The Hermes Protocol

Jayu City Chronicles #1

by Chris M. Arnone

“Hello? Who are you? Where am I?”

Elise Corto-Intel is an Intel Operative sent on what should have been a routine job to break into a luxury high-rise, crack open a safe, and take what’s inside. But as soon as she touches the tiny microchip, a voice crackles to life in her comms revealing an artificial intelligence named Bastion. In a city-spanning adventure, they must work together in a race against the clock to recover Bastion’s stolen chip, escape from a maniacal hitwoman, and untangle the web of players chasing this illegal artificial intelligence before Elise is terminated from the Corto Corporation, her employer that is also her home, family, and her life.

Chris Arnone’s work of cyberpunk science fiction, THE HERMES PROTOCOL, follows an intelligence operative with cybernetic enhancements as she races through the futuristic otherworldly Jayu City, on a mission that challenges her ideas of family, loyalty, and what defines life itself.

351 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2023

About the author

Chris M. Arnone (he/him) was weaned on comic books and Hardy Boys novels, finding his first literary love in Lord of the Flies, though his longest-lasting is a love for Ray Bradbury. He reads and writes nerdy fiction in equal parts with literary fiction and poetry these days, but his imagination still leans toward the magical. As an intersex man, he is particularly interested in gender and sexuality in his writing.

Chris’ debut novel, The Hermes Protocol, is forthcoming from Castle Bridge Media on January 24, 2023. He is a contributor for Book Riot. He is represented by Katie Salvo at Metamorphosis Literary Agency.

He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. He also performs on many stages in Kansas City, where he lives with his wife Christy and their cats. ​

Reviews

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very intrigued by the cover and the synopsis. I was excited to receive a copy through BookishFirst to get to read and review this book. I had a hard time making it through the first half of the book. I found the story to be slow moving and hard to get through at points but it does pick up in about the last third of the book. It took a little to get used to, but I like a society where people are used to introducing themselves with pronouns immediately after their name. I also liked the queer representation with the gender neutral folks and the main character self-identifying several times as ace (or asexual). I don’t think I’ve read a lot of cyberpunk/sci-fi with representation so that was refreshing for me. The writing wasn’t bad. While at times it could have been tweaked or improved I think it shows a decent foundation and the potential that this author has. The spy intrigues were interesting. The AI entity was difficult for me. I wanted to like him a lot, but I just struggled with taking that leap. I thought character development across the board could have been improved and deepened including Bastion. All together it wasn’t a bad read especially if you like cyberpunk science fiction.

[Patty (IheartYA311)]

I was pretty excited for this book after reading the First Look, and even more excited when I won a copy. The premise sounded exciting, and there aren't many books in this genre. I had such high hopes for this book and really wanted to like it but had to DNF after a few chapters. There were too many unnecessary details that seemed to noncontributory, or held any relevant information to the plot. The intimate and graphic scene that happened toward the beginning of the book was a major turn off, nobody needed to read that, and it did not help character development or world building whatsoever. I like the cover a lot but that'sreally the only nice thing I have to say. I'd like to be more constructive but I don't have anything positive remarks about what I had read so far. It was a promising premise with a very lackluster and poor execution. It felt forced, as if the author was trying too hard, and the plot lacked direction early on. Thank you to Bookish First for the opportunity to read this book.

[Jaimes_Mystical_Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book first grabbed my attention with the stunning cover! The first chapter immediately caught my attention as the main character, Elise, clung to the bottom of a flying limousine. This was such a fun and interesting sci-fi heist book and I’ve never read anything remotely similar to this one. Although so much action and adventure happened throughout this book, I did find myself losing interest every once in a while. I’m not sure why this book didn’t hold my attention as well as I would have hoped, it could have simply been because this is not my typical genre and I may not have been in the mood for this book at the time I read it. But that being said, if you are into cyberpunk science fiction and enjoy action, adventure, and heists, you may want to look into this one and give it a try.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately I didn't read the entire excerpt before requesting this book. I got as far as the cover and being a cyberpunk fan said: "oh cool, this looks awesome".  Erk, well that's the only reason why I finished it.

The one thing I'll give Arnone credit for is not lecturing us regarding gender, identity, and whatnot. He hyperfixates on pronouns and confuses me with "they" and does a lot of other things that I don't want to read about, but at no point does he lecture, which is how he earned two stars.

Besides that, I just didn't like the book.  The AI gives away it's entire game as soon as we meet it, so that there's nothing to build on throughout the text.  I kept wondering what else would be built on the AI & ethics storyline, and the answer is nothing, all the way through to the anticlimactic ending.

The action throughout wasn't that bad and the book was fast paced, but you can't convince me that the characters are in danger when they're more worried about pronouns than the danger.  The action scenes are fairly decent though.

There's also a bit of a mystery storyline. Who hired who? Who wants the AI chip? Who is this mysterious person?  Looking forward to some epic twist, I was disappointed because the book gave some half assed answer to the who & why, and then magically resolved everything.  There are hints at future complications but that does nothing for the story's current resolution.

Lastly, another issue throughout is that (one would assume) the main character is supposed to be a pretty decent intelligence operative? For all the mishaps, fails, forgetting of situational protocol, not being able to fight, and other flops... I just never got the impression that Elise was good at her job.  She should be able to seduce someone. She shouldn't gawk when she's impersonating security. In every single situation she seemed like a crappy operative.  

Overall, even though I've thoroughly examined the fact that I might just dislike this book because of the content, the truth is that it's just not as good as a lot of other cyberpunk that I've read.  It's PC Mr Potato Head with these cybernetic limbs and while there are some cool aspects, overall I can't recommend The Hermes Protocol. (Oh, and for all of the stress related to the protocol, it magically became not a big deal at the end).

Thanks for checking out my book review of The Hermes Protocol by Chris M. Arnone.  I claimed my copy through my Bookish First points, and thank the website and publisher for my arc in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own ♥️

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was far from perfect, it was definitely an enjoyable read. Elise, Quynn, and Bastion, while somewhat underdeveloped and flat characters, were all very likable and went on an intriguing adventure to retrieve A.I. Bastion’s stollen chip. While the plot was somewhat predictable, the world-building was beautiful. Arnone did a good job of creating an interesting world ruled by corporations that define all aspects of your life, and using corporate espionage—Elise’s job—was a great way to show off different aspects of that world-building.

There were, however, a couple things I didn’t like about this book. The characters were a little flat, but that’s pretty standard in plot-driven books like this. My biggest gripe was the sloppy writing in areas. I think that it could have definitely done with a little more polish in terms of word choice and sentence structure in these places. But the laziest part that comes to mind is during a part with an announcer that Arnone described as a boisterous voice. During the scene the voice was eventually referred to as just “boisterous” which made zero sense to me and just struck me as something sloppy a writer might do in a rough draft.

Other reviewers have complained about the use of different pronouns, which I found to be not so different than other books I’ve read in this genre recently (and in fact is nothing new in science fiction—see the award-winning work of Ursula Le Guin). I’ve also seen complaints of the “gay sex scenes” which aren’t graphic (they’re literally just something happening in the background as the main character is Ace) and make up a minuscule section of the overall book.

Overall, enjoyable and interesting, I just wish it had better editing.

[Wwarner27 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love sci-fi, and I’ve read a lot of it, but this is rough. From the very beginning, I was cringing. The names of people and places all have multiple names. It’s distracting. Then, the author uses “they” for everyone. It makes following the dialogue unnecessarily difficult. Gender neutrality is fine, but use people’s names. Add to that the grammar mistakes, and I struggled to get past chapter one.

I kept going, but it wasn’t worth my time. The story is fine, and it did smooth out a bit. However, the characters are not compelling, especially the main character, Ellie. I wanted to like her, but I really didn’t care what happened to her. The story dragged on and on. I couldn’t wait until it was over. I kept reading, because I thought the final standoff might add a bit of excitement. It doesn’t. There’s no epic battle. There’s no wow moment. The guy just dies. Yawn. What a let down.

There are much better sci-fi books. Go find one.

[LittleBookLoves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me preface my review by saying that this is solely my opinion of this book, and I believe people should check it out on their own to form their own opinion.
The cover of The Hermes Protocol is interesting and pretty. It does a good job of giving some indication of what to expect from this story. The premise of the book was interesting and, again, corresponds with the cover to set the tone of what to expect from this story. Overall,this book just wasn't something that I could get into. I picked it up, laid it down, picked it up, and laid it down again and again in an effort to try to get into it. I like sci-fi stories and was hopeful for this story, but I just couldn't get into it. The story somewhat started off well, but there was so much description throughout this story that it became difficult to focus on and read this book. Ultimately, I couldn't finish this book.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really fun science fiction adventure. I loved the characters and how the main character is mostly made of machines, but maintains her human characteristics. I really enjoyed the personality of the chip and how he became more realistic and human like as the book went on. I did find some parts dragging a bit and some things were left unfinished. If there is going to be a sequel, I can't wait to read it.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

https://www.tumblr.com/aspeccharacter...

[Emily C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first chapter of THE HERMES PROTOCOL has piqued my interest; and the book cover illustrates a fierce, stubborn and bright lady dressed in a sleek high-tech outfit has drawn me further into the cyberpunk world of Elise!

When Elise Corto-Intel is ordered to steal something important from a safe, she has no idea that her world will never be the same again after this undesirable assignment! She has to fight fiercely to free herself from the tangled web of dreadful peril in order to protect that tiny piece of object – an unusual artificial intelligence which she has a strange bonding with! At the meantime, her family and her own life are greatly at risk!

Chris Arnone has cleverly turned his vivid imagination into an intriguing, fast-paced, and action-packed futuristic cyberspace THE HERMES PROTOCOL, which I enjoyed very much this crazy wild ride with Elise!

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the gorgeous cover, and the fascinating line on the cover saying ‘A Cyberpunk Dream Come True,’ the first chapter disappointingly fell quickly into pandering gender-neutral pronouns that were confusing and made for a lot of re-reading to figure out context, along with hurried gay sex that seemed to have no relevance to the introduction of the artificial intelligence being named Bastion. None of those things draw the reader in during the first chapter. In fact the opposite is actually true—I lost interest after the first chapter, and did not proceed to read further.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was initially intrigued by the cover and blurb as well as the first look. The plot was the most original that I have personally come across. I know there may be similar books on the market, but I have not read any of them.

I was honestly thrilled when I won the Bookreads giveaway and this arrived in the mail. I started reading the very next day. The problem is, I just couldn't get into the story. The constant use of they and them as pronouns for the characters threw me off a bit. It added a level of confusion. Sex came into play early in the book. While it was graphic, the constant use of the term: moans, groans and rhythmic wetness was more than a little off putting.

This is one I did not finish reading. My rating of 3 stars really gives the author the benefit of the doubt, but I could not finish it.

[Jeneane Vanderhoof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never having read a book in which I thought a movie would be better, while reading the Hermes Protocol, by Chris M. Arnone, during one of the ending scenes, when the thought, "how cool this would be to see in a movie,” popped into my head, I was surprised that, for the first time, something I never thought would happen, finally did. But, when you have a cast of characters that exist in a future version of Earth, having moved far from their ancestors home planet, who have a series of removable limbs that can do all sorts of things on their body you never thought possible…. the picture I made up in my head couldn’t do justice to what I thought could be done on screen. When it comes to the visual, I can never do the art form justice, as well as others can.

During one point in the book, when the main character, during her journey to return the stolen A.I. chip, Bastion, to her corporation, caught in a jam, the intel operative, Elise, her foot parting, clamping down to help her, picturing this futuristic limb turning her almost ape-like, in positioning, words alone (and my thought pictures), in my opinion, do not do this inventive, creative and original story justice. And there are many instances, especially with all the action in The Hermes Protocol, where that thought came to pass.

I mean how can you not want to see on-screen humans who, though the author never shares just how attaching the limbs come about (or, better said, the detaching of the original limbs), have had their human limbs removed, only to be able to attach all these rechargeable limbs that aid them in everything they do, especially spy work? But, Arnone leaves reader’s to assume that these Jayu city citizens have had body parts lopped off, only to upgrade to rechargeable, better ones, that can do anything a mind can conceive of (and tons of things I could never have even thought of). I mean when people are going to make that kind of sacrifice, cutting arms and legs off, the things that the attachable arms, legs, and other “limb-like” creations you must be able to attach instead…must be just out of this world, to make that kind of sacrifice. And, when Arnone shares, with readers, many of what the attachable units provide, well, they are well beyond convenient (but, then regular arms and legs are convenient too). God forbid an EMP. But, so distant in the future, I’m sure there are remedies in these instances.

While not all of those in Jayu City have limbs that do the specific of Elise Corto-Intel (and I agree, I am really obsessed with the detachable limbs, more like, the removal of the originals for them, no matter what they can do), an Intel operative for the Corto Corporation (as the job and company are directly reflected in people's names), characters like Quynn, their/them, a Corto corporate worker, because of the way in which they/them view themselves, are able to take nanobots and injections, to change their appearance to be whomever they want, look however they want. The feelings inside that tell a person who they are, whether it is he/him, she/her, or they/them, in this futuristic world are finally able to be expressed in outworld appearance.

Can you imagine a day in which you would be able to express everything you fully feel about yourself inside, having the ability to express it externally? And, that it could drastically change, from day to day, even, hour to hour? Well, in Jayu City, far into the future, the author Chris M. Arnone has finally found a cognizant, pleasurable way for readers to see this happen in some characters. While some in Jayu City might not choose to have removable limbs, there are others who find importance elsewhere, such as Quynn, Elise’s partner. Able to birth, in appearance, the feelings of self one has inside them.

But, in this cognizant, original, but still, twisted, world, that, instead of being run by a government, Jayu City, we find it ran completely by corporations. Five of them in fact. Arnone finally expresses a world in which pure capitalism reigns. Because, in not being ruled by a government, but by corporations, what better capitalist form could be compiled? The problems that we see in forms of capitalist societies begin to emerge in The Hermes Protocol and, as the book closes, there are still several aspects of the mystery of why Bastion, the A.I. chip, was stolen, really, developed in the first place, that remain unanswered.

The premise of the book, the A.I chip, Bastion, that Elise Corto-Intel had just stolen is taken directly out of the Corto Corporation's vault, essentially, being stolen once more. This causes the Hermes Protocol to be enacted. This rarely enacted, unheard of protocol, if enacted, promises the end for Elise, not just in the Corto Corporation, which is like family, but in all of Jayu City. The direct fault for the theft of the chip that Elise had, moments before it had been stolen, put in the vault herself, of course, is laid directly at her feet. And, guilty by association in Jayu City, if Elise is to fail, her partner Quynn, is buried with her.

The reason why the chip was stolen is simple. In a purely capitalist society what would be the motivations? The simple answer: greed. And, there is greed over and over, in the book. But, who was motivated to steal the chip (other than the Corto Corporation) and why? Faced with other corporations, her own corporation, Elise is left to put those pieces together, with help from her partner, slivers of the A.I. Bastion, in her ear, they are led all over Jayu City. And, finally, on the water, where the answer to whether The Hermes Protocol will destroy Elise and her partner is answered.

But, now that Elise and Quynn have been befriended by Bastion, the A.I. chip, who can think, act and reason, just as a person (actually, against the law in Jayu City); in the end will they be able to make the chip hole (by recovering the stolen piece) or will he be destroyed in the race to recover himself? And, even if Elise manages to recover the chip, Bastion’s biggest fear, to be enslaved by another, not able to do and think for himself, just as a human would want, still remains and, as the mystery of him is pieced together, worsens. In the end not even Elise may be able to prevent this from happening. And, if she were to be made to stand up to her own corporation, for Bastion, who becomes like a friend (sometimes even an annoying one), for his freedom…would she destroy herself for this invented personality in her ear?

Find out these answers and more by reading The Hermes Protocol, simply a ride you don’t want to miss. I only wish now, after reading the book, to one day see it on screen. And, as I think Arnone leaves readers with a few unanswered questions in the end, that left me excited and hoping that The Hermes Protocol is only the beginning of a great new series with more to come. Truly, I think readers will think as I do, that this is the start of something great! Join us for the ride!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hermes Protocol by Chris M. Arnone is set in a futuristic world and time, and is about an Intel agent who is assigned a standard heist operation, but it turns out to be much bigger than she could have ever imagined. Elise Corto-Intel is an intelligence agent for the Corto Corporation. Her job is to break into highly classified and secured areas and retrieve items for her handlers. Elise is assigned a new heist which should have been a routine job for her. When Elise breaks into the safe and opens the package she sees a tiny microchip. She doesn’t think anything of it until a mysterious voice greets her on her private communication network.

Elise is bewildered and confused because no one should have access to her private network. It turns out the microchip she was assigned to steal housed an artificial intelligence being, named Bastion. In Elise’s world artificial intelligence is banned and considered a threat. Elise could be in serious trouble just knowing that Bastion exists; having the AI could bring graver consequences.

Elise is torn on whether or not to let her team know that she has the chip and its contents. She decides to turn the chip in against her better judgment. She thought she would be able to wash her hands clean of the situation until their vault was compromised and the microchip was stolen. Elise becomes the prime suspect as she is the last person to leave their secured vault. Elise is desperate to figure out who is behind the theft and clear her name before she loses everything she holds dearly.

This was my first time reading a novel in the cyberpunk science fiction genre. I am on the fence because the book was an okay read but I felt like it missed the mark a few times. The story felt repetitive because Elise mentioned every single time how her mechanical body parts were superior to her biological body parts. I feel like that was stating the obvious since the world was more technologically advanced than our present times. If the author had felt the need to reinforce the fact I felt it would have been fine once or twice but not more than that.

The author gets repetitive for other things as well. He explains basic common concepts over and over again. Some of the ideas could have been easily understood given previous context and didn’t need the additional time explaining it. I felt like the time would have been better spent world building.

Elise was a complicated protagonist. At times I thought she was clever and acted quickly on her feet. Then there are times where she gets beaten so badly that you can’t help but wonder why she is an intelligence agent and not a punching bag. I felt like most of the battles she loses on physical prowess but she comes up with a clever solution to get out of the situation. The book ends with a possibility for more books in the future but I don’t think this book made a strong case to read more books in the series.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging Cyberpunk Action That Hooks You From Go

I went into this book blind, not knowing what it was about, though the cover was interesting enough to pique my interest. It did not disappoint.

The cyberpunk elements are realistically built into the storyline, and combined with well-implemented world building - it works. I tend to get bored when an author will wax on about the setting more than the plot, but this book balanced both beautifully.

The plot was so good too! It had twists and turns and I never knew exactly where the next page would take me. The lead character wasn’t completely predictable- and she was fun to read about (the author didn’t just make her unpredictable for the sake of being unpredictable).

I also appreciated having an ace lead character and her non-binary SO. It allowed for fresh relationship perspectives and different dynamics throughout character interactions.

Two other facets I tend to judge books on are: dialogue quality and villain believability. This book delivered on both counts. Dialog between characters can be clunky and take away from the story, or it can add to the story with its sheer invisibility. It was virtually invisible in this story because of the quality of the characters. Their personalities were well developed enough that it came through even in the dialog- and I believed it.

For villains, I don’t judge them on whether I like them or agree with them, but by whether I believe their motivating factors and can empathize with them. I won’t give away anything here, but I saw a variety of villains introduced and was pleased with the grey area they presented.

The end was a happy wrap-up of all the pressing issues in the book, but I like how there are enough bigger picture unresolved issues and unidentified villains to allow for more books in the series. This was a fabulous start to a series, and I will be reading the rest as they are released.

[Susan Beamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read much cyber-punk lately. I'm not really a fan of that sub-genre of science fiction. There is something about changing your arms and legs depending on what you are doing that just doesn't do it for me. Putting that aside, I thought the story was interesting.
Our lead, Elise Corto-Intel, is requested to be assigned to steal/recover a chip. For her, it's a standard job. Only things start to go wrong right away. She is successful anyway and drops the chip into the top secret, hidden, high security vault. Shortly later, the vault is attacked and only the chip is taken. This act activates the "Hermes Protocol", where the vault is moved to a new location and the agent who brought in anything that was stolen is tasked with recovering the item and removing the enemy who breached the vault on pain of losing their job and maybe their life as a traitor to the corporation.
The world building here is very good. We get just what we need to see the world as we need it. That way our imagination is not insulted with chunky data dumps displaying the world.
When one removes the cyber-punk elements, we are left with a very tight thriller. There is lots of spy verses spy action. I really enjoyed that.
There is another character I should mention. The chip in question has a program that is an illegal artificial intelligence selfnamed Bastion. The program was intended to be a superior administrative assistant. Bastion is a little annoying, but busy doing the assisting he was designed to do.
I won the copy of the book I read for this review from the publisher via a website contest.

[Shradha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was admittedly a bit confused by this one despite its promising start. In a world where corporate espionage is commonplace and ads are even more ubiquitous, our cybernetically enhanced protagonist is tasked with stealing a special piece of technology from her employer's rival. When she finds out what exactly the piece of technology is, it kick starts a whole series of stuff that I honestly had a hard time following half the time.

Perhaps this may have been the fault of my unfamiliarity with the genre. I am not typically a huge sci fi fan, let alone cyberpunk enthusiast, so the world-building was a tad bit out of my depth. I felt that there were a lot of elements that just didn't click in my head with the descriptions, to the point where I was floundering on the world building and the mechanics.

What I did like about this book and what bumped up this rating from two to three stars in my opinion was the presence of an asexual heroine. As an ace person myself, I appreciate representation wherever it may be found, even if I didn't quite understand what she was doing half the time.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adult Science Fiction Adventure

This book takes place in the future where humans have accomplished space travel, colonies on other worlds, and cyber- and nano-technology. Elise Corto-Intel is an intel operative for the Corto Company, one of the five companies that basically control the colonies. All of her natural limbs have been replaced with cybernetic limbs that make her job of sneaking and stealing easier. She also has implants in most of the rest of her natural body for this purpose. Everything goes sideways when her job of stealing the contents of a safe ends up with her gaining an illegal artificial intelligence's voice in her head. Now she has to recover Bastion's lost chip and try to figure out who hired her for this career-ending suicide mission. She'll have help from her partner Quyen, work partner and friend Hessod, and Echo whose unique skills have helped her with many missions. Along the way, she'll have to dodge assassins and fights she isn't equipped for and decide who she can trust. Will Elise walk away with her career and her life?

[Payton Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are a couple of things about this book that I didn’t love and for me it made it very difficult to read every page in a dedicated way.

1) I love a good romance. It is one of the things that I look forward to when reading a book. And this book had a relationship that was already established before the start of the time period of this novel. For me, this choice made it difficult for me to actually get attached to the characters.

2) we start out the story in a moment of action and adventure and we never stop going running around and action/adventuring all over the place from there. To me, starting a book and continuing it with nonstop action from minute one you lose the chance to get attached to the characters and any hope for character development along the way.

3) I felt like a lot of the time the book was using most of its word count to explain some type of technology to me. And while I understand that this is an advanced technology based world, I struggle to care about every piece of technology that the book wants to explain to me.

[Alicia Kozak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of sci-fi but have enjoyed a few books so I thought I'd try this. It's not really what I was expecting. The sex right off the bat was unnessecary and didn't have anything to do with the story. The frequent mentions of pronouns and all the uses of "they" got confusing. I know it's a thing now but when reading it makes me think I missed some characters arriving.
The ability of the author to build their own world but must also give enough context to let the reader in on it. I would have liked more explanation in spots, but mostly for background in the world in general, it didn't really inhibit my following the actual storyline.
Things did pick up after the first few chapters and I liked the action and bit of mystery. I could see this being played as a video game.
From the ending I'm assuming there's plans for more books. Though the capabilities of Bastion are interesting, I'm not sure it's for me. Can see where it would appeal to a specific audience, though.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I liked the book up until there was a fake rape or an assumption of an assault and I couldn't get past it. I couldn't get any father after i read it. It just wasn't my cup of tea when it got to that chapter. I do like the book and I loved all the numbers and it was really interesting for a sci Fi book. I did love the characters especially when she was able ro calculate the speed and how she was able to figure that out was interesting. I was surprised when the book put in a fake assault. I wasn't expecting that and I really didn't like that at all especially since it is a sci Fi book and not really and romance. So I didn't think that would've been in this book. The author should state this even if it's faek because of people who was assaulted this could be a trigger even if it is a small mention it really is inconsiderate of the author to no mention a trigger in this book.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I won this book from bookishfirst, I was surprised and happy since I don't read a lot of science fiction novels.

This book was actually fun to read! From the very start, I had a good laugh as the main character (whom I learn why she is like that), tries to do her job and only keeps getting into trouble after another.

I am sure the book is not meant to be that funny but either way, it was a fun book to follow.

Everything about this book screams cyberpunk and futuristic elements.

I just wanted more with this book. I love how the book kept using pronouns because I can see that using pronouns would be important in the future.

It starts out with a heist, ends up with a mystery and action in their hands. So many twists and turns that made me want to read more and see what happens next!

The main comedy relief is the AI voice in the whole book. Believe me, you would just laugh each time you read about it.

Definitely a fun read!

[Elizabeth Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a super fun premise. I don't think I've ever read a cyberpunk novel quite like this. I enjoyed having a cyborg secret agent protagonist with an AI as her partner for the events of the story. I also appreciated the gender fluid representation through the character Quynn. The premise and characters were unique and interesting, but this book did have some issues.
The first aspect of this book I think could be better is the characterization. I wanted to know more about the characters and who they are beyond the scope of the situations in the book. I particularly wanted more characterization about the protagonist. I also would have appreciated it if some of the suggestive scenes were removed. Many of the scenes (like the first one) could have been removed without affecting the plot. I am a high school teacher and am hesitant to have this book in my class due to the suggestive material.

[a collective of books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Bookishfirst and Chris for sending me the arc. My opinions are my own.

Elise is an Intel Operative tasked to steal a microchip. Upon physical contact with the microchip, it turns out to be an AI and is communicating with her. She drops it off at the vault, but unfortunately, the chip has been stolen. Now she's on the hook and has to get the chip back with the help of the AI, but also with a hired hit woman on her tail.

I love the diversity in the book highlighting queer relationship, pronouns, and people of all spectrums of life.

The futuristic technology is interesting and I enjoyed the imaginative ways it's used in the book. The cybernetics is an interesting concept and it explores how it's used to be functional, but also fashionable. It was fun to see the design description along with the functionality.

The book is a fast paced, action packed sci-fi that was exciting from beginning to end. I definitely recommend.

[DebbieDoesBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was quite happy when I won this on Bookish First. It had been so long that I read any cyberpunk/sci fi and this seemed like a good way to dive back in. This turned out to be an okay read for me. I would love to say what it was missing...but I don't know what that is. It didn't fully grab me but I didn't hate it. It was simply okay. And okay is okay. Not everything can be a 5 star read.

That's not to say that I didn't love anything in the book. I absolutely did. The queer rep in this was great. The MC is asexual and I don't think I've ever read a book with an ace MC. So that alone was great off the bat.

I will say that I wouldn't mind this as a movie. I can definitely see this being a really good sci fi movie. That's not an insult to the book at all. But sometimes.....SOMETIMES books translate better on film then they do in written form. Blasphemous, I know. But SOMETIMES...it's true. You know it.

[Ksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

I have always been interested in cyberpunk novels, and I think this was a great introduction to the genre. There is a very intriguing world of operatives and companies, body upgrades, and more in this novel. I do wish that we got a little more depth to the world, but at the same time, I enjoyed the small hints to the bigger world.

And the story itself was captivating! Readers follow Elise as she is just trying to complete another job, only to be thrust into a world of AI and more fighting than she is used to. I thought that each character was interesting, and honestly think the author could have delved more into each one.

There is a sense of foreboding throughout the novel that kept me invested. I needed to know if everything would work out for Elise and her new AI friend. My biggest complaint is how dialogue heavy some parts were, but ultimately I still enjoyed the story.

I really hope there is a sequel!

[Rose Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I'm so sorry. The premise was eh could be a good story but the writing was so bland. It was so descriptive about different things that did not need as much detail as it did but I still had no concept of what the world was remotely like even 15% in. The characters were flat and while I feel like nothing really happened the plot still felt rushed somehow.
As far as I read, this is a world separated by companies like we do countries. There are spies working for each company trying to essentially bring the other companies down. I really couldn't get much farther than that, I really tried.
I'll admit I'm a little biased as I'm really not a fan of science fiction. I may go back to it sometime in the future. But once I put it down for the first time I found it almost physically impossible to pick it back up. If your a fan of basic Sci Fi, however, this may be for you.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the concept of this book. Cyborgs, espionage, AI, adventure, all things that have the equation for a fantastic read. Unfortunately I think the execution was not there. The writing style would occasionally jolt me out of the book, and at one point I put the book down and it took a lot to make myself pick it back up. I think the characters could have used some more development, we got their backstory but at no point did I feel the connection with anyone (other than Bastian) that I want out of the main characters of a book. In all honesty I think that a lot of the flaws with the writing may have been able to be fixed by a round or two more of editing, which the book did need. The second half of the book read better than the first. But I can tell that this will be a series, and I do not plan to continue. I am disappointed as I did have high hopes for this book.

*this book was sent to me for review by BookishFirst*

[Karla Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cyberpunk fans will love this book and the cover is amazing. I don't read a lot of Sci-fi but I do read a lot of LGBTQ reads and I loved that this book was a combination of the two. The main character is asexual and everyone gives their pronouns with they introduce themselves. This is how the zine community functions and I just loved that this book makes it a normal part of the introductions.

The book reminds me of the fifth element because of the action and the flying cars. Elise is a spy who is ordered to steal and then there is so much action in the first chapter I feel like the author could have build up character development and the sex scene rather than putting it right at the beginning of the story.

Overall I love how futuristic the book and the AI that is used though the story. I also like how the ending was open ended so there is a chance we will get more cyberpunk intel soon!!

[chaospaladin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world felt very sci-fi but was still enjoyable even though I don't usually read this genre. There was fairly constant action and I often found myself reading more pages than I'd planned because I was so absorbed in the story. I also found the book funny but it didn't overwhelm to the point it became too comedic to take seriously.

I enjoyed the characters, I especially loved and adored Bastion and how Elise's and Bastion's friendship grew. There was also a lot more queer rep than I was expecting (always a win for me). Elise is asexual (she says it in the book!) and her partner is nonbianary.

As the end drew closer I was concerned about how things would be wrapped up in a satisfactory manner but the author pulled it off quite nicely and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for future books of his.