Some Original Ideas for a Sci-Fi Thriller
4 out of 5 stars
The Punch Escrow is about teleportation and the good and bad that it has brought the world. The good is that you no longer have to wait in traffic or really wait to go anywhere. The bad….? Well, read more and find out what you think.
It feels kind of weird to say this, but I’ve never read more of a solid 4-star book in my life. It definitely kept my attention and was interesting through parts, but there were other parts that either confused me or weren’t written in an easy to follow way. Now, I’m not expecting it to be a YA book or anything, but it seems like Klein wrote some parts to be purposefully confusing.
Klein is a talented author developing a bustling world far into the future that he was able to make feel “reasonably close” by making his protagonist a fan of the 1980’s. Being born in the 80’s and enjoying all things 80’s culture, the references (both chapter titles and numerous others inside the book) made me smile and also helped to ‘ground’ the book in my opinion.
I loved the world that Klein created and I felt like it was believable. The actual story was good too but had a few holes. I understood what I was supposed to feel, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel the way that I think I was supposed to. I have a feeling if this book really makes you feel that way you would absolutely love it. But, because I felt okay about most things that were happening, it lost a little for me.
Overall it was an enjoyable Technothriller that I see is being made into a movie. I will see the movie just to see how much of the book they are able to get into the screenplay.
Book Description:
It’s the year 2147. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging. We’ve genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport—a secretive firm headquartered in New York City. Their slogan: Departure… Arrival… Delight!
Joel Byram, our smartass protagonist, is an everyday twenty-fifth century guy. He spends his days training artificial intelligence engines to act more human, jamming out to 1980’s new wave—an extremely obscure genre, and trying to salvage his deteriorating marriage. Joel is pretty much an everyday guy with everyday problems—until he’s accidentally duplicated while teleporting.
Now Joel must outsmart the shadowy organization that controls teleportation, outrun the religious sect out to destroy it, and find a way to get back to the woman he loves in a world that now has two of him.
The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein
Narrator: Matthew Mercer
Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
Published by Audible Studios on July 25th 2017
Genres: Technothriller
Pages: 333
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
About the Author:
Tal M. Klein, author and musician, was born in Israel, grew up in New York, and currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and two daughters. When she was five years old, his daughter Iris wrote a book called I’m a Bunch of Dinosaurs that went on to become one of the most successful children’s book projects on Kickstarter –something that Tal explained to Iris by telling her, “your book made lots of kids happy.” Iris then asked Tal, “Daddy, why don’t you write a book that makes lots of grownups happy?” Tal mulled this over for a few years, and eventually wrote his first book, The Punch Escrow. It won the Inkshares Geek & Sundry Hard Science Fiction publishing contest, and was the first book published on Legendary Entertainment’s Geek & Sundry imprint. The film rights for The Punch Escrow have been acquired by Lionsgate. James Bobin (Flight of The Conchords, The Muppets) has been attached to adapt and direct.
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