Review by S R Manssen
Set in a distant future where humans have ravaged planet Earth, the lucky portion of the population now inhabit MegaCity ML. The unlucky struggle to survive in the Wastes. The air is unbreathable, but technology has evolved and the city revolves around procuring energy to run the city, along with developing its technology. The city is jam-packed with drones, robots, androids and enhanced humans.
Marshall Matthias Blue has been in elite law enforcement a long time. He used to be highly regarded, but after the death of his partner 6 years ago, he spiralled into depression , drowning his sorrows in booze in the underbelly pleasure district of the city. His latest partner–sophisticated android Combat Recon Operations Model W311 (aka Cromwell)–has managed to keep him functional for the past 5 years, but now it’s time to retire.
However when, on his final day of work during a routine investigation, Cromwell and Blue are attacked by the Medical Director of the Palladium works and Blue is struck by lightning, they realise that they’ve stumbled onto something big. Pinned with the murder of their boss , they go rogue. But the lightning strike has triggered a strange reaction within Blue’s body, and the race to uncover the truth literally becomes a matter of life and death.
Piers Furney’s debut novel Alkaline Dawn plunges the reader into an action-packed, futuristic detective adventure. The world-building is well-developed, although an understanding of computer jargon will be helpful. Told primarily from Blue’s POV, the reader gradually taps into Blue’s forgotten childhood memories, which were triggered by the lightning strike. These help the reader understand Blue’s choices and prejudices as the story plays out. I got a little lost within the continual fight scenes, but overall, with some nice little sprinkles of plot-twists, it was an enjoyable read. Recommended.
More about this book:
Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Alkaline-Dawn-Piers-Furney-ebook/dp/B0CL6KJ4CM
MegaCity ML has almost starved itself of energy. Elite agent Matthias Blue has run out of purpose after the death of his best friend knocked him into bottomless booze and low-stim capsules.
But when Blue is hit by lightning, and his mentor is murdered in an attack no one thought possible, something snaps. Hunting those responsible, Blue and his sophisticated android partner, Cromwell, discover that the very institutions designed to protect and serve the MegaCity are complicit and caught in the middle of a desperate plan for a new power source.
Torn between cold vengeance and the future of millions of people, Blue must put on the duster coat one last time.