The Metal Within: A Cyberpunk Novel

by Len Gizinski

Overview

Within the dark shadows of a dystopian future, Jack is a street-smart pastor of a small church in an urban ghetto. But when the local street gang defends their turf from well-funded outsiders willing to sacrifice the entire population for profit and power, he is forced to deal with ghosts from the past he had abandoned years ago. Corey and Sue are thrown together when an outlaw motorcycle gang destroys their hometowns. Uniting to endure the lawless mayhem, the bond developing between them may help them overcome the trauma of their flight - if they survive. Josanne and Melissana are friends from opposite sides of the tracks; Josanne's Dad provided everything, while Melissana was thrown out of a broken home by the father who liked to do the breaking. The enigmatic Johnny has a name but no traceable past. So lucky he seems skilled or so skilled he appears lucky, neither his luck nor his skill has provided what he's really searching for.

    Each is targeted for recruitment by an elite government agency founded as a last-ditch effort to covertly protect its citizens from what the U.S. has become by fielding autonomous teams of cybernetic agents. But implanted ultratech alone won't ensure the safety of the fledgling team; they need a leader. But the best person to lead them is a jaded former agent haunted by tragedy and setbacks of his own...

    Together they must overcome their pasts as well as their present fears, doubts, suspicions, and ultimately, the threat to an entire city.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798987861332
Publisher:	Raincoast Book Distribution
Publication date:	10/13/2023
Series:	CYBER Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	338
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Len Gizinski is a long-time science fiction/fantasy fan and a Christian whose background includes military and corporate security, information technology, and local church and street ministry. He enjoys time with family, reading, writing, and bicycling the area of his Pacific Northwest home. He can be contacted via https://www.PolestarPress.net.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Excerpt from a College History Class in 2048 ...ix

Part 1: Parallel Progression ................................1

Part 2: Convergence ...................................... 153

Part 3: Synchronization ...................................253

Part 4: Execution ............................................ 321

EPILOGUE ......................................................397

Editorial Reviews

10/02/2023

Gizinski’s epic debut bursts with vicious gangs, corporate skullduggery, and much vivid vehicular mayhem in a future fallen America where cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more often pack “firepower almost equivalent to 20th century tanks.” But, for all that, it may surprise readers with its sense of hope. It’s been years since the grain blight, the Iranian missile attacks, and the devastating-on-their-own impact of climate change ravaged American civilization. Gizinski introduces a diverse cast of perspective characters facing their individual problems, such as preacher Jack, ministering to gang members and trying to track down a deadly new street drug, and detective/hacker Melissana, hired to investigate potential infidelity on the part of Justin Martinez, the megacorporation researcher whose algae-synthesized food has earned him the nickname “The Man Who Saved the World.”

Corey and Sue, meanwhile, are on the run after escaping and humiliating Iron Mike and his Street Jackals, who soon lay siege to the Fortress Town of Hagerstown, Maryland. Outside occasional dense and repetitive passages of description, especially involving Jack, Gizinski’s story charges ahead like Corey’s Sabretooth, a next-gen muscle car rocking “twin .30 caliber machine guns and a vehicular grenade launcher.” In the novel’s first half, these and other characters’ stories occasionally edge against each other. But after Jack’s efforts to clean up the streets without violence lead to disaster, the threads begin to tie together: this is an ambitious team-origin story, with a big, warm heart amid all the explosions and cybernetic modifications.

The action has high stakes, originality, and convincing crunch, and Gizinski develops tension across his setpieces, often building to jolting reversals. Characters connect in appealing ways, though the dialogue doesn’t always sound credible, especially the strained patois of the street gangs, who say things like “Believe me, Preach. If Scissors knew who was punkin’ that drek into our turf they’d be dead by now.” Still, readers eager for apocalyptic car wars with surprising street-preacher warmth will find much here that appeals.

Takeaway: Exciting vehicular mayhem in a fallen future America, with a sense of hope and faith.

Comparable Titles: Richard K. Morgan’s Market Forces, Walter Jon Williams’s Hardwired.

Production grades Cover: B+ Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: B Marketing copy: A-

BookLife Reviews