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It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter
In near-future USA, world-weary private eye Henry Thorner is charged with tracking down data thief Tanner Griffen. In a world where all data is owned by the multinational OraCorp and leveraged by its all encompassing social network Ora, off-grid Henry is a lone voice of stalwart independence.
When Ora shows Tanner at the scene of a murder hundreds of miles away from his hiding place, no one is more surprised than Tanner himself. Private eye and thief hook up with Jeopardy, a damaged and dangerous mercenary, in a race to find out who framed Tanner and why.
Mixing detective neo-noir, science fiction and a dash of social commentary, It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter cuts an exhilarating and darkly amusing swathe through the big questions of our increasingly connected world - just how comfortable should we be with the corporations that own our digital souls?
When Ora shows Tanner at the scene of a murder hundreds of miles away from his hiding place, no one is more surprised than Tanner himself. Private eye and thief hook up with Jeopardy, a damaged and dangerous mercenary, in a race to find out who framed Tanner and why.
Mixing detective neo-noir, science fiction and a dash of social commentary, It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter cuts an exhilarating and darkly amusing swathe through the big questions of our increasingly connected world - just how comfortable should we be with the corporations that own our digital souls?
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2014
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9 people want to read
About the author
Alexander King
2 books4 followersAlexander is a writer, musician and artist living in York, England. When not writing, he composes music for theatre and film, plays guitar in a rock band and teaches Wing Chun Kung Fu.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2014
Alexander King has tagged you in 1 sci-fi noir thriller.
This social-media-social-commentary thriller is fast-paced and gripping. I liked it as a detective story, and a road movie, and as everything else it was, because it's so much more. King paints affectingly the exhilaration of unexpected moments of human connection, and other poignant reminders of the sad state of modern-day interaction.
It's full of cheeky, fun, clever uses of language and tasty characters. I can see it working really well on the big screen should we be lucky enough to see an adaptation. The world building was immediate, natural and effective. Terrifying parallels with our own reality. The ending was very satisfying, which is a big thing to say of any story, though I was hungry for an extension of time in this world when I finished reading.
I went off reading for a while because I was only reading things I thought I 'should', like old classics, and this was just what I needed to reignite my enthusiasm for new stories. Fun, thought-provoking, insightful and poignant. And fun. Looking forward to a second read, and to sharing it with my friends and family.
This social-media-social-commentary thriller is fast-paced and gripping. I liked it as a detective story, and a road movie, and as everything else it was, because it's so much more. King paints affectingly the exhilaration of unexpected moments of human connection, and other poignant reminders of the sad state of modern-day interaction.
It's full of cheeky, fun, clever uses of language and tasty characters. I can see it working really well on the big screen should we be lucky enough to see an adaptation. The world building was immediate, natural and effective. Terrifying parallels with our own reality. The ending was very satisfying, which is a big thing to say of any story, though I was hungry for an extension of time in this world when I finished reading.
I went off reading for a while because I was only reading things I thought I 'should', like old classics, and this was just what I needed to reignite my enthusiasm for new stories. Fun, thought-provoking, insightful and poignant. And fun. Looking forward to a second read, and to sharing it with my friends and family.
August 19, 2015
A few months ago somebody on Radio 5 asked listeners what they missed about the nineties. Immediately I thought, "Walking at a normal speed, rather than being forced into a slower pace because the person in front of me was glued to the screen of their mobile phone, checking their social media app of choice for whatever updates had been posted since the last time they blinked."
Alexander King's début takes this obsession, reliance and need, together with an insightful view of how all those updates could be (probably are) being used by big companies to further mould our lives and habits and mixes in influences from gumshoe detective novels, Mad Max, SF action thrillers and a bit of Cyberpunk (not too much, thankfully - it's not a genre I have ever really got on with) into a darkly funny, satirical, thought-provoking and entertaining novel.
It might be slight, nowhere near the doorstep-sized volumes of much modern SF, but King fits a lot into its length and the pace never lets up, meaning I read it in one sitting, while on holiday and yet never once felt short-changed. About the only thing missing was somebody walking into a lamppost while staring at their wrist, but perhaps that's just my wishful thinking...
Alexander King's début takes this obsession, reliance and need, together with an insightful view of how all those updates could be (probably are) being used by big companies to further mould our lives and habits and mixes in influences from gumshoe detective novels, Mad Max, SF action thrillers and a bit of Cyberpunk (not too much, thankfully - it's not a genre I have ever really got on with) into a darkly funny, satirical, thought-provoking and entertaining novel.
It might be slight, nowhere near the doorstep-sized volumes of much modern SF, but King fits a lot into its length and the pace never lets up, meaning I read it in one sitting, while on holiday and yet never once felt short-changed. About the only thing missing was somebody walking into a lamppost while staring at their wrist, but perhaps that's just my wishful thinking...
October 25, 2014
I really liked this foray into sci fi - it's not my usual genre unless we're talking Douglas Adams type stuff. This book grabbed me from the outset, mostly due to the author's tone, as well as some lovely characterisation. I've basically fallen in love with Henry and was sad to get to the end - it's a fast, pacey, fun and tightly plotted story with more sci fi tropes than you could shake a stick at. But it's also very well written and satisfyingly finished off. Definitely recommended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews