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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating story!, February 10, 2001
After reading Burn, a book billed as science fiction noir, written by Jonathan Lyons, I had to reread the author bio at the beginning to be sure that this really is his first novel. With a strong narrative voice and fascinating story, Lyons writes like an old pro and as anyone who reads or writes science fiction will tell you, that's no small accomplishment for this genre. Burn is a good old fashioned, hardboiled detective novel set in a dreary future New York. Cage is a private eye on the downside of his luck and life. He's a former police officer who was discharged and humiliated for pushing too far on a case controlled by the most powerful entity in America, Expedite Corp. Expedite and the men who run it bear an eerie resemblance to a current corporate superpower (hint: think Gates) and can make or break not only other companies but the private lives of everyone in the country. The setting of the novel is very Blade Runner-esque, with perpetual darkness and a never-ending drizzle of acid rain. The streets are run by organized gangs of net savvy punks who are smarter than your average hack and more deadly than a pack of trained ninjas. It's a depressing, dangerous place to live, to say the least. Enter Janice Gild, the grieving sister of James Gild, an accomplished techno wizard who was found mysteriously burned to death in his apartment. It appears to be a case of spontaneous combustion, though Cage isn't quite ready to buy into that theory. Cage searches for answers, only to come up with other apparently unlinked cases of spontaneous combustion. Jonny Cache, a former pleasure robot who was rebuilt into a free thinking cyber babe, is on a similar case that will eventually lead to their teaming up with one another. Together, they must find the common thread between all of the victims and come face to face with the most powerful force in the world, Expedite. This novel has it all. A great setting, intrigue, sex, fights, hover cars, bad cops and paranoid net pirates. Lyons paints a wonderful image of this future reality and really knows his stuff when it comes to the technological aspect of a population linked to a cyber world. Jonny Cache is a character deserving of her own series of books. She's beautiful, super smart and can kick some serious tail. Her friends and partners, Yin and Yang-Angelique, lovers who have united themselves in body, mind and spirit with the help of future technology and genetics, are some of the strangest, most memorable characters I've ever come across. Burn is that rare combination of great science fiction and bare bones private dick suspense. This was a surprisingly great read and I look forward to more from Mr. Lyons. I also want to take a moment to praise the aesthetic quality of the hardcover edition of the book itself. Domhan Books, a small publishing company, has created a quality product. In fact, I'm going to their web-site to discover some more new voices in the writing field.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent novel!, September 29, 2000
A futuristic work with sophisticated themes of capitalism in its final stages of thuggism and the globe in its final stages of life. Mr. Lyons keeps the future from unraveling us 21st-century-bound readers with old-fashioned suspense, corruption, murder, and a noir detective that has maintained a decent heart beneath the environment's and the society's murk.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous, October 20, 2000
Mr. Lyons has written an intricate and fascinating novel -- one which blends the genre of science fiction and (classic) detective novels in a cascading and intriguing blend of narrative structures, plot twists, and genre (and gender)-bending. As one who is not really prone to enjoy either run-of-the-mill detective or science fiction novels, I was fascinated by how well they work together with Lyons seemlessly intertwining the two in a way that supercedes "static" genre catagories. While on the one hand, genre distinctions should be "rules meant to be broken," few have the skill to attempt this (preferring the safer, more economical route of stand-by, tried-and-true methods of narrative). Lyons, on the other hand, blends these two genres remarkably well and shows that science fiction can be complicated, political, technological, and mature -- all at the same time. This book is both a thought-provoking political critique and a "page-turning thiller." I could not recommend it more highly.
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