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The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates #3)

by Jeff Somers (Goodreads Author)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 494 ratings · 42 reviews

Avery Cates is a wanted man. After surviving the worst bioengineered disaster in history, Cates finds himself incarcerated - in Chengara Penitentiary. As Chengara has a survival rate of exactly zero, the system's most famous gunner must do some serious plotting. And a betrayal or so later, he achieves his goal. At a price.

All he has to do now is defeat some new personal de...more

Paperback, 390 pages

Published August 12th 2009 by Orbit (first published July 25th 2009)

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Sep 05, 2010 AH rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: sci-fi fans

Shelves: first-reads, dystopian, science-fiction, zzread-sept-2010, cyberpunk, own, signed-copy

Wow, what a ride!

In the interest of full disclosure, I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Secondly, this book is the third book in the Avery Cates series. So, in essence, I was kind of dropped into this world. At first I was confused. I did not understand why this world was the way it was. Another confusing point was the way the story was structured, alternating chapters in Chengara Prison and chapters outside the prison. Once I figured that out, the story came alive for me. I was captivate...more Wow, what a ride!

In the interest of full disclosure, I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Secondly, this book is the third book in the Avery Cates series. So, in essence, I was kind of dropped into this world. At first I was confused. I did not understand why this world was the way it was. Another confusing point was the way the story was structured, alternating chapters in Chengara Prison and chapters outside the prison. Once I figured that out, the story came alive for me. I was captivated. I had difficulty putting the book down.

The Eternal Prisontakes place in a bleak world. The world has been devastated by a plague. There are armed skirmishes everywhere. Manhattan is being bombed. Las Vegas is run by the Russians. There doesn’t seem to be any countries. Food is scarce; people rely on n-tabs for nourishment and sometimes they even resort to cannibalism. The yen is the currency used to purchase items. People travel by hover. There are some interesting high tech gadgetry and some very scary weapons.

This is a world where people are augmented, especially the police force. There are vision and auditory augmentations. There are bone strengthening augmentations. Some people are so augmented that they are “more gadget than human.” In fact, most police officers have been made immortal – they are avatars of themselves. "People of interest" are collected and sent to Chengara Prison. Chengara Prison is in the middle of Death Valley. If one should escape, the chances of survival are relatively low because one would die of exposure. At Chengara Prison, peoples’ minds are taken out and stored until they can be put into an avatar or robotic copy of the person.

The story is told from Avery Cates’ point of view. I like his inner dialogue. Avery’s external dialogue is also amusing. I like his perspective of life. Avery is definitely a survivor; he is quick thinking, and he allies himself with some very useful people. The story is told with a sense of humor. It is wry and ironic at times. Avery is a likeable character, and you really are rooting for him as you read.

The story is exciting and each section seems to end in a “No way! I can’t believe it!” cliff hanger. If you like science fiction, dystopian worlds, cyberpunk (a new one for me), you will definitely enjoy this series. I’ve added the rest of the series to my to-read list and I can’t wait to read them all.
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Nov 24, 2011 kingshearte rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fiction, post-apocalyptic-dystopian, sci-fi

If you'd told me before I started reading this series that I would actually come to love it a little bit, I don't think I would have believed you. Cyberpunk is so not my thing. And yet, what can I say? I kind of love Avery Cates, and I kind of love Jeff Somers.

The gun battles, of course, remain one of Somers' huge strengths, but I also love his insanely convoluted plotlines that somehow all come together in the end. Sort of. His characters are almost all self-serving, snarky assholes that you so...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, ya-futuristic

After reading THE ELECTRIC CHURCH and THE DIGITAL PLAGUE I couldn't wait to get stuck into the third book in this series. This is one seriously dark and awesome world. It's very bleak and dangerous, plus Avery isn't exactly a good guy, but you still can't help but like him. lol.

Avery Cates is a gunner. He's also an old man who's been through a lot in his life. Well, okay, he's really not that old, but in his world youth is already considered a long life, so you can understand how someone several...more After reading THE ELECTRIC CHURCH and THE DIGITAL PLAGUE I couldn't wait to get stuck into the third book in this series. This is one seriously dark and awesome world. It's very bleak and dangerous, plus Avery isn't exactly a good guy, but you still can't help but like him. lol.

Avery Cates is a gunner. He's also an old man who's been through a lot in his life. Well, okay, he's really not that old, but in his world youth is already considered a long life, so you can understand how someone several decades older would be viewed. He's pretty much reached his limit, and seems ready to just give up and relax for a while. Let someone else take up the fight.

This book was a trippy read that I really enjoyed making way through.

The story starts out simple enough, with Avery on his knees and bound by a System Pig. Then he's in Las Vegas stalking a Russian, before signing himself up for some serious trouble when he agrees to track down and kill Director Dick Marin. That sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But soon, I was taken back to Avery's stint in the worst prison in the world--Chengara. A place where People of Interest are dumped, and eventually processed. Which, ah, means that they disappear.

So, two different stories seem to be going on--one in the present and one in the past, to let you know exactly how Avery got to The Star. Of course, after that happens, everything got spun around and I kept thinking: what the hell is going on? In a good way, of course. I don't want to go into it too deeply because I'll give everything away, and trust me, the twists, turns, and surprises are definitely worth it. And a lot of things get answered about Avery's very peculiar behavior and how he can be in two places at once.

This cyberpunk-noir nightmarish world is so bleak and horrible that you just can't help but cringe at the horrid state of it. Everything's collapsing and a war between the SSF and the army is making everything worse. As if the digital plague didn't wipe out enough of the population. Poor Avery goes through hell, and is pushed to his physical limits so many times that you just can't help but feel bad for him and wish he could have a holiday already. He's also forced to place his trust in a variety of very colorful lowlives--one of whom betrays him severely, and changes the path of his life--as well as cops.

The Eternal Prison is as gritty as it gets. It's another full-throttle, action-packed, violent romp filled with unpredictable situations, the expected attitude, and more explosions. Not to mention a sick and twisted plan--that's much worse than the Monks--by one corrupt individual who wants to take over the world. Or at least, he wants to replace everyone in it.

This is a series that I don't think I'll ever get sick of reading. I love that it's so darn clever and well-planned. I love that little hints were constantly dropped like bread crumbs that don't seem to matter but then turn out to be vital to finding your way out of the labyrinth. And it just doesn't rest until the very end.

Every book makes matters worse than the one before, and I can't help but wonder if Jeff Somers has any clear vision of an end to Avery's series... I hope he doesn't, because I'm hooked. Bring on the next one!
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Jan 21, 2010 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars

The "Eternal Prison" is the third book in a series by author Jeff Somers. I have read Somers previous 2 books and have become a big fan of his. In this third book he keeps doing what i love in the first to books tell a story with lots of action and interesting plot twists. The cyber-punk , apocalyptic world that he writes in, may be a turn for some, but please don't let that be. What we have here is fast pace action book that takes you to many places. Unfortunately it is probably the speed of th...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Felonious rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Sci-Fi Readers

Shelves: first-reads, topshelf

This being the 3rd installment of the Avery Cates series I was a bit worried about not having read any of the other Avery Cates books. "The Eternal Prison" stands on it's own but there are references to characters and events of the past. So reading them in order may be a good idea but not necessary.

Jeff Somers creates a future world where humans are still corrupt and violent and fighting for power, and technology has advanced with scary realism. Where people get their brains digitized and uploa...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Alec Dyer rated it 1 of 5 stars

Before I say anything, I want people to know that "The Electric Church" (the first book) was a pretty decent book. Read that.

Jesus Christ. I mean I'm OK with lowbrow reading but seriously this might be the worse book I've ever read. I barely managed to finish only because I wanted to finish up the trilogy.

The whole thing was over-the-top. Stupid. Predictable. Uncreative. It took all the flaws of the first book, that could be overlooked because of the cool story, because of the novelty of the i...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I did really enjoy this book, once I figured out what was going on. Since I won it from the giveaway on here, I just started reading it, even though I knew I was starting with book number three. I thought that most series spent a period of time at the beginning of each book introducing readers to the series and characters. Unfortunately for me, this didn't. The characters were interesting enough but the world is very complicated and confusing, especially for someone coming into the series so lat...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Larry rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good little read, the protagonist is kept very busy in a dystopia made up of post plague environment and the melding of human and electronic forms. He is a typical anti hero, a gunner or hit man who finds himself at the center of world events as a tool to be used by opposing factions.

The author is not breaking any new ground here, neither in the main character, though well fleshed out including the supporting cast of characters, I like his ability to create beliveable people nor in his world...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

This 3rd book in the Avery Cates series is perhaps the best so far. While The Digital Plague felt like it was just a retelling of The Electric Church, Jeff Somers has taken a different direction with this one. I've compared this character before to Robert E. Howard's Conan and I think the comparison holds up. Both are incredibly grim and violent men with a rough sense of honour and justice. They both rampage through their stories with contempt for or trying to destroy their civilization, and whi...more This 3rd book in the Avery Cates series is perhaps the best so far. While The Digital Plague felt like it was just a retelling of The Electric Church, Jeff Somers has taken a different direction with this one. I've compared this character before to Robert E. Howard's Conan and I think the comparison holds up. Both are incredibly grim and violent men with a rough sense of honour and justice. They both rampage through their stories with contempt for or trying to destroy their civilization, and while they are more than capable of killing ordinary enemies, it's when they're put up against the supernatural monsters that lay at the heart of their stories that they really shine. Jeff Somers world is a cyberpunk world of high-tech, cyborgs, dystopia, martial law, and artificial intelligence, all in an advanced state of decay. It starts off with Avery Cates as a broken man, completely defeated without even the will to live anymore as he's rounded up by the SSF system cops and sent to a hellish prison to stay in limbo. This is told through flashbacks alongside another narrative of the present day Avery Cates, who is whole again and on a mission, killing his way to his goal. He manages to complicate the plot just enough to make it interesting but not enough to be convoluted and pointless. The whole story is so over-the-top, nihilistic and bloody that it takes the single-minded and humourless Avery to make it believable. "... the walls leaked like a gutshot wound." This kind of exposition is typical and so so SO delicious, I loved every minute of it. Somers's Act 3 takes off in a different direction, and ends in a pyrrhic victory (like The Empire Strikes Back ends in a pyrrhic victory). This is an amazing pulp-story. It's fast-paced, un-sophisticated and direct. It's only science-fiction so far as the science pops its head up like a mole to be smashed into bits. I highly recommend this book to sci-fi fans who aren't bothered by brutal violence and nihilism, and especially to young men who normally don't like books because they're 'boring'. You can read it as a stand-alone story but it's worth starting out the series with The Electric Church which also very good.(less)

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Jan 14, 2010 Nick Cato rated it 5 of 5 stars

After destroying The Electric Church and surviving The Digital Plague, Anti-hero Avery Cates returns in his third adventure to face The Eternal Prison. From an underground super-prison in the middle of the desert, to a cannibal-infested Russia, to the criminal-infested underworld of New York City and then back to the slammer again, Somers' latest Cates installment is a non-stop barrage of head-crushin', gun-shootin', tough-guys-on-adrenaline thrill ride that barely allows the reader a second to...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, first-reads, 2010

Disclaimer: This is the first Avery Cates book I have ever read and I just happened to pick up a book right smack dab in the middle of the series. This being the case, I was utterly confused for the first 150 pages of the novel... I had no idea what was going on, who the characters were, what the author was talking about, but as I read on, I realized this was more my fault than the author's fault. I'm sure if I had read the other novels (which I will definitely read now), it wouldn't have taken...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a tasty read indeed. I was a little confused in the first 100 pages, because Cates was in two places at the same time, and then it totally became clear and I sort of kicked myself for not seeing it earlier (probably all a ploy by Mr Somers). I have to admit though, I love Avery Cates He is one of the coolest protagonists in modern SF lit and I really like the way he does things throughout the book. I have already picked up the last 2 books from the library and plan on bursting through t...more

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Sep 04, 2010 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars

Emergency Airport Book. Yet another story that starts off cool and interesting and ends up kind of mired in the details. If I had known what the twist was from the beginning - which many people probably figure out before the end of the book, unlike me - I would have enjoyed it more. Also, had trouble hearing voice of main character in my head. Still, not a bad read. Liked the sci-fi stuff and the hard-boiledness.

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Mar 25, 2012 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's the final book in the trilogy. It was excellent, poor Avery Cates just keeps hanging in and things go on getting worse and worse. I did wonder if there was to be a happy ending. But when the end arrived it was such a non sequitur that I never saw it coming. In fact I had to go back to the last chapter and read it again and think a bit to get it. I don't recall the last time was that happened to me.

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Nov 14, 2010 Clay Tilton rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book really took me for a ride, as it was very action packed and mind blowing. Near the middle, it got really interesting with who was telling the story, because it always seems to be two people(which are the same person), and then when those two people met, a huge plot twist unfolds. Every page turn brought another joke/action scene/plot twist. This book also went at just the right pace of time, even if it was slightly confusing who was dead and alive at what times and whatnot. I highly re...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Tina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the third book in the series, so I started without knowing anything about the world or the main character's history. There were several times during the first half of the book when I wondered why the heck I was bothering with it, but once I hit that half way mark and figured out where the author was going it drew me in. The main character Avery Cates is likable, and the story was entertaining enough that I'll go back and read the first book in the series The Electric Church. It was a fu...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Michael O'Donnell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Third in a series and the first I have read. Given the relentless pace of the action and the new ideas of a dystopian world I did not think I was missing to much.

Overall OK but not really enough for me to want to go back and read the first 2. Avery's recovery rate is unbelievable and the the entire list of characters need to learn more swear words than f%&k.

Best part of the book was the 'Acknowledgments'.

MOD

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Feb 20, 2013 Carl Holzboog rated it 4 of 5 stars

At this point, I'm hooked on Avery Cates. I have to admit a certain fondness for any protagonist who spends a whole book getting the ever loving shit knocked out of them, and it's even better when they can survive, even just barely, through a series. Not the most creative, or original, of stories, but it has all the right hooks to match up with the corresponding loops in my head.

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Aug 17, 2010 Debbie Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was lucky enough to receive this book thru goodreads giveaway program. YEAH!! This is a new author for me and even though I hadn't read the first 2 books in the series I felt I could follow the story well enough but you can bet that I will pick up the first 2 books so I can see how everything evolved and also I can't wait to read the newest in the series. This book hooks you on the first page and keeps you wanting to find out what will happen next with Avery Cates. So I am hooked!!

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Aug 07, 2010 Annika Paxman rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: goodreads-firstreads

I won this of firstreads, and unfortunately I wasn't able to read far enough into it to gather whether the plot was decent or not because the language was so foul. I have enough crude language thrown at me without me willingly reading it. I'm very disapointed because I was looking forward to a good suspense.

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Aug 11, 2009 Alex Boothe rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the third in the Avery Cates series. The Electric Church and The Digital Plague introduced us to the Gunner. This book does not disappoint, it actually leaves you wanting more. READ THESE BOOKS!!

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Aug 29, 2009 Willy James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: just-good-books, sci-fi

I love these books. Avery Cates is the perfect anti-hero. This book, like the first two, read easily and very easy to visualize. It has the feel of a comis book and a first person shooter but written with perfect wit and brutality. Can't wait for the next one.

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Nov 06, 2010 Les rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

This third volume in the saga of the Gweat and Tewwible Avery Cates is non-stop action from beginning to end. Amazingly enough, this series just keeps getting better and better. (However, the books do need to be read in order for most enjoyment. The first two books, The Electric Church and The Digital Plague are also fantastic and well worth a read.)

This series follows the Gunner Avery Cates as he kills his way through all of his problems in a disturbingly bleak future history. Lots of dark hum...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Justin Melter rated it 3 of 5 stars

So far the weakest in my opinion of the Avery Cates series. Good idea for a story but in my opinion wasn't as well executed as the previous books. Felt drawn out.

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Oct 21, 2011 Steven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Better than 1 and 2 in the series. It's going to have the problem the Resident Evil movies are having - most of the world is going to be dead and it will stretch belief that there's anyone around to interact with...

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Apr 10, 2012 Barrett Brown rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

OMG!!!!! It finally came out! This is my FAVORITE unheard of new series.

OK, so half way through I was like "I'm sick of Avery Cates, he's starting to suck." Then about 3/4 through I was like "HOLY OMFG! Jeff Somers is an EF-ing Genius!" I had to read it twice in a row just to make sure I understood all the gnarly twists and turns; Nice!

Yes, he pulls some epic mind-fucks in this one and if I'm not mistaken Somers is truely getting better and better with each book. A few ideas from Gibson's books...more

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Sep 25, 2010 Gary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Don't read this is you've not read the previous two in the series -may sound obvous advice but some books stand alone - this doesn't but if you have the read the other two then it's enjoyable but the Cates legend is wearing a little thin now and probably should end here.
There are some nice moments but they are not often enough for me.

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Jan 01, 2011 Bradley is currently reading it

This book is definitely not the greatest of the Avery Cates books, in my opinion.

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Sep 24, 2009 Meril rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sff

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 19, 2012 Christal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Avery Cates is an 'Very Fucking Important Person' and while in prison is digital copied and an AI clone is made, but it was interrupted so Avery llives and he and his drone aren't quite right. Avery can now here the 'minds' of the digitazed before him. His mission takes him after Dick Marin itself, the head computer mainframe, in Moscow which is now a city of cannibals. It's good, but it's gotten old. Sommers needs to freshen the series up already because Cates is getting predictable and the mis...more

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About Jeff Somers

Born in Jersey City, NJ, Jeff has managed to migrate just five minutes away to nearby Hoboken, land of overpriced condominiums and a tavern on every corner. Between weekly drunks, Jeff manages to scrawl enough prose onto cocktail napkins and toilet paper to keep up a respectable fiction careeer."

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Quotes from The Eternal Prison

“I forced myself to stay put and keep looking-impatient assholes would take the leap, letting adrenaline and desperation guide them, but I was fucking ancient and I knew better. It was bitter, but I fucking knew better about just about everything.” — 3 people liked it

“I forced myself to stay put and keep looking - impatient assholes would make a leap, letting adrenaline and desperation guide them, but I was fucking ancient and I knew better. It was bitter, but I fucking knew better about just about everything.” — 1 person liked it

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The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates #3)

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