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Payback
A tribe of brave teens.
A dome filled with enemies.
And a machine watching humankind destroy itself.
Freed from prison in 2041, Eden Shepherd is ready to return to her family and work out what went wrong in Moneyland. Mum is here to help – but Eden’s dad has disappeared, leaving a trail of questions about his role in the rise of an all-powerful artificial intelligence.
As Eden and her mum venture into an urban wasteland to try find Dad, the duo are ambushed by a militia led by a man intent on killing Eden – before a whole new biodome descends upon the hapless humans.
Eden finds herself trapped and fighting for her life with a tribe of brave teen guerillas who occupy an abandoned shopping mall – until devastating secrets emerge about the tribe’s leader as Eden starts to lose her chance at payback, her family – and her life.
A dome filled with enemies.
And a machine watching humankind destroy itself.
Freed from prison in 2041, Eden Shepherd is ready to return to her family and work out what went wrong in Moneyland. Mum is here to help – but Eden’s dad has disappeared, leaving a trail of questions about his role in the rise of an all-powerful artificial intelligence.
As Eden and her mum venture into an urban wasteland to try find Dad, the duo are ambushed by a militia led by a man intent on killing Eden – before a whole new biodome descends upon the hapless humans.
Eden finds herself trapped and fighting for her life with a tribe of brave teen guerillas who occupy an abandoned shopping mall – until devastating secrets emerge about the tribe’s leader as Eden starts to lose her chance at payback, her family – and her life.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2022
About the author
Michael Botur
19 books100 followersMichael Botur, born 1984 in Christchurch, New Zealand, living in Whangarei, Northland, is the author of eight short story collections, five novels, a children's book and the poetry collection 'Loudmouth: Page & Pub Poems.' He has won awards for short fiction in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Botur has published journalism in most major newspapers and magazines in New Zealand and is an emerging screenwriter.
Botur has published creative writing in most NZ literary journals, has won various prizes for short stories and poems since beginning writing in 2005 and has been included in numerous anthologies.
Botur has published news articles in VICE World News, the Listener, New Zealand Herald, Herald on Sunday, Sunday Star-Times, The Spinoff, Noted, Mana and North & South.
In 2021 Botur was the first Kiwi winner of the Australasian Horror Writers Association Short Story Award for 'Test of Death' and has been runner-up twice since.
Botur has published creative writing in most NZ literary journals, has won various prizes for short stories and poems since beginning writing in 2005 and has been included in numerous anthologies.
Botur has published news articles in VICE World News, the Listener, New Zealand Herald, Herald on Sunday, Sunday Star-Times, The Spinoff, Noted, Mana and North & South.
In 2021 Botur was the first Kiwi winner of the Australasian Horror Writers Association Short Story Award for 'Test of Death' and has been runner-up twice since.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 11, 2023
I thought this was a solid book, but not amazing. There were some parts of the story and some aspects of the writing that I really enjoyed, but there were other parts that I found annoying or distracting, reducing my enjoyment. Overall, I went with three stars as this was a middle-of-the-road reading experience for me. Others might enjoy it more (and the Goodreads reviews already posted show that others have).
The story takes place in a dystopian world where AI has largely taken over, and humanity is increasingly falling prey to despair, with many people turning their back on the world and choosing a virtual life in The Cloud (run by, of course, the aforementioned AI). The main character, Eden Shepherd, is newly released from a three-year prison sentence, and she is trying to make her way in this dark world, protecting and providing for her young daughter. I thought this was a strong premise with which to start the story.
The writing is clean, and the story moves quickly. The author does a good job of presenting a dystopian setting, liberally sprinkled with references to brands and events of the early 2020’s to give it a strong sense of familiarity. The author also does a good job of explaining the events of the first book sufficiently for a reader who hasn’t read that book (I am one such) to understand the relationships in this book that impact the story, without belaboring that backstory.
The main character’s motivations are simple and relatable: she wants to protect her young daughter, and she wants to find her father (who apparently had some role in the ascendancy of the AI). That makes her easy to understand.
Most of the story takes place with the main character trapped in a dome of force, in a portion of a city that’s been blasted by an EMP (and is thus mostly free of the AI’s drones and other forces). She’s caught between two groups that are also trapped in the same dome, and a large part of the story focuses on how she navigates that situation and deals with the various personalities while trying to achieve her goals. There’s a lot of action, which I enjoy. There’s a high gore quotient and body count, so let the squeamish beware. I did appreciate the conceit of Eden being trapped in this dome for the bulk of the book, focused on the threats to her and her daughter’s survival, unaware of the decline of the world outside the dome until late in the book.
Overall there’s a lot to like in this book. But, the book also had a number of stylistic and execution issues that prevented me from enjoying it more.
The character of Eden is always yelling. SO MANY CAPITAL LETTERS! Her character is consistent but not very subtle, and the constant yelling got to me. Yelling is like spice: a little goes a long way.
Passage of time in the story was hard to get a handle on, despite the timestamps at the start of each chapter, and sometimes the text of the chapter contradicted the timestamps. Variable amounts of time passed with each, which is okay, but I often found myself scrambling to get a handle on time at the start of the chapters. Honestly, this probably would have been easier without the timestamps on the chapter headers. Maybe the author wanted a sense of a countdown, but with a timespan of a year and such variable passage of time from chapter to chapter, the countdown aspect is not very effective.
Some things presented in the book were inaccurate, and so easily proven so that it weakened my trust in the author. It took me all of one minute, for example, to look up how long the International Space Station can operate without human stewardship and find out that it’s much longer than is used in the book.
An important character dies by falling into the force field, and I found it strange that the body continued to exist – recognizably – stuck in the force field for weeks. That said, this was also the basis for how the characters eventually find a very gruesome way out of the force field.
There is a major twist late in the book, and it needed more setup, IMO. There were a couple of details that were undoubtedly meant to hint at the twist, but when it was revealed I had a genuine “WTF?” moment that threw me out of the story. Kudos to the author for the twist evoking such a strong reaction, I guess. I won’t go into more details, to avoid spoilers.
Lastly, the main character spends most of the book being deeply mistrustful of most people, and then near the very end has a moment of misguided trust that I found completely unbelievable, given what she has gone through up to that moment. In a story that has so many “deepfakes” and doppelgangers – several of which nearly kill Eden – I expected her to be more suspicious when a familiar face shows up unexpectedly.
These things may not reduce the enjoyment of all readers as much as they did mine. To each their own.
The story takes place in a dystopian world where AI has largely taken over, and humanity is increasingly falling prey to despair, with many people turning their back on the world and choosing a virtual life in The Cloud (run by, of course, the aforementioned AI). The main character, Eden Shepherd, is newly released from a three-year prison sentence, and she is trying to make her way in this dark world, protecting and providing for her young daughter. I thought this was a strong premise with which to start the story.
The writing is clean, and the story moves quickly. The author does a good job of presenting a dystopian setting, liberally sprinkled with references to brands and events of the early 2020’s to give it a strong sense of familiarity. The author also does a good job of explaining the events of the first book sufficiently for a reader who hasn’t read that book (I am one such) to understand the relationships in this book that impact the story, without belaboring that backstory.
The main character’s motivations are simple and relatable: she wants to protect her young daughter, and she wants to find her father (who apparently had some role in the ascendancy of the AI). That makes her easy to understand.
Most of the story takes place with the main character trapped in a dome of force, in a portion of a city that’s been blasted by an EMP (and is thus mostly free of the AI’s drones and other forces). She’s caught between two groups that are also trapped in the same dome, and a large part of the story focuses on how she navigates that situation and deals with the various personalities while trying to achieve her goals. There’s a lot of action, which I enjoy. There’s a high gore quotient and body count, so let the squeamish beware. I did appreciate the conceit of Eden being trapped in this dome for the bulk of the book, focused on the threats to her and her daughter’s survival, unaware of the decline of the world outside the dome until late in the book.
Overall there’s a lot to like in this book. But, the book also had a number of stylistic and execution issues that prevented me from enjoying it more.
The character of Eden is always yelling. SO MANY CAPITAL LETTERS! Her character is consistent but not very subtle, and the constant yelling got to me. Yelling is like spice: a little goes a long way.
Passage of time in the story was hard to get a handle on, despite the timestamps at the start of each chapter, and sometimes the text of the chapter contradicted the timestamps. Variable amounts of time passed with each, which is okay, but I often found myself scrambling to get a handle on time at the start of the chapters. Honestly, this probably would have been easier without the timestamps on the chapter headers. Maybe the author wanted a sense of a countdown, but with a timespan of a year and such variable passage of time from chapter to chapter, the countdown aspect is not very effective.
Some things presented in the book were inaccurate, and so easily proven so that it weakened my trust in the author. It took me all of one minute, for example, to look up how long the International Space Station can operate without human stewardship and find out that it’s much longer than is used in the book.
An important character dies by falling into the force field, and I found it strange that the body continued to exist – recognizably – stuck in the force field for weeks. That said, this was also the basis for how the characters eventually find a very gruesome way out of the force field.
There is a major twist late in the book, and it needed more setup, IMO. There were a couple of details that were undoubtedly meant to hint at the twist, but when it was revealed I had a genuine “WTF?” moment that threw me out of the story. Kudos to the author for the twist evoking such a strong reaction, I guess. I won’t go into more details, to avoid spoilers.
Lastly, the main character spends most of the book being deeply mistrustful of most people, and then near the very end has a moment of misguided trust that I found completely unbelievable, given what she has gone through up to that moment. In a story that has so many “deepfakes” and doppelgangers – several of which nearly kill Eden – I expected her to be more suspicious when a familiar face shows up unexpectedly.
These things may not reduce the enjoyment of all readers as much as they did mine. To each their own.
March 11, 2023
The same excellent writing as the first book in the series, Moneyland. It's accelerated writing, without useless words and extra descriptions, with a free train of thoughts flowing and introspective, which is my favorite kind of writing, even more for dystopia, which is a genre that I love. But at this time we can see the evolution of the characters from the previous book, especially Eden. Gripping writing and an exciting story, with different characters, not the dystopia cliché woman. 5 solid stars!
March 9, 2023
I really enjoyed Moneyland when I read it last year, so I was keen to read the sequel and find out where Eden's story went next when given the opportunity. As soon as I started Payback, I knew I was in for a rollercoaster of a novel.
The book starts with a bang and throws us straight into the action. It's one challenge after another for Eden as she tries to protect her daughter from the Mechs. As with the first book, Eden's personality shines brightly through the first person perspective and really brings a fun and in-depth look at her character. Her instinct is always to protect her daughter, Hope, but her immediate focus shifts from finding her father to finding the last scrap of Earth untouched by the Mechs. It was really interesting to see how her character developed from the first book, where she went from carefree and spoilt teenager to fighting for her own survival, to becoming a mother and having her priorities change dramatically. It's quite rare to find a book in this genre with a young mother as the protagonist, but it was a pleasant change and very well done.
Though the book was action-packed, the beginning felt a little all over the place. However, this settled quickly after the intentional chaos of the first couple of chapters. I was particularly impressed with the twist about two-thirds of the way through and how it immediately raised the stakes for Eden as well as the rest of the scattered society in the mall. I loved that the novel felt post-apocalyptic in a refreshing and practically unique way; this apocalypse was humanity's own making and we wandered into it willingly, which gave such a chilling reality to the setting, especially as it takes place in the not-too-distant future.
There was one thing that really annoyed me about the book and normally I wouldn't mention it in a review because it's only me being incredibly picky and it probably won't have an effect on anyone else, but it was quite a large part of the book and it nearly solidified my rating for the book during the first act. The depiction of rabies was incredibly inaccurate and while I normally forgive this in zombie novels because it's depicted as a mutation of the virus, there was no such indication here. The reason this annoys me so much is because I wrote my MSci dissertation on rabies virus and how the infection progresses in the host (which is also why this probably won't annoy anyone else). Also, I didn't quite understand why vaccines were airdropped into the biodome with the food - I don't think there was a reason given or any other references to the vaccines after their initial appearance, unless I missed it.
My personal gripes with rabies virus aside, Payback had me absolutely hooked and, with that ending, I've got all my fingers crossed for a third book in the series.
I was offered a copy of this book with a request for an honest review.
The book starts with a bang and throws us straight into the action. It's one challenge after another for Eden as she tries to protect her daughter from the Mechs. As with the first book, Eden's personality shines brightly through the first person perspective and really brings a fun and in-depth look at her character. Her instinct is always to protect her daughter, Hope, but her immediate focus shifts from finding her father to finding the last scrap of Earth untouched by the Mechs. It was really interesting to see how her character developed from the first book, where she went from carefree and spoilt teenager to fighting for her own survival, to becoming a mother and having her priorities change dramatically. It's quite rare to find a book in this genre with a young mother as the protagonist, but it was a pleasant change and very well done.
Though the book was action-packed, the beginning felt a little all over the place. However, this settled quickly after the intentional chaos of the first couple of chapters. I was particularly impressed with the twist about two-thirds of the way through and how it immediately raised the stakes for Eden as well as the rest of the scattered society in the mall. I loved that the novel felt post-apocalyptic in a refreshing and practically unique way; this apocalypse was humanity's own making and we wandered into it willingly, which gave such a chilling reality to the setting, especially as it takes place in the not-too-distant future.
There was one thing that really annoyed me about the book and normally I wouldn't mention it in a review because it's only me being incredibly picky and it probably won't have an effect on anyone else, but it was quite a large part of the book and it nearly solidified my rating for the book during the first act. The depiction of rabies was incredibly inaccurate and while I normally forgive this in zombie novels because it's depicted as a mutation of the virus, there was no such indication here. The reason this annoys me so much is because I wrote my MSci dissertation on rabies virus and how the infection progresses in the host (which is also why this probably won't annoy anyone else). Also, I didn't quite understand why vaccines were airdropped into the biodome with the food - I don't think there was a reason given or any other references to the vaccines after their initial appearance, unless I missed it.
My personal gripes with rabies virus aside, Payback had me absolutely hooked and, with that ending, I've got all my fingers crossed for a third book in the series.
I was offered a copy of this book with a request for an honest review.
October 11, 2022
The sequel to Moneyland, Payback, brings us back to Eden Shepherd and the roboticized world she and her family dwell in. She has now been freed from prison after the disastrous year spent in the Bio-dome.
But she can’t let it go, and especially now that her father has disappeared, it’s up to Eden and her mother to find him, and discover what role he has played in the omnipotent rise of the artificial intelligence dictating all aspects of life.
Humanity is on the verge of total destruction as it gives up on itself – leaving machines to run all aspects of life. But Eden’s not ready to give up, especially for the sake of her young daughter, Hopey.
Destined to be a fighter, and survivor, Eden uses all her skills to keep her daughter safe, as they hide out in an abandoned shopping mall, inhabited by guerilla teens. She is determined to find her father, and learn why everyone is going to “The Cloud.”
Michael Botur’s skill at bringing aspects of today’s technology to merge with the not-too-distant future are chilling in its potential realism. As with Moneyland, I was drawn into Eden’s world and often shared an adrenaline jolt at situations she was forced to face.
Michael BoturA super read, but leaves you with an uneasy feeling for the future!
But she can’t let it go, and especially now that her father has disappeared, it’s up to Eden and her mother to find him, and discover what role he has played in the omnipotent rise of the artificial intelligence dictating all aspects of life.
Humanity is on the verge of total destruction as it gives up on itself – leaving machines to run all aspects of life. But Eden’s not ready to give up, especially for the sake of her young daughter, Hopey.
Destined to be a fighter, and survivor, Eden uses all her skills to keep her daughter safe, as they hide out in an abandoned shopping mall, inhabited by guerilla teens. She is determined to find her father, and learn why everyone is going to “The Cloud.”
Michael Botur’s skill at bringing aspects of today’s technology to merge with the not-too-distant future are chilling in its potential realism. As with Moneyland, I was drawn into Eden’s world and often shared an adrenaline jolt at situations she was forced to face.
Michael BoturA super read, but leaves you with an uneasy feeling for the future!
November 6, 2022
Eden Shepherd has survived a year-long biodome experiment, the birth of a child in said experiment, the loss of many of her friends, several years of incarceration, and the mystery of where her father has gone.
When she's released from jail, after her conviction is overturned, she's only interested in getting her life back together. Her daughter has been raised the last few years, by Eden's mom. Together, the trio embark on a journey to get Eden's father back.
The journey is quickly turned sideways, when they're unable to locate Eden's dad, and a biodome is dropped over them.
A character, calling himself The Father, is to blame. His son had been in the prior bidome experiment with Eden, and had not survived. The father decided to exact revenge on the world, for the death of his son.
Eden, her mom, and daughter, encounter a feral group of kids in a mall. Will they be able to take down The Father, and free Eden's dad in the process?
I really liked reading about what the parents were doing during the initial biodome experiment. I also enjoyed seeing Carol Shepherd in action, which had only briefly been mentioned in the preivious book.
A couple sections of the book were a bit confusing, as far as what exactly was going on, but overall, this was an excellent read.
When she's released from jail, after her conviction is overturned, she's only interested in getting her life back together. Her daughter has been raised the last few years, by Eden's mom. Together, the trio embark on a journey to get Eden's father back.
The journey is quickly turned sideways, when they're unable to locate Eden's dad, and a biodome is dropped over them.
A character, calling himself The Father, is to blame. His son had been in the prior bidome experiment with Eden, and had not survived. The father decided to exact revenge on the world, for the death of his son.
Eden, her mom, and daughter, encounter a feral group of kids in a mall. Will they be able to take down The Father, and free Eden's dad in the process?
I really liked reading about what the parents were doing during the initial biodome experiment. I also enjoyed seeing Carol Shepherd in action, which had only briefly been mentioned in the preivious book.
A couple sections of the book were a bit confusing, as far as what exactly was going on, but overall, this was an excellent read.
March 11, 2023
Payback is a fitting successor to the proceeding volume in the Lockdownland Trilogy, Moneyland. While not too extreme, it is definitely an adult book and pulls no punches. Continuing the story of Eden Shepherd after being released from the biodome in Moneyland, Payback takes us in new and exciting directions. Eden is maturing and totally devoted to her baby, while still fighting the best efforts of man and machine to bring her to heel. Aided by her mother she discovers the stories of her parents and is trapped beneath a new biodome while trying to find her father in a world ruled by a tyrannical artificial intelligence. Engrossing and emotionally satisfying, Payback introduces new menaces and gives us a look at the world mankind has created through greed and ill considered actions. A logical extension of the world we live in Payback is a cautionary tale in the spirit of the best of science fiction. Read Money land and Payback before the third book in the trilogy is unleashed. Don’t be left behind!
March 7, 2023
I enjoyed this book. I feel like the author has a very clinical way of writing which makes it hard to connect with the characters. The only thing that made me emotional in this book was the fact that there were multiple pages on how, scientifically, a forcefield works.
While I did enjoy this book a lot more than the first, I felt like this one was pretty predictable. As soon as one of the characters was introduced, I knew he was going to be Mech. I didn't realize that the author was going to pull two different pregnancy pregnancy tropes though, which did kind of blind side me.
I did really like the idea of being able to upload your consciousness into the Cloud indefinitely. I feel like this is a possibility that is getting closer and closer to a reality, which is pretty scary to think about. The whole idea of AI is pretty creepy to me, to be honest.
All in all, though I did really enjoy this book and I think it would be worth picking up.
While I did enjoy this book a lot more than the first, I felt like this one was pretty predictable. As soon as one of the characters was introduced, I knew he was going to be Mech. I didn't realize that the author was going to pull two different pregnancy pregnancy tropes though, which did kind of blind side me.
I did really like the idea of being able to upload your consciousness into the Cloud indefinitely. I feel like this is a possibility that is getting closer and closer to a reality, which is pretty scary to think about. The whole idea of AI is pretty creepy to me, to be honest.
All in all, though I did really enjoy this book and I think it would be worth picking up.
March 16, 2023
Great Read! Fast-paced, great action, the characters have their peculiar traits, style and own voices. A lot of things happening at the same time. I thought the story about The Father and the role he plays in the story of this second book, linking to the story of the first one, was pretty interesting. The Cloud is a very unique idea as well and it's well developed.
March 9, 2023
The idea of everyone going to The Cloud is scary, though very possible in theory. I would attempt to hide from AI systems determined to plug-in everyone as well, even if it meant fighting for my life daily as Eden often had to. Terrific story. Michael Botur can write.
March 6, 2023
Review in process.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews