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Red Markets
Performance: A Red Markets Novel
When the tired joke of the zombie apocalypse clawed its way out of the subconscious and into terrifying reality, society's cultural obsession killed as many as it saved. After the chaos finally subsided, the apocalypse ended up unevenly distributed...just like everything else. The world is now more divided than ever: haves and have-nots, living and dead,The Recession and The Loss. It's a world ruled by the Red Market, where supernatural terrors born of nightmare join forces with the inexorable pressures of undying capitalism. Nickel, Bloom, Dono, and Bait, four strangers barely surviving in the shadow of the system, find their grim futures cut short as an undead terror shakes the foundations of their dystopian reality. As the Crash leaves them even more marginalized and dispossessed, they must join together as a crew of Takers, mercenary entrepreneurs risking their bodies and souls to trade between the monstrous wasteland and a civilization that abandoned them. Even as their shared trauma insists they find a new family in their co-workers, the market demands they profit from each other's suffering. Can the crew survive the snapping teeth of the hordes, the strangling hands of the market, and the madness inspired by their never-ending struggle against both? Performance is a novel set in the world of the Red Markets RPG by Hebanon Games. For more information, visit redmarketsrpg.com
236 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 18, 2021
Performance is a novel set in the Red Markets universe, a setting developed by Caleb Stokes for the tabletop RPG Red Markets. Red Markets is an economic horror game where the players have to struggle to survive in the zombie apocalypse under oppressive economic conditions. I did a review of the Red Markets RPG as well.
Performance is a fictional account of a group of characters within the Red Markets setting. We are introduced to a group of individuals on the day the zombie apocalypse, the Crash, became indisputable, or some point further down the line where they had found a way to manage their survival in the aftermath. A crew gets put together to help perform jobs and survive in the bleak environment.
The writing is fantastic. The first chapter is a jaw dropper and one of the principle reasons it is one is because Stokes does the devastating work of taking the modern horror of contemporary capitalism and poverty and transitions it into the horror of the zombie apocalypse. Just because the world has ended doesn't mean the rent still isn't due. The graphic and harsh descriptive language is incredibly effective in painting a harsh, unforgiving world that our characters operate in.
My one complaint about the book is that it is too short. By the time I reached the climax of the story it really felt like things were just getting going. I think that partially might be a product of the nature of Red Markets. The game is very episodic and so is the work of the crews. This book would have worked well, I think, as a series of jobs with one final culminating task. As it is it feels as though we meet and get invested in the characters and then immediately say goodbye.
I would highly recommend this for any zombie fans, or those who want to learn more about the Red Markets setting. It would also be useful to aspiring horror writers who want to shine a light on the terror of contemporary life.
Performance is a fictional account of a group of characters within the Red Markets setting. We are introduced to a group of individuals on the day the zombie apocalypse, the Crash, became indisputable, or some point further down the line where they had found a way to manage their survival in the aftermath. A crew gets put together to help perform jobs and survive in the bleak environment.
The writing is fantastic. The first chapter is a jaw dropper and one of the principle reasons it is one is because Stokes does the devastating work of taking the modern horror of contemporary capitalism and poverty and transitions it into the horror of the zombie apocalypse. Just because the world has ended doesn't mean the rent still isn't due. The graphic and harsh descriptive language is incredibly effective in painting a harsh, unforgiving world that our characters operate in.
My one complaint about the book is that it is too short. By the time I reached the climax of the story it really felt like things were just getting going. I think that partially might be a product of the nature of Red Markets. The game is very episodic and so is the work of the crews. This book would have worked well, I think, as a series of jobs with one final culminating task. As it is it feels as though we meet and get invested in the characters and then immediately say goodbye.
I would highly recommend this for any zombie fans, or those who want to learn more about the Red Markets setting. It would also be useful to aspiring horror writers who want to shine a light on the terror of contemporary life.
April 4, 2020
Performance is a novel based on the zombie-apocalypse RPG Red Markets, both written by Caleb Stokes. In the RPG, players take on the role of "Takers," individuals that form a band of mercenaries in a sense that negotiate and take on jobs in the zombie wasteland of America west of the Mississippi River. In the novel, we get a glimpse of the setting through time jumps of America's collapse, the "Crash" its called, as the individual members of a Taker group are found and recruited, some of the struggles they endure to live and their final "job." Some understanding of the Red Market settings helps the enjoyment of the story as the author uses it to showcase some of the setting material and themes the system focuses on. Even without that in-depth knowledge, the story is still a good old fashion zombie apocalypse story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews