Ebook Review: Ammortals by Matt Forbeck

Full disclosure: I've met Matt Forbeck a few times. I can't say I know him well, but what I do know is he's an extraordinarily nice guy.

Angry Robot Books just recently released Amortals by Matt Forbeck in the U.S. It's been making rounds in the UK on reviews, and is currently gathering up good reviews here  in the states as well. It's a science fiction thriller with plenty of twists, turns, and technological tricks.

Hot on the heels of my reading of Sandman Slim, Amortals is another first person account with a detective fiction feel. The protagonist narrator is Ronan "Methuselah" Dooley, the world's first and oldest amortal. Amortality is the technological centerpiece of the book, a process where people can be resurrected by means of a clone and downloaded memories. Dooley dies protecting the president in the early 21st century, and his heroism helps usher in widespread acceptance of the new technology for a new era of rich, amortal haves and poor, mortal have-nots.

The book begins with Dooley's latest death. After a string of dying in the line of duty over about 200 years, Dooley's almost become used to the process. But, this death is more gruesome than most, and leaves a cold trail of who or what his killer wants.

Forbeck wastes no time propelling Dooley and his mortal partner Querer, a middle aged woman whom he distrusts initially, into action. After a presidential celebration of his rebirth, Dooley begins collecting up information, especially via his nanoserver implants. The effect for readers is seeing the technological layers of the world through Dooley's eyes as a living, breathing internet enabled world reveals clues and threats. It's a nice touch to consider how information swarms our senses, even in today's real world.

Pacing in the first half or more of the book earns that thriller label for the book. Dooley's attacked by Indian gangster, snipers, and rocket launching mystery men, then chasing after same in acrobatic hover car action. The action makes for a pleasant, page turning read.

Dooley himself is a salty dog of an agent, but also a lens for readers. He's roughly my contemporary (and Forbeck's) – someone born in the late 20th century, and still remembers bits of his family life from that time. Forbeck adds just a tad too much for my tastes on some minor details – it's clear he's writing for geek culture by drumming up Dooley's fondness for Settlers of Catan in one passage, rather than the more rough and tumble Eastwood type that he otherswise behaves as in the line of duty. It's a small thing, but one that snapped me out of an otherwise well done character who's far too old for his young cloned appearance.

The Amortal Project, the official organization that controls amortality for an elite superpowered United States, is the matter of much controversy. Dooley's investigation is peppered with references to religious objection and activism against the immorality of amortality. Here again, Forbeck makes some interesting commentary on the consequences of amortality, including class warfare and religious extremism, for which Dooley seems to have no interest.

Nestled between action sequences is Dooley's introduction to his sixth generation descendant grandson, whom he calls Six. The teenager forms a bond with Dooley, but also introduces the relationship with the boy's father, whom Dooley calls Five. It ends badly, or so Forbeck leads readers to believe.

It all turns sharply when Dooley encounters his killer, someone much, much closer to him than he ever suspected. The book then builds rather quickly to a revolutionary turn for Dooley with Querer at his side. Here, the book suffers. While the future shocks revealed in the final chapters of the thriller provide interesting turns, Forbeck rushes. The story builds to a dramatic confrontation with the Amortal Project conspirers, and then ends abruptly. Forbeck abandons Dooley's relationship with Six. We see nothing of a key religious figure, or the presumably messy consequences of a probably better world. It's a clumsy ending to an otherwise entertaining near-future science fiction thriller.

The book does provide a fascinating appendix (I read the Kindle edition — I assume it's also in print). Forbeck includes a brief history of him getting the book published, and how he crafted the work over several  years. He even includes the original version of the first chapter written in the 90s. It's a interesting peek inside his emergence as a published writer, and will be especially worthwhile to aspiring writers.

Amortals: B-