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Easytown Novels #4
House of the Rising Gun
Imagine a world where anything is possible and nothing is off limits.
Pharmaceutical giant VirtuaPharm is attempting to create that world through their partnership with a fellow megacorporation who’s developing a closed neural network. The network, enhanced through the use of VirtuaPharm’s drugs, is worth trillions. They’ll do everything in their power to protect the product launch, including employing a private army of enforcement officers to stop any interference in their business.
Meanwhile, something foul is happening in Chinatown. The mayor’s office has forbidden any police presence in the neighborhood and there’s an electromagnetic interference bubble around the district. What secrets are they hiding in the city’s newest entertainment district?
Detective Zach Forrest is back in this fourth exciting installment of the Easytown Novels, where the tech is hot, the weather is cold, and the women are sultry.
Pharmaceutical giant VirtuaPharm is attempting to create that world through their partnership with a fellow megacorporation who’s developing a closed neural network. The network, enhanced through the use of VirtuaPharm’s drugs, is worth trillions. They’ll do everything in their power to protect the product launch, including employing a private army of enforcement officers to stop any interference in their business.
Meanwhile, something foul is happening in Chinatown. The mayor’s office has forbidden any police presence in the neighborhood and there’s an electromagnetic interference bubble around the district. What secrets are they hiding in the city’s newest entertainment district?
Detective Zach Forrest is back in this fourth exciting installment of the Easytown Novels, where the tech is hot, the weather is cold, and the women are sultry.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2021
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12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2021
THE HOUSE OF THE RISING GUN by Brian Parker is the fourth installment of the Easytown series that I an exceptionally fond of. The premise is in the near-future, New Orleans has regained its reputation as a place of debauchery with a cyberpunk twist. If you want to be robot, cyborg, or human prostitutes then this is the place for it. Designer drugs and virtual reality fantasies are alongside the more traditional stuff. Detective Zach Forrest has Easytown as his beat and struggles to stay ahead of the high tech crimes he often finds himself dealing with.
Combining noir and cyberpunk has been a tradition since the very beginning with Zach being the sort of detective that would have been at home in the 1930s if not for the fact he has an AI secretary. He even lampshades it once when he realizes wearing a fedora might be a bridge too far into the shoes of his forebearers. Personally, the grit and sleaze combined with fantastic advances is handled with a subtle enough touch that I think it works great as a combination.
The premise of this book is that Zach has been hired to find a missing scientist who has seemingly run out on his wife. This quickly leads him to a new tourist trap in town run by Chinese immigrants, a corporation hoping to market a "happy" pill, and the usual mix of beautiful women as well as corrupt businessmen. Some guys just never catch a break. This particular one is of higher stakes than most of Zach's cases and would serve as an excellent finale to the series even if I hope Brian Parker continues.
The best parts of the story are Zach dealing with Novah, a beautiful corporate-employed prostitute that is constantly giving him the runaround. Novah is one of the best femme fatales in the series and has Zach constantly running in circles. I also like how Zach is adamant about not falling prey to her charms and does a decent job of sticking to this promise. We also find out that she's got one of the best strategies for screwing with Zach's usual investigative techniques: adamantly sticking to her story and not giving him an inch.
I also appreciate VirtuaPharm as a villain because the use of a legitimate corporation as a massive legal drug dealer is just correct social satire these days. The Opioid Epidemic has killed tens of thousands of people in my region (Appallachia) and the people responsible are untouchable because they bought off the politicians to make their product legal. Euphoria is also a drug that we can see would be highly popular even if it's terrible in its effects: no one cares about side effects if you can promise a good time.
Unfortunately, I do have some complaints. The Chinese conspiracy feels tonally out of place with the rest of the series and unnecessary when VirtuaPharm is already a superior antagonist. We also have a scene, at one point, where Zach leads an attack with Special Forces gynoids that feels like a level out of a video game. I prefer when Zach is investigations into corporate malfeasance and organized crime versus international conspiracies. I also didn't much care for the resolution of Zach's romantic life since it involves the return of my least favorite of his love interests.
In conclusion, this is still a pretty solid cyberpunk detective novel. Zach is a fun flawed character that has grown quite a bit since The Immorality Clause. I hope to see more books out in the series as there are few that manage to combine the genres so deftly. I only wish it had stuck a bit closer to the noir feel towards the end.
Combining noir and cyberpunk has been a tradition since the very beginning with Zach being the sort of detective that would have been at home in the 1930s if not for the fact he has an AI secretary. He even lampshades it once when he realizes wearing a fedora might be a bridge too far into the shoes of his forebearers. Personally, the grit and sleaze combined with fantastic advances is handled with a subtle enough touch that I think it works great as a combination.
The premise of this book is that Zach has been hired to find a missing scientist who has seemingly run out on his wife. This quickly leads him to a new tourist trap in town run by Chinese immigrants, a corporation hoping to market a "happy" pill, and the usual mix of beautiful women as well as corrupt businessmen. Some guys just never catch a break. This particular one is of higher stakes than most of Zach's cases and would serve as an excellent finale to the series even if I hope Brian Parker continues.
The best parts of the story are Zach dealing with Novah, a beautiful corporate-employed prostitute that is constantly giving him the runaround. Novah is one of the best femme fatales in the series and has Zach constantly running in circles. I also like how Zach is adamant about not falling prey to her charms and does a decent job of sticking to this promise. We also find out that she's got one of the best strategies for screwing with Zach's usual investigative techniques: adamantly sticking to her story and not giving him an inch.
I also appreciate VirtuaPharm as a villain because the use of a legitimate corporation as a massive legal drug dealer is just correct social satire these days. The Opioid Epidemic has killed tens of thousands of people in my region (Appallachia) and the people responsible are untouchable because they bought off the politicians to make their product legal. Euphoria is also a drug that we can see would be highly popular even if it's terrible in its effects: no one cares about side effects if you can promise a good time.
Unfortunately, I do have some complaints. The Chinese conspiracy feels tonally out of place with the rest of the series and unnecessary when VirtuaPharm is already a superior antagonist. We also have a scene, at one point, where Zach leads an attack with Special Forces gynoids that feels like a level out of a video game. I prefer when Zach is investigations into corporate malfeasance and organized crime versus international conspiracies. I also didn't much care for the resolution of Zach's romantic life since it involves the return of my least favorite of his love interests.
In conclusion, this is still a pretty solid cyberpunk detective novel. Zach is a fun flawed character that has grown quite a bit since The Immorality Clause. I hope to see more books out in the series as there are few that manage to combine the genres so deftly. I only wish it had stuck a bit closer to the noir feel towards the end.
November 28, 2022
If you like your audiobooks a bit gritty with plenty of humor and procedural cyberpunk action, you will find the latest audiobook in the Easytown series “House of the Rising Gun” can help fill that void. The series keeps getting better and better, and I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to each audiobook. The author is Brian Parker, who tells an engaging tale while keeping things overall light and fun. The audiobook’s narration was superbly performed by Daniel Penz. Mr. Penz is becoming one of my all-time favorite narrators and I can say that this team works well together. The story opens with the usual missing persons case for a PI and then pivots to focus on the extent some big pharmaceutical corporations will go to hook their customers for life. Yet, this this more than just about finding a missing person or making a new drug? Or is there something more nefarious when our main character begins to peal back the onion. If any of this sounds interesting, I can recommend you give the latest Easytown audiobook a listen as the story has depth and the author has done a good job creating this unique world.
It is always nice being dropped back into a somewhat familiar world, being this is the fourth in the series, consisting of multipurpose droids, cyber surveillance, and the latest in holographic assistances, Andy. Yet, even with all the technology and progression, there is still the same corrupt human nature requiring the help of a failed detective turned private eye to collect the clues and ultimately solve the mystery. This time, it is a very powerful pharmaceutical creating a new wonder drug that provides the consumer with whatever pleasures they desire. Yet, this corporation operates in plain sight even though law enforcement knows something fishy is going on under the covers. Knowing that the police will not be able to take down this company through traditional means, they reach out to their ex-coworker and friend to help give them a way of stopping it. No one would have expected that this drug company was so much more, and even something that could threaten the security of the nation.
I have come to enjoy the depth and complexity of the Easytown series of audiobooks and this one seems to take that to the next level. We can see our main character maturing over time, and I think that is also seen in the author’s writing. The characters feel solid, and their actions fit their personalities very well. The cyberpunk world Mr. Parker creates seems to mirror that of other worlds in this genre. It appears to be a bit grimy and gritty, while also quite advanced with technology. The author does a good job of blending the darker elements of the story with enough humor that it does not get too weighty.
About the audiobook narration, Mr. Penz does an exceptional job of voicing the many characters and their accents as he has with previous audiobooks in the series. I do not recall any issues with audio plugs or inconsistencies involving audio volume or character voicing. The reading pace is well maintained and for listeners that like to listen at a rate slightly faster, Mr. Penz voice permits that. As with any of his other narrations, Mr. Penz delivers consistently, even across the four audiobooks in this series. The narrator quickly assumes the character of Zack Forrest even some of his quirks, in a good way.
For parents and younger listeners, this audiobook is really geared toward a mature audience. The use of drugs (legal and illegal), prostitution and some rather graphic violence are contained in this story. I would only recommend this audiobook, and the entire series, to mature listeners.
In summary, I have never been disappointed after listening to any of the Easytown series. The writing has continued to grow, the narration is solid and professional, and the characters fit their environment. This tale goes a bit farther than the previous ones, but I did enjoy the ride. I can say that I am already awaiting the fifth audiobook in the series when it drops.
It is always nice being dropped back into a somewhat familiar world, being this is the fourth in the series, consisting of multipurpose droids, cyber surveillance, and the latest in holographic assistances, Andy. Yet, even with all the technology and progression, there is still the same corrupt human nature requiring the help of a failed detective turned private eye to collect the clues and ultimately solve the mystery. This time, it is a very powerful pharmaceutical creating a new wonder drug that provides the consumer with whatever pleasures they desire. Yet, this corporation operates in plain sight even though law enforcement knows something fishy is going on under the covers. Knowing that the police will not be able to take down this company through traditional means, they reach out to their ex-coworker and friend to help give them a way of stopping it. No one would have expected that this drug company was so much more, and even something that could threaten the security of the nation.
I have come to enjoy the depth and complexity of the Easytown series of audiobooks and this one seems to take that to the next level. We can see our main character maturing over time, and I think that is also seen in the author’s writing. The characters feel solid, and their actions fit their personalities very well. The cyberpunk world Mr. Parker creates seems to mirror that of other worlds in this genre. It appears to be a bit grimy and gritty, while also quite advanced with technology. The author does a good job of blending the darker elements of the story with enough humor that it does not get too weighty.
About the audiobook narration, Mr. Penz does an exceptional job of voicing the many characters and their accents as he has with previous audiobooks in the series. I do not recall any issues with audio plugs or inconsistencies involving audio volume or character voicing. The reading pace is well maintained and for listeners that like to listen at a rate slightly faster, Mr. Penz voice permits that. As with any of his other narrations, Mr. Penz delivers consistently, even across the four audiobooks in this series. The narrator quickly assumes the character of Zack Forrest even some of his quirks, in a good way.
For parents and younger listeners, this audiobook is really geared toward a mature audience. The use of drugs (legal and illegal), prostitution and some rather graphic violence are contained in this story. I would only recommend this audiobook, and the entire series, to mature listeners.
In summary, I have never been disappointed after listening to any of the Easytown series. The writing has continued to grow, the narration is solid and professional, and the characters fit their environment. This tale goes a bit farther than the previous ones, but I did enjoy the ride. I can say that I am already awaiting the fifth audiobook in the series when it drops.
September 14, 2021
Love the series. Perfect combo of seedy gumshoe noir and scifi tech.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews