I was almost positive, I had seen one come across my Bluesky feed just that day from some tech bro. Did I? No probably not, but there were a few times when I had to convince myself that I hadn't and not to go looking for it. Because here's the thing; sure this is supposedly down the road in a future that I am hopefully not around for and yet, no it's actually not.
It's right now.
Right now, as I type this someone is online pushing the idea that GenAi can make you better. That's I think what many people miss in this debate and while I can't say for certain it's Ryan's point here I can say that it is brought up often enough that it has to be brought up. What GenAi offers users is the supposed ability to be smarter, more creative, more articulate, more everything. The people who push GenAi reinforce this idea and they purposefully target those that are already the most vulnerable to this type of manipulation. As the story goes on and more of these quotes are brought up it's difficult to not begin to feel like that humanity has sold its soul, the very things that make us human en masse for a chance to be a doll. And I think you all know by now that I am not very religious so when I say that if any one book ever convinced me that the human soul was a real tangible thing, it's this one. For me that hit harder than any of the rest of it. Tech Bro Billionaires are greedy assholes, so I don't care about them. What I do care about is that what they are truly selling and what was absolutely sold to the masses in this book is that humans aren't good enough. I don't like a world where that thought even exists.
The worst part though is as these quotes hit closer and closer to our own reality it's hard to not see how it's not just one person's fault but all of ours. Yes, each and every one of us. The world is an absolutely flaming mess right now, the U.S. the worst of all, so many important topics get pushed to the back burner, GenAi is certainly one of them. We currently have no regulations for it at all, the U.S. and other countries are selling huge swaths of land and energy for the creation of data centers, people are becoming paranoid that what they purchased was AI generated someone just yesterday posted that they wanted to buy something but they were so concerned they'd actually buy something AI generated they ultimately didn't. So, the trust between consumers and retailers and consumers and artists is diminishing at an astounding rate. And for the most part we as individuals do absolutely nothing about it. I certainly don't have a perfect solution here, but I do know finding one will take an effort from all of us.
I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end and of course I recommend it!
As always thanks to Blackstone and NetGalley for the eArc!
First of all, if you follow me on Bluesky I will not apologize for anything I said about Walt.
Moving on.
Right off the bat I am going to say that if you hate GenAi this is going to be the book for you. Sure, it is absolutely a standard dystopian hellscape and yes, I can guarantee there are going to be a million books written similar to this one, however, I don't think you'll find one more brilliantly done.
On our first level of brilliance we have Dalton our MC, ex con and drug dealer extraordinaire. To understand Dalton we have to understand the situation he finds himself in. Dalton was as far as I can tell a kid from a perfectly decent background who decides to become a drug dealer and ultimately ends up in prison on trumped up bs charges. Upside here is he never gets implanted because of this; downside is that he basically becomes cannon fodder for what replaces the U.S. Government. Dalton's job as an ex con turned sacrificial lamb for the government is to go out into what has become a no man's land of GenAi implanted zombies to kill the "host" and then recover its implant.
Now as the story progresses, we find out, as one does with the U.S. Government, that they lied. About a lot, which means Dalton has done some shit that he's not exactly proud of and that people are going to view him as a monster for. The phrase "just following orders" gets thrown around. Now, this could have gone in one of several ways with this story. Dalton could have completely shouldered the blame for everything. He could have pointed out that as a product of the American prison system, he's learned that he doesn't think for himself the government thinks for him and taken absolutely zero blame. Or he does the much more difficult dance of being able to say "Yes, I made some mistakes, but this is not all on me." For one it really drives home what a complicated mess this is in terms of fault (more on that later). In terms of Dalton as a character, it simply makes him more interesting, because I don't think that would be the route most people would take. Accepting fault (even when it doesn't belong to you) is an easy route. Choosing to place all blame on others is even easier. The middle ground is hard; it actually takes self-reflection, asking really hard questions of yourself and of those around you. Not a position most people like to be in. Makes it a tad bit more difficult to write too when you've got to stop a zombie apocalypse with a kid as the action hero who is in his own head a lot. But Ryan pulls it off wonderfully. That's just who Dalton is from the first page of the book. He's just a human trying to survive and he's had to make choices but he's willing to admit which of those choices are wrong.
In terms of pacing this definitely moves quickly, but in the best possible way. There isn't a lot spent on worldbuilding, which I found to be absolutely fine. It doesn't take much to picture a dystopian hellscape in anywhere Southern Ca. Or maybe it was Tx, doesn't really matter, a dystopian hellscape in Anywhere, USA. Lots of fire fights that were blessedly short (guys, I mean that as the highest of compliments. Way too many people drag out gun battles for way to freaking long, like they have a military grade weaponry, it really is over in a few minutes) but perfectly timed to push our heroes forward, and a freaking cat. Yeah, a cat. Because every dystopian hellscape needs a cat. It's the rules. It's all very much expected of a dystopian story.
Where I think the most time is spent (outside of in Dalton's head) is going over the morality of the whole thing and especially who exactly is to blame. This is also where it starts to get scaringly hard to distinguish between reality and the story. You would think that these topics are brought up as dialogue and while that certainly does happen, it's actually quotes at the beginning of each chapter where these conversations really take place. Quotes that begin to look very, very familiar, ones that more than once I was almost positive, I had seen one come across my Bluesky feed just that day from some tech bro. Did I? No probably not, but there were a few times when I had to convince myself that I hadn't and not to go looking for it. Because here's the thing; sure this is supposedly down the road in a future that I am hopefully not around for and yet, no it's actually not.
It's right now.
Right now, as I type this someone is online pushing the idea that GenAi can make you better. That's I think what many people miss in this debate and while I can't say for certain it's Ryan's point here I can say that it is brought up often enough that it has to be brought up. What GenAi offers users is the supposed ability to be smarter, more creative, more articulate, more everything. The people who push GenAi reinforce this idea and they purposefully target those that are already the most vulnerable to this type of manipulation. As the story goes on and more of these quotes are brought up it's difficult to not begin to feel like that humanity has sold its soul, the very things that make us human en masse for a chance to be a doll. And I think you all know by now that I am not very religious so when I say that if any one book ever convinced me that the human soul was a real tangible thing, it's this one. For me that hit harder than any of the rest of it. Tech Bro Billionaires are greedy assholes, so I don't care about them. What I do care about is that what they are truly selling and what was absolutely sold to the masses in this book is that humans aren't good enough. I don't like a world where that thought even exists.
The worst part though is as these quotes hit closer and closer to our own reality it's hard to not see how it's not just one person's fault but all of ours. Yes, each and every one of us. The world is an absolutely flaming mess right now, the U.S. the worst of all, so many important topics get pushed to the back burner, GenAi is certainly one of them. We currently have no regulations for it at all, the U.S. and other countries are selling huge swaths of land and energy for the creation of data centers, people are becoming paranoid that what they purchased was AI generated someone just yesterday posted that they wanted to buy something but they were so concerned they'd actually buy something AI generated they ultimately didn't. So, the trust between consumers and retailers and consumers and artists is diminishing at an astounding rate. And for the most part we as individuals do absolutely nothing about it. I certainly don't have a perfect solution here, but I do know finding one will take an effort from all of us.
I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end and of course I recommend it!
As always thanks to Blackstone and NetGalley for the eArc!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you NetGalley for an e-ARC and Orbit UK for a finished copy.
After loving The Feeding, I have been eagerly awaiting this new post-apocalyptic horror novel from A.J Ryan, and it. Was. Brilliant! Fast-paced, eerie, and very prescient in it's look at the role of tech in our lives, Reapers is not your standard gory zombie tale. It has heart, it has some pretty tricky moral questions, and above all its entertaining as f**k! The way its written feels so cinematic and I'd genuinely kill to see an adaptation on the big screen. Main character Dalton isn't perfect - nowhere near - but its what makes him so interesting to follow. Things are not at all as they seem in this walled-off city, and watching everything unravel before Dalton's eyes is endlessly compelling. I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a fast-paced dystopian read full of action and a tantalising mystery to solve.
After loving The Feeding, I have been eagerly awaiting this new post-apocalyptic horror novel from A.J Ryan, and it. Was. Brilliant! Fast-paced, eerie, and very prescient in it's look at the role of tech in our lives, Reapers is not your standard gory zombie tale. It has heart, it has some pretty tricky moral questions, and above all its entertaining as f**k! The way its written feels so cinematic and I'd genuinely kill to see an adaptation on the big screen. Main character Dalton isn't perfect - nowhere near - but its what makes him so interesting to follow. Things are not at all as they seem in this walled-off city, and watching everything unravel before Dalton's eyes is endlessly compelling. I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a fast-paced dystopian read full of action and a tantalising mystery to solve.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is the first Anthony Ryan book and I’m intrigued to check out some of the previous books. The writing in this is so fluid that I got sucked in immediately. This is a post-apocalyptic scifi that feels like a possibility with the advancements in technology such as Neuralink and things similar. It’s definitely a great thought experiment of what could happen with messing with people on such a level. I loved the characters and how developed they were. This was engaging from beginning to end and I would recommend it to any scifi/dystopian fans.
Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.
Thank you, NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.
Read
October 20, 2026Full review to come with Grimdark Magazine! Another Anthony Ryan thrill ride!
June 21, 2026
Review originally appearing on FanFiAddict.con
3.5/5 stars
Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you’re not suffering from the heat too much. It’s getting a little borderline even for me and I consider 30°C to be the perfect temperature.
When temps are this high or under any other circumstance when my brain is simply begging for an easy read, I turn to my popcorn genres. One such genre is post apocalyptic fiction for yours truly and, ever since Anthony Ryan (one of my auto-buys) decided to grace us with writing them, I have been immediately doing grabby hands any time he announces the next one because they hit the spot every single time.
With a big thanks to the author, for sending me an early copy of his next post apocalyptic thriller, Reapers, allow me to tell you dear reader why you should also be making the grabby hands for what could be just the right read to keep your spooky reads going.
What do I mean by an easy read you might wonder, and the answer is pretty straightforward. An easy/chill read for me is one with a fairly simple and non convoluted plot that follows a pretty contained or limited cast of characters. Most of the time it won’t be some big never been done before or revolutionary concept, nor will it need to for that matter. It will respectfully nod at its predecessors and carry you along for a good time. Kinda like your run of the mill summer blockbuster movie. Just because you may see the twists and plot beats coming doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy seeing how they will be delivered, in other words.
Reapers is that sort of book.
If Ryan’s previous post apocalypse, The Feeding, was parts I Am Legend and parts The Last of Us, then Reapers is Upgrade (2018) by way of Crichton with a certain touch of iRobot and Terminator (when you read it you’ll know exactly what I mean, trust me).
As the sharp and sassy man of culture that he is, Ryan presents the reader with the perfect allegory for our far too interesting times in the not so sneaky form of a “zombie” novel. In a world were everyone that matters (see: has money) or doesn’t want to be left behind (that stupid phrase familiar to anyone?) has implanted themselves with a brain chip that was supposed to propel humanity forward, it is the people with less means and the so-called luddites who are left to pick up the pieces after a glitch in the system upends the world as we know it. Corporate greed and fragile egos resulting in terrible things happening? Surely not. That never happens!
Meanwhile the protagonist, Dalton, is the most down to earth and realistic apocalypse survivor you can imagine. He is not really heroic, barely capable with a gun, lonely, and is moving forward mostly by inertia and lingering stubbornness by the time we meet him. And yet his inner monologue and his self awareness in the way he moves through this broken world endears him to the reader in a myriad little ways. From his prolonged isolation slowly driving him over the edge and the small games he plays to keep that at bay, to his hyperbolically affected anger at the indifferent machine effectively in charge of his survival. It is the little assurances and certainties in life that ground a character like him and when something begins to change and challenge those things, Dalton may need to shake himself out of the numbness and face a reality that might be too much to even consider.
There is a niggling feeling of wrongness, of things not being as they appear right from the get go and it only builds and builds. You know something big is coming and you might guess at parts of it, but Ryan manages to surprise the reader nonetheless. And that is what keeps you turning those pages, much like eating popcorn.
Finally, Reapers is a fast clipped novel, with a cast of characters that sometimes feels of the blink and you’ll miss them variety – nobody is safe after all – which, granted, doesn’t really allow for a lot of emotional investment, aside from a few notable exceptions. It does however lend itself well to the darker humor side of this story and, considering the nature of the plot overall, it didn’t come across as a negative to me personally. I will admit that once I clocked that turnover however I lost interest in trying to keep proper track of people’s names for a select few chapters.
Let me summarize a little differently that my usual then.
Are you more than a little tired of real world antics and AI bs being pushed down your throat, and needing to feel seen/vindicated by subtle and not so subtle commentary?
Are you looking for a good time with some fun action, a clever turn of phrase or two, and a protagonist that keeps it real?
Do you need an easy read to take anywhere that allows you a few uninterrupted hours of chill?
Do you like post apocalyptic thrillers and/or cats?
If the answer to any of those is yes, then your best bet, coming to the US this November 2nd, is Reapers by Anthony Ryan.
3.5/5 stars
Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you’re not suffering from the heat too much. It’s getting a little borderline even for me and I consider 30°C to be the perfect temperature.
When temps are this high or under any other circumstance when my brain is simply begging for an easy read, I turn to my popcorn genres. One such genre is post apocalyptic fiction for yours truly and, ever since Anthony Ryan (one of my auto-buys) decided to grace us with writing them, I have been immediately doing grabby hands any time he announces the next one because they hit the spot every single time.
With a big thanks to the author, for sending me an early copy of his next post apocalyptic thriller, Reapers, allow me to tell you dear reader why you should also be making the grabby hands for what could be just the right read to keep your spooky reads going.
What do I mean by an easy read you might wonder, and the answer is pretty straightforward. An easy/chill read for me is one with a fairly simple and non convoluted plot that follows a pretty contained or limited cast of characters. Most of the time it won’t be some big never been done before or revolutionary concept, nor will it need to for that matter. It will respectfully nod at its predecessors and carry you along for a good time. Kinda like your run of the mill summer blockbuster movie. Just because you may see the twists and plot beats coming doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy seeing how they will be delivered, in other words.
Reapers is that sort of book.
If Ryan’s previous post apocalypse, The Feeding, was parts I Am Legend and parts The Last of Us, then Reapers is Upgrade (2018) by way of Crichton with a certain touch of iRobot and Terminator (when you read it you’ll know exactly what I mean, trust me).
As the sharp and sassy man of culture that he is, Ryan presents the reader with the perfect allegory for our far too interesting times in the not so sneaky form of a “zombie” novel. In a world were everyone that matters (see: has money) or doesn’t want to be left behind (that stupid phrase familiar to anyone?) has implanted themselves with a brain chip that was supposed to propel humanity forward, it is the people with less means and the so-called luddites who are left to pick up the pieces after a glitch in the system upends the world as we know it. Corporate greed and fragile egos resulting in terrible things happening? Surely not. That never happens!
Meanwhile the protagonist, Dalton, is the most down to earth and realistic apocalypse survivor you can imagine. He is not really heroic, barely capable with a gun, lonely, and is moving forward mostly by inertia and lingering stubbornness by the time we meet him. And yet his inner monologue and his self awareness in the way he moves through this broken world endears him to the reader in a myriad little ways. From his prolonged isolation slowly driving him over the edge and the small games he plays to keep that at bay, to his hyperbolically affected anger at the indifferent machine effectively in charge of his survival. It is the little assurances and certainties in life that ground a character like him and when something begins to change and challenge those things, Dalton may need to shake himself out of the numbness and face a reality that might be too much to even consider.
There is a niggling feeling of wrongness, of things not being as they appear right from the get go and it only builds and builds. You know something big is coming and you might guess at parts of it, but Ryan manages to surprise the reader nonetheless. And that is what keeps you turning those pages, much like eating popcorn.
Finally, Reapers is a fast clipped novel, with a cast of characters that sometimes feels of the blink and you’ll miss them variety – nobody is safe after all – which, granted, doesn’t really allow for a lot of emotional investment, aside from a few notable exceptions. It does however lend itself well to the darker humor side of this story and, considering the nature of the plot overall, it didn’t come across as a negative to me personally. I will admit that once I clocked that turnover however I lost interest in trying to keep proper track of people’s names for a select few chapters.
Let me summarize a little differently that my usual then.
Are you more than a little tired of real world antics and AI bs being pushed down your throat, and needing to feel seen/vindicated by subtle and not so subtle commentary?
Are you looking for a good time with some fun action, a clever turn of phrase or two, and a protagonist that keeps it real?
Do you need an easy read to take anywhere that allows you a few uninterrupted hours of chill?
Do you like post apocalyptic thrillers and/or cats?
If the answer to any of those is yes, then your best bet, coming to the US this November 2nd, is Reapers by Anthony Ryan.
November 3, 2026
Book Review: Reapers by Anthony (A.J.) Ryan
4.25/5 stars. I am an enthusiastic fan of Ryan’s fantasy stories, but in the last few years, I have enjoyed reading his dystopian thrillers even more. This is the third of his dystopian stories that I have read, and this is the best of the bunch so far. Ryan is an excellent writer, builds interesting worlds, and populates them with fascinating characters. Reapers is no exception.
I highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoys dystopian, science fiction, artificial intelligence, and military action. Be forewarned, there is some violence, but the characters are absolutely outstanding.
Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Books for an eARC copy of this novel.
There are some SPOILERS below, so read at your own risk!!
Our story begins after a catastrophic event called the Glitch. A large group of people implanted with a new chip device that allows access to immediate knowledge and intelligence have had their brains affected by an electronic surge. Some of these people died right away while others were turned into zombie-like creatures, called the Glitched, that have no clear awareness of their surroundings.
The main character of this novel is Dalton, a former convict chosen to help clean up the zombies and remove the chips from their brains. He is tasked by ‘the Authority’ with finding a particular woman who is moving around inside of the sector overrun by the Glitched. What he learns while searching for her turns everything he has known about the Glitch until now completely upside down. There is also a way to save many of the Glitched who are still alive. However, what’s left of society is collapsing and some of the Glitched, called Snowflakes, remain smart enough to control other Glitched, create mass ‘swarms,’ and rebel against the Authority. Can Dalton and his new companions do enough to stop the total destruction of human society, or will they be too late?
4.25/5 stars. I am an enthusiastic fan of Ryan’s fantasy stories, but in the last few years, I have enjoyed reading his dystopian thrillers even more. This is the third of his dystopian stories that I have read, and this is the best of the bunch so far. Ryan is an excellent writer, builds interesting worlds, and populates them with fascinating characters. Reapers is no exception.
I highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoys dystopian, science fiction, artificial intelligence, and military action. Be forewarned, there is some violence, but the characters are absolutely outstanding.
Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Books for an eARC copy of this novel.
There are some SPOILERS below, so read at your own risk!!
Our story begins after a catastrophic event called the Glitch. A large group of people implanted with a new chip device that allows access to immediate knowledge and intelligence have had their brains affected by an electronic surge. Some of these people died right away while others were turned into zombie-like creatures, called the Glitched, that have no clear awareness of their surroundings.
The main character of this novel is Dalton, a former convict chosen to help clean up the zombies and remove the chips from their brains. He is tasked by ‘the Authority’ with finding a particular woman who is moving around inside of the sector overrun by the Glitched. What he learns while searching for her turns everything he has known about the Glitch until now completely upside down. There is also a way to save many of the Glitched who are still alive. However, what’s left of society is collapsing and some of the Glitched, called Snowflakes, remain smart enough to control other Glitched, create mass ‘swarms,’ and rebel against the Authority. Can Dalton and his new companions do enough to stop the total destruction of human society, or will they be too late?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
An absolute masterclass in sci-fi horror! Anthony Ryan delivers a pitch-black, adrenaline-fueled survival thriller that held me completely captive from the very first page. The premise of "The Glitch" is terrifyingly plausible, and the atmosphere inside the quarantined Sector is brilliantly gritty and claustrophobic. Dalton is a phenomenal, gritty protagonist, watching him navigate the horrors of harvesting implants while dealing with the terrifying evolution of the Glitched made for an unputdownable read. A brilliant pivot from Ryan's epic fantasy roots. Highly recommended for fans of grim, high-stakes post-apocalyptic fiction!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Holy moly, I did not expect this, in the best possible way. I have been a huge fan of Anthony Ryan for years and in particular have enjoyed his battle scenes. This story is set outside his typical Fantasy settings and in more of a postapocalyptic modern ciry scape, so it was new. It had I am legend vibes and the plot points seem particularly relevant today with concerns about AI, Elon Musk, neuralink etc. Couple that with some zombie-like action and you have a good time. The protagonist is flawed in an interesting way and bleak plot has action that keeps the pages turning. This one felt more Michael Crichton than George RR Martin but it shows the author's skill and range. 5 stars!
November 4, 2026
Reapers promises an intense post-apocalyptic adventure filled with danger, mystery, and dark humor. Anthony Ryan creates a chilling world where technological progress has become humanity's greatest threat, placing Dalton in a desperate struggle for freedom and survival. The increasingly intelligent Glitched and the disturbing secrets hidden within the Sector add layers of suspense that make the premise especially intriguing. This looks like a gripping choice for readers who enjoy dystopian fiction, relentless action, and unsettling twists.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Halloween is the perfect time for reading a new zombie apocalypse book! And this one by Anthony Ryan is full of suspense, horror, action, and mystery. Plus it includes a new AI/tech spin which is pretty fitting for the world today.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Decent Book
Review of advance copy received from Author
Good LORD what a wild ride from Anthony Ryan.
Full review to come to SFF Insiders in the next week.
Full review to come to SFF Insiders in the next week.
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