Jive

by Les Bohem, Neil Hellegers (Reader)

The events of Jive take place in a not-too-distant future where things have gone from bad to worse. After the pandemics (and yes, there will be more) came the Bloom, an invasion that arrived in a way that no one could have predicted. It was a genetic invasion, the ancient alien hidden in our DNA “blooming”, an event that killed a third of the world population (that's over one billion) and mutated a third into something slightly “more” than human. They were a daunting presence - and they were in charge. Their appetites were voracious. Impossible. Food, drink and drugs, sex, violence. The remaining third, despite the genetic key in their blood, had remained human. For them, life had been a waking nightmare. But the humans had found a way to fight back. A way to win. And now the humans had landed back on top. But the world has been fundamentally changed. It will never be the same. Stuart Cornfeld missed the entire thing. He was in maximum security lock-up as the world outside went mad. The world may have changed, but Stuart hasn't changed at all. He comes out into this new world the same passionately narcissistic, single-minded con man he has always been. And the new world is desperate for just that sort of messiah. Jive tells the story of Stuart's meteoric rise from prisoner to prophet; of those who want to keep him in power and those who will do anything to bring him down. Jive thrillingly sets the byzantine rules that control our future, then gives us the only man fit to follow them as our Listener, meet Stuart Cornfeld. This isn't going to be pretty.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories

Audio CD

First published March 18, 2021

Reviews

[Casey Dorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to JIVE, I felt as if I was on a meth-infused riff inspired by all the pandemic-BLM-White Supremacist-hydroxycholoquine crazed events of the last few years. Stuart, the protagonist of the novel, is a natural born con man. He and his less loquacious but equally imaginative partner Alex are constantly on the lookout for the fastest way to cash in on the latest mass sentiment that characterizes a gullible populace. World events give them a lot to work with. A COVID pandemic, a resurgence of the pandemic, a MERS flare up, an alien invasion, then “the bloom” that turns peace loving family members into sadistic killers leaves a half-depopulated world culturally and psychologically adrift as it struggles to adjust to the fact that people have zero control over their lives.

Into the gap steps Stuart preaching an “I believe in me” philosophy that gives a world of citizens drowning in survivor guilt permission to reap all the rewards that are available to them. It’s the ultimate prosperity theology, even containing an account of Stuart’s personal road to Damascus encounter with Jesus (which supposedly led him to kill his alien-possessed wife). Mostly it makes Stuart and Alex rich.

As can be expected, the bottom falls out of Stuart’s movement and he has a genuine experience of a miracle which leads to… I won’t say what, because that would be giving away too much. What I can say is that if you want to spend a little under two hours being entertained with non-stop, smart, funny, cynical jive talk which follows an actually exciting plot line containing truly original characters, JIVE is just the book for you. I recommend it highly.

[Daniela Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the world that was created here and the story was good and well thought out but still felt a little rushed. I feel like there was enough nuance in here to comprise a whole novel but I didn’t get any of the richness, only concise redux. It was still a great read but left me wanting to so much more.

[Kry Tiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that this storyline follows an inmate who was incarcerated during a pandemic that killed a third of the world was interesting. He went in because he committed fraud, only to come out and find another way to convince people he was redeemed and here to help again.
I got lost once and had to backtrack but it was different to hear things from a “con man’s” POV. Selling snake oil in the midst of chaos. It’s completely true and spot on. That ending though…

[Jen aka jazzee2 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thinking I must have missed something, I ended up listening to this book two and a half times before I finally realised that there was nothing to miss, nothing of real substance. I persevered for so long as I actually liked the first bit, recounting the crystals story, and the nods to commentary on the pandemic(s) and conspiracy theorists (take it as you will, awareness raising or ill informed spouting) however it never really keeps on track for long enough to capitalise on it. These ‘near future dystopia’ is so near future that within a year or so it’ll be the past.

Maybe it’s because it’s a short story - which ordinarily I love! - or that the writer was trying too hard, this story just doesn’t work.

Just a point on the narration: just because a character comes from a certain background or geographical area, for example India or South Asia, it doesn’t mean that you need to do their voice in an accent. Which is invariably based on a racial stereotype. Please don’t do the accents. I personally found it offensive, and would re-record it.

A good thing about the books I’m is that it is a very quick read, so it’s unlikely to take long. Which is a bonus ❤️🌈

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this a higher rating than I might otherwise because it started strong and at first I thought it was going to be really good. However, the strong start just turns into a jumbled mess. It should have been fully fleshed into a novel to develop all the characters and sub-plots or had a lot fewer characters and ideas shoved into the short story.

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so bored listening to this, and I honestly don't understand how a story about a fraud who gets out of jail only to see the people are suffering from pandemics and all kinds of other disasters and decides that it would be a good way to make money if he used and abused people's exhaustion, their despair and their need to be heard and understoood can be this boring and mind-numbing.

[Kemi · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the nicest way possible, this book weren’t it. It tried to be something - tried to be a commentary of modern society, religion and morality. It failed spectacularly. It was just boring, didn’t achieve what it wanted to achieve and I was just confused as to why the author did what he did. Skip.

[Dragoș · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Junk and rather abrupt it is nonetheless a nice short story set in the same world dealing with some of the fallout from the book and satirizing our all too human impulses in the wake of global tragedy.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept used to explore several facets of human nature. It was well conceived.

[Nick Matuszczak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read “Junk” by the same author first. This is almost like an epilogue to that book. Enjoyed Junk much more.

[Victoria Pring · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is simply too short for the story it is trying to tell. The idea is interesting and most of it wholy believable, that being said it is far too rushed.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started out good it rambled on but it ended okay short read but an okay one

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Elaine Beitelspacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had trouble following the audiobook. The concept of alien DNA was fun but not a lot of time was spent on that.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting world but ultimately a flat story. Heinlein did it better in Stranger in a Strange Land, but if you're bored and have nothing better to do (and can get this for free) then it's ok.