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Cold Boot
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 3, 2026
About the author
M.P. Jensen
3 booksM.P. Jensen is a writer of dark science fiction who explores the fragile boundary between humanity, technology, and biology. With a fascination for complex systems and the horrors lurking at the edges of known science, Jensen weaves narratives that challenge readers to confront the true price of survival.
His debut novel, Echoes of Eden, blends the isolation of deep space with psychological terror, while his follow-up, Cold Boot, explores the chilling reality of human consciousness becoming corporate infrastructure.
Before turning to fiction, Jensen spent over a decade as a software developer and project manager. This experience in architecting digital landscapes grounds his speculative worlds in a haunting sense of realism; he understands that every complex system has a breaking point—a concept that lies at the heart of the catastrophes aboard the Venture and within the server farms of Aeterna Corporation.
When he isn’t dismantling systems on the page or the screen, Jensen can be found hiking through the forests of Northern Germany—though he prefers his nature without sentient hives or compressed souls. He lives near Hamburg with his wife and two children.
His debut novel, Echoes of Eden, blends the isolation of deep space with psychological terror, while his follow-up, Cold Boot, explores the chilling reality of human consciousness becoming corporate infrastructure.
Before turning to fiction, Jensen spent over a decade as a software developer and project manager. This experience in architecting digital landscapes grounds his speculative worlds in a haunting sense of realism; he understands that every complex system has a breaking point—a concept that lies at the heart of the catastrophes aboard the Venture and within the server farms of Aeterna Corporation.
When he isn’t dismantling systems on the page or the screen, Jensen can be found hiking through the forests of Northern Germany—though he prefers his nature without sentient hives or compressed souls. He lives near Hamburg with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 5, 2026
Rating: 5/5 Stars
"A harrowing, high-stakes dive into the fine print of immortality."
M.P. Jensen’s Cold Boot is a gritty, fast-paced cyberpunk thriller that asks a terrifying question: What happens when the afterlife becomes a subscription service?
Set in a rain-slicked Neo-Berlin, the story follows Lena Rossi, a "de-fragger" who scrubs corrupted memories from digitized souls to pay for her father’s hosting fees. Jensen’s background in software development shines through in the world-building—the technical details of "bit-rot," "memory leaks," and the horrifying "Mercy Protocol" feel grounded in a cold, hard realism that makes the sci-fi elements disturbingly plausible.
The emotional core of the book is Lena’s desperate mission to save her father, Matteo, from being "optimized" into a mindless processor for the Aeterna Corporation. The dynamic between her and Kian, a former architect of the system turned victim, adds a tragic layer to the narrative, as they race to crash a system designed to turn human souls into cheap labor.
If you enjoyed Altered Carbon or Neuromancer but wanted a darker look at the corporate commodification of the soul, this is a must-read. It will make you think twice before clicking "I Accept" on your next Terms of Service agreement.
"A harrowing, high-stakes dive into the fine print of immortality."
M.P. Jensen’s Cold Boot is a gritty, fast-paced cyberpunk thriller that asks a terrifying question: What happens when the afterlife becomes a subscription service?
Set in a rain-slicked Neo-Berlin, the story follows Lena Rossi, a "de-fragger" who scrubs corrupted memories from digitized souls to pay for her father’s hosting fees. Jensen’s background in software development shines through in the world-building—the technical details of "bit-rot," "memory leaks," and the horrifying "Mercy Protocol" feel grounded in a cold, hard realism that makes the sci-fi elements disturbingly plausible.
The emotional core of the book is Lena’s desperate mission to save her father, Matteo, from being "optimized" into a mindless processor for the Aeterna Corporation. The dynamic between her and Kian, a former architect of the system turned victim, adds a tragic layer to the narrative, as they race to crash a system designed to turn human souls into cheap labor.
If you enjoyed Altered Carbon or Neuromancer but wanted a darker look at the corporate commodification of the soul, this is a must-read. It will make you think twice before clicking "I Accept" on your next Terms of Service agreement.
Displaying 1 of 1 review