The Big Wheel

by Scott Archer Jones

Robko Zlata is sprinting across America, on the run with a call girl-his ex-wife-on a hot red motorcycle. Robko is a thief, and he has stolen the wrong thing, a device that can guarantee immortality. His wrathful target, a corrupt billionaire politician, wants the world's greatest piece of technology back. Robko's new worst enemy unleashes his fortune and corporate security in unrelenting pursuit. "Golden Boy" Thomas Steward is asked to follow the money and uncover the thief with massive illegal surveillance. Thomas, morphing into his prey, becomes the most dangerous of hunters. But Thomas could die too. A gang of ex-mercenaries, good at killing, torture, and rape, are hot on the heels of Robko and Thomas. The thugs are ready to murder anyone who knows about the immortality device. Throw in the underground world of thieves and billionaires, drugs and punk clubs, five-star hotels and cheap motels, and Robko and Thomas are in for one hell of a crash. As in the best of plots, nothing here is as it seems. Scott Jones is always fun to read, and The Big Wheel is engrossing, unpredictable, and fast-paced, a twenty-first century morality play. So grab yourself a drink, settle into your easy chair, open the book, and begin. You're home for the evening. You won't stop until it's over. John Dufresne, No Regrets, Coyote

274 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2015

Reviews

[Jim Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Archer Jones's The Big Wheel is part cyberpunk dystopian thriller, part corporate espionage thriller. It's also an interesting study of the search for identity.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed By Ray Simmons

The Big Wheel by Scott Archer Jones is set in the year 2020. The Big Wheel starts with a robbery. It's an excellently described piece of corporate burglary by a likable thief named Robko Zlata. Robko is the first of a host of great characters that Scott Archer Jones scatters throughout The Big Wheel. Robko's heist is what brings these characters out of the woodwork and on a collision course with each other. This is science fiction in the Cyber Punk vein, but you could run into any of these characters in a boardroom or back alley in any major city today. I think this is what I liked most about The Big Wheel. We go from corridors of nearly unimaginable wealth and power to places where the dregs of society hang out and the characters and dialogue always ring true. The Big Wheel is a very entertaining story, but it also made me wonder if we are ready for some of the wonders technology is about to hand us.

I really liked The Big Wheel. It's a great book. I can't say that for every book I review. Sometimes I just don't really get into a book, even if it is well written and doesn't have many flaws. I picked it up on a weekend when I had some time and it really worked out for me because I couldn't put it down. It is a quick, quirky little piece of literature and I will be looking for Scott Archer Jones' name any time I'm in a bookstore from now on.

[William Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast paced story that was extremely well written. I liked the main character, Robko and his quirky pill-popping, thievery laden life he leads. His love interest, Sibyl, is fascinating in her own right and together they make interesting seem boring.

I liked the premise of the story and how it was interwoven together, but I struggled with some of the moves made in the story and how it played out. I was waiting for the twist, but it never came. Although it was intriguing, there is an element of predictability that left me wanting a bit more out of the story.

[Terri Gerrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, unexpected and intriguing

[Kyle Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A futuristic action/thriller with a couple of ethically-challenged characters leading the charge. But they're underdogs, so we cheer for them. Most of the time. In fact, everything is fairly corrupt in the future, and it doesn't seem like you can trust anybody (or can you?) so you could see this story as a commentary on societal evolution as well as a warning about the dangers of certain technologies. The characters hurtle through the obstacles - and there are many - and reveal interesting things about themselves along the way. The language and descriptions incorporate a flair of futurespeak, which is plainly set before you to figure out (a la Neuromancer); I much prefer this to the endless exposition that some futuristic stories heap upon you. The end was quite unexpected but still tied things up enough to feel like a good ending.

If you like a lot of twists and turns and a surprising climax, you need to read this!

[Angel Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robko had been in the building and the Gray Man had just got the power off for the first of four times to give Robko a chance to do what he had to do to pull the theft off. The day before he had been in the apartment with the Gray Man going over everything one last time. Stealing something so big from Governor O'Brien was both lucrative and and dangerous. The Gray man had told Robko that has been a year long job with months of surveillance. They have to bypass four levels of security to get in O'Brien's office. Then Robko while in the vault finds a box with a lot of crystals that he figures he can keep that the Gray Man does not have to know about. This could get Robko killed by the Gray Man or O’Brien but he decides to chance it. Thomas had a call from the Governor assistant 10:00 AM . Thomas was was at his job working with another company when he said something came up and they would have to meet again at another time. When he got to O'Brien's empire his secretary told Thomas there had been a big robbery the night before. The had lost some intelligence of great value. It was another round of problem solving for the Governor. Then the CEO had Thomas go to the table to sit. Dan the head of security was there and Lefarge who had handled some tricky stuff for the Governor before was there. Don showed Thomas the list of stolen items.Then Thomas was asked by O’Brien what he thought. Thomas told him to follow the trail of the money. Thomas said he knew of a firm that can follow disappearing money through the banks and determine who owns the accounts. The company moves fast and had some not so legal contacts. Don was to call the company but Thomas added to let them know it’s Thomas Stewart on behalf of Dennis O’Brien. Thomas also said if they don’t have names they do have characteristics and that will make the thieves more predictable. Lefarge went over what they could already figure out about the thieves. There was a limited number of people who would be able to do this. This tells them the mastermind is known in the business. Also the mastermind is willing to take on anything. O'Brien said he wanted a name, a location, and his date back all of it. Then they told O’brien he had to decide whether to hand the answers over to the cops or have his own extraction team. O’Brien told Thomas the had all the data . but also the memory device with O’Brien’s total finances on it. The rest of the memory devices were political . they document who O’Brien owns and how much he paid. There was another thing stolen and O’Brien wanted Thomas and only Thomas to take personal responsibility for getting back. The device stolen was the greatest artifact ever produced and there was only three made until last night O’Brien had controlled all three. It was a new form of data storage . it can be used to store all the things that make up a man.It can download into new computers to form artificial intelligence based upon man. It can be used to archive and search the greatest minds of the world. It can be used to download a man’s mind into another human host. The Governor had the stored device in him. Thomas said he would give it his best shot. Thomas says he needs access to O’Brien and reports from both teams day and night, also he needed any resource he asked for. He also said he wanted Ryan Heavers to come behind him and take over the acquisition Thomas had been working on. O’Brien agreed. Robko figured O’Brien didn’t report the theft when he seen or heard nothing about on in the newspaper or from the media. Angie was to be Thomas’s assistant throughout his mission. O’Brien’s people came up with the nickname of The Gray man as the probable mastermind. He was highly respected in the underworld, had never been caught, and his people were seldom arrested.
This was a good book to read if you are into corporate power and political corruption. I am not but this story did hold my interest and I did finish it. It had a complicated plot but the story was complicated. It was fast paced for the most part but at least for me some of the story dragged some. The writing was also great especially since i mistakenly picked this book but did have interest in it. It was suspenseful and had a lot of intrigue. It explained completely how detailed the robbery was and how much and went into it and I liked that. Also all Robko had to do and the time frame he had. I was however waiting for a twist and there just wasn’t one and that surprised me and not really in a good way. So all and all an interesting story I liked the ins and outs and I recommend.