James K. Decker

Well written, original – shades of Blade Runner – a futuristic thriller rather than straight SF, excellent world-building.
Sam is the female protagonist in this sci-fi story of a future Earth. There aren’t resources enough to feed the over-populated planet; food is often a black market currency, the homeless and criminals are rendered into the illegal and vilified “Scrapcake”. An alien ship crashes into the Earth, the (seemingly) fragile Haan trade technology for food, promising to bring humans (specifically the Chinese, as that’s where they landed) up to their level. A human/haan surrogate system is established and our heroine Sam is a supporter, giving her a closer connection to the alien race.
Sam’s adoptive dad uncovers collusion between some of the military and the Haan Queen. Secrets and conspiracies come to the surface, Sam is no longer sure of whom she can trust, much of what is history/common knowledge are seen to be lies. All lead to an rush of an ending with twists that leave you glad this is the start of a series.
… (más)

Pros: great protagonist, fascinating world, interesting aliens, complex plot

Cons: minor plot complaints, Sam survives a LOT of dangerous situations without injury

Though months have passed since the events that took place in Shiliuyuan station, Sam Shao is still haunted by what she saw there and what she knows Sillith’s virus is doing to the people of her city. She wants to expose the truth of the alien haan, what they really look like and have been doing, and so has teamed up with some other dissidents to help expose the aliens’ true form. But there are a lot of new problems: Alexei is enamoured with the new Gonzo religion that worships the haan, there are hundreds of missing people, and some of her allies want to take their protests to a new, violent level.

The Burn Zone ended with several revelations that deeply affect Sam. This book starts with her dealing with the fall out of what happened, even though some time has passed.

She’s a great protagonist. She’s been through some horrible stuff and is quite tough because of it. That does make it difficult for her to progress in her relationships. She’s kept Vamp at a distance and her relationship with Alexei is combative, despite her love for her adopted brother. She’s dealing with a lot and so ignores some important clues that those around her need help and attention, which causes her problems as the action progresses.

The world is fully realized. It’s easy to picture the streets of Hangfei as Sam goes from place to place. There’s variety in the different neighbourhoods and a sense of history.

While you don’t learn much new about the haan, they continue to be mysterious. And the new haanyong - humans who have been ‘evolved’ into haan like creatures - are pretty scary.

The plot is really complex, though Sam does do a lot of running around to keep things moving. There’s a ton of action, though I was surprised at how many dangerous situations she walked away from without injury. I was also surprised by how naive she was about how people would react to seeing the true face of the haan.

While I predicted one aspect of the ending, several other things surprised me and I was left… unsure how I felt about Sam’s reaction to the various revelations.

It’s an entertaining book that will keep you turning pages.… (más)

I received this book through the Goodreads First Read Giveaway Program.

This was a terrific sci-fi story. Non-stop action, fantastic world building, and an intriguing story made this one of my favorites reads so far of the last couple of years. Our hero Sam is desperately trying to help the man who is like a father to her. She has to outwit the law, the aliens, street hoods, whatever is thrown at her. She's scrawny, hungry, crazy smart, and maybe a bit of a drug addict. Whatever. You want her on your side in a fight.

Decker built a fantastically real and compelling world. Decker's characters are gritty, funny, sexy, and brave. I even liked the elevator AIs that throw ads at whomever is in the elevator; this is seriously targeted advertising too--IM bots could learn a lot from these AIs.

I would love to read more stories in this setting.… (más)

James Decker - aka James Knapp - can write one hell of a good story.

First of all, let me remind y'all, it's been almost a year since I read The Burn Zone. There are times when I read a book yet even though I am so impressed by it, I will delay writing a review for NO Good Reason. I read this long ago, and when I finished it, it kept echoing in my mind. That's a pretty good book. Now let's see if I can remember enough to write a coherent review.

Set in the future, and in Asia, life has become...hard to live. Most of the masses are living hand to mouth, eating some kind of nutrient cake made of some kind of insect byproduct (gross, right?). One of the reasons people are so poor and food challenged, is that a huge spaceship landed in a section of a city, instantly killing millions of people - and one of the results is a treaty between the nation and the spaceship occupants to divert a percentage of food to the aliens as well as provide women surrogates for their young. It's complicated, and much more to the story, but the Haan (the aliens) are supposed to be fragile.

So - there are people who tolerate the Haan, and others who would rather seem them disappear. This plays a part later in the story.

One of the women taking part in the incubation/foster - Sam Shao has started life out in difficult circumstances. Seems there are these meat providers who aren't particular about what kind of meat they provide - she was saved at the last minute by a cop, who later adopted her. When the story starts, she's been living with him for a while, he's away on a trip, and she's just coming home and is taking care of her haan baby. He barely comes home when their apartment is raided, cops are there to arrest her father. Since she's been enhanced to sense the haan infant needs, she also is able to sense things about one of the cops - and it seems like this cop is actually a not so fragile Haan.

She escapes the raid, and is on the run for pretty much the rest of the book. One of her goals is to find her father, who has disappeared into the depths of ....where ever prisoners end up when they're so expedient. There's a conspiracy afoot.

Besides the main plot, Decker has weaved a pretty rich atmosphere - future gadgets, like motorcycles that can fly, space travel, air travel, computer whizzes, one who is a friend to Sam, a crowded city full of people who cannot be trusted and danger at every turn. Sam has to stay clear of meat slavers and from the police who seem to be able to find her wherever she goes. Despite seemingly hopeless odds, Sam begins to make a little headway into the mystery of why her father - a respected cop - is being accused of treason and where he ends up. She takes a huge risk attempting to rescue her father and finds way more than she ever dreamed. There's much more to the conspiracy than she suspected.

Everything about this story works - the setting, the aliens, the creepy people, the disgusting black market human meat thing, the dialog, betrayal.....it's all packaged in a hell of a novel. The cover notes that it's part of the Burn Zone series, so I am hoping to read more of this story. A very enjoyable and at times disturbing read.… (más)