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Spice Trader
Peter, along with his friends Jemima and Patrick, are long time partygoers and recreational drug users. During one of their regular nights out, Patrick introduces the trio to "Spice", a new drug with some special properties. To their knowledge, it has no negative effects, isn't addictive, and can't be traced in the bloodstream. The trio wake up with nothing more than a hangover.
Several new laws are being proposed. Chief among them are rights of the police to harvest cell phone metadata, and the planned obscelescence of cash-based transactions. Can the three friends keep exploring this exciting new party drug? Or will the powers that be come down on them when their data starts unravelling their story?
Several new laws are being proposed. Chief among them are rights of the police to harvest cell phone metadata, and the planned obscelescence of cash-based transactions. Can the three friends keep exploring this exciting new party drug? Or will the powers that be come down on them when their data starts unravelling their story?
166 pages, Paperback
Published October 31, 2020
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3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 30, 2020
Disclaimer: I got this book through Reedsy Discovery in exchange for a fair review, and I promise that my review is fair and honest one.
Spice Trader is a quick, entertaining, suspense-story about some friends who stumble into the drug trade almost by accident, and find themselves having to continue stumbling through an increasing amount of unexpected challenges.
It’s hard to write much about what actually happens in this book without giving anything away, but the reader follows Peter, who, along with his friends, enjoys drugs… perhaps a little more than he’d like. An event causes Peter to rethink his relationship to drugs, and he goes from being a user to being a producer. Unfortunately, along with money and a personal supply, Peter also conjures up some unwanted attention.
I’m a fan of short, snappy, suspense-novels, so my main gripe with Spice Trader is one that I rarely have: it could have been longer. A large chunk of the book is spent setting up for the main act. That’s not to say the setup was boring, because it wasn’t, but the setup was solid, and elaborate enough that this book could easily have held me captive for another hundred pages. The characters are filled in well in the ways that matter, and we get to know just enough about them to care – but little enough that a suspenseful veil of uncertainty hangs over what they might be thinking, what they might do next, and who they really are.
The way we get inside the head of the main character, Peter, is effective and well executed. His increasing confusion and desperation shines through, and the way he thinks, and acts, resonates well with the impression I got of his state of mind.
The Big Brother-esque tech-angle in this story fizzles out quicker than I wanted it to, and ends up feeling like a conceit (albeit an effective one) rather than a full-fledged element of the story. This doesn’t make the story worse, but I felt that ever-increasing government surveillance could have been spun into something rather exciting and interesting, especially in the context of low-key drug production and trading.
I really enjoyed Spice Trader. It is a quick read that will keep you entertained until it ends, even though it ended sooner than I’d like. If you want a quick escapist journey into the shady world of drugs, this book is well worth your time.
Spice Trader is a quick, entertaining, suspense-story about some friends who stumble into the drug trade almost by accident, and find themselves having to continue stumbling through an increasing amount of unexpected challenges.
It’s hard to write much about what actually happens in this book without giving anything away, but the reader follows Peter, who, along with his friends, enjoys drugs… perhaps a little more than he’d like. An event causes Peter to rethink his relationship to drugs, and he goes from being a user to being a producer. Unfortunately, along with money and a personal supply, Peter also conjures up some unwanted attention.
I’m a fan of short, snappy, suspense-novels, so my main gripe with Spice Trader is one that I rarely have: it could have been longer. A large chunk of the book is spent setting up for the main act. That’s not to say the setup was boring, because it wasn’t, but the setup was solid, and elaborate enough that this book could easily have held me captive for another hundred pages. The characters are filled in well in the ways that matter, and we get to know just enough about them to care – but little enough that a suspenseful veil of uncertainty hangs over what they might be thinking, what they might do next, and who they really are.
The way we get inside the head of the main character, Peter, is effective and well executed. His increasing confusion and desperation shines through, and the way he thinks, and acts, resonates well with the impression I got of his state of mind.
The Big Brother-esque tech-angle in this story fizzles out quicker than I wanted it to, and ends up feeling like a conceit (albeit an effective one) rather than a full-fledged element of the story. This doesn’t make the story worse, but I felt that ever-increasing government surveillance could have been spun into something rather exciting and interesting, especially in the context of low-key drug production and trading.
I really enjoyed Spice Trader. It is a quick read that will keep you entertained until it ends, even though it ended sooner than I’d like. If you want a quick escapist journey into the shady world of drugs, this book is well worth your time.
March 14, 2021
Sometimes, the day after a night of heavy drinking I feel a sort of emptiness. I feel like I'm missing something but I'm not sure what, be it water, salty food or whatever my body is calling out for I just know that something is missing.
Fittingly, that's how I felt when I finished this book.
But I get ahead of myself. Spice Trader is a neo noir story in the vain of films like China Town and The Big Lebowski so if you enjoyed either those stop reading this and start reading Spice Trader.
The story follows Pete, a young man leading an aimless life who by chance encounters Spice, a new drug without any harmful side effects and as yet not illegal. After a traumatic incident Pete hit upon the idea to use Spice as a means of rehabilitating drug addicts but his new moral crusade threatens the business model of powerful and dangerous people and after the initial high of success Pete finds himself slipping into the most dangerous comedown of his life.
Sounds interesting? I certainly thought so. So what exactly is missing?
Henry Neilsen's prose is terse and to the point for the most part but becomes more flowery when it needs to emphasize important moments. Just the way I like it.
The characters are well developed enough to support this kind of story and are driven by an inner logic that realistically reflect their outward behaviour and actions.
There's a romantic sub-plot that's well above average and displays some interesting and complex emotions that could perhaps have been explored in a little more depth but overall the way it was integrated into the main plot was impressive.
The mystery aspects are all properly foreshadowed and paid off, nothing felt like it came out of nowhere.
All in all the storytelling fundamentals are all well executed.
So if this is an interesting concept executed well, why don't I love it more?
It may have to do with the pacing. The main conflict felt like it took quite a while to get going and once it did it was over pretty quickly. Drawing things out a bit more to let the tension simmer longer may have been an option.
I was also initially surprised and disappointed about the direction the story took but after thinking about the core theme of this book I really wouldn't have had it any other way. Spice Trader is intentionally small scale and low in stakes in comparison to most genre fiction which again I think was the right choice in regards to the theme but does take some of the punch out of the big reveals at the end which are so important to this genre.
All in all Spice Trader is a well crafted story that I would recommend to any fan of neo noir. It may not quite enter the hallowed halls of great literature but if I was Henry Neilsen I wouldn't worry about that.
Perfection is approachable, after all.
Fittingly, that's how I felt when I finished this book.
But I get ahead of myself. Spice Trader is a neo noir story in the vain of films like China Town and The Big Lebowski so if you enjoyed either those stop reading this and start reading Spice Trader.
The story follows Pete, a young man leading an aimless life who by chance encounters Spice, a new drug without any harmful side effects and as yet not illegal. After a traumatic incident Pete hit upon the idea to use Spice as a means of rehabilitating drug addicts but his new moral crusade threatens the business model of powerful and dangerous people and after the initial high of success Pete finds himself slipping into the most dangerous comedown of his life.
Sounds interesting? I certainly thought so. So what exactly is missing?
Henry Neilsen's prose is terse and to the point for the most part but becomes more flowery when it needs to emphasize important moments. Just the way I like it.
The characters are well developed enough to support this kind of story and are driven by an inner logic that realistically reflect their outward behaviour and actions.
There's a romantic sub-plot that's well above average and displays some interesting and complex emotions that could perhaps have been explored in a little more depth but overall the way it was integrated into the main plot was impressive.
The mystery aspects are all properly foreshadowed and paid off, nothing felt like it came out of nowhere.
All in all the storytelling fundamentals are all well executed.
So if this is an interesting concept executed well, why don't I love it more?
It may have to do with the pacing. The main conflict felt like it took quite a while to get going and once it did it was over pretty quickly. Drawing things out a bit more to let the tension simmer longer may have been an option.
I was also initially surprised and disappointed about the direction the story took but after thinking about the core theme of this book I really wouldn't have had it any other way. Spice Trader is intentionally small scale and low in stakes in comparison to most genre fiction which again I think was the right choice in regards to the theme but does take some of the punch out of the big reveals at the end which are so important to this genre.
All in all Spice Trader is a well crafted story that I would recommend to any fan of neo noir. It may not quite enter the hallowed halls of great literature but if I was Henry Neilsen I wouldn't worry about that.
Perfection is approachable, after all.
November 2, 2020
Firstly I must clarify that I received this book as a free copy from Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review. This is definitely not my usual type of genre. I always opt for police procedural/ whodunnits but when I read the blurb for this book I was intrigued. Three friends that are pretty much failing in any real achievements in life begin down a dangerous and unusual path in the world of drug supplying. Couple this with drastic changes around the laws of keeping tabs on everyone’s whereabouts and wow this really kept me hooked. The author has a thoroughly easy writing style and great descriptive character creation. If you want a different from the norm type of storyline then you really should give this a try.
October 22, 2020
A free book from Voracious Readers thank you.
The story around the characters and their drug habits uses the changes to laws that track our whereabouts using today's technology. How the criminals used that same technology to track down Pete and viciously warm him away from infringing on their drug trade.
The story around the characters and their drug habits uses the changes to laws that track our whereabouts using today's technology. How the criminals used that same technology to track down Pete and viciously warm him away from infringing on their drug trade.
July 21, 2021
A little hard to get into it first but then it hooks you and it’s a very solid good story
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews