Customer Reviews

The Electric Church

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

For some reason, I can't say that Jeff Somers' The Electric Church piqued my curiosity when I received the ARC. A few weeks later, as I was looking for something not too bulky to bring along for my trip to NYC and DC, I decided to give this Orbit USA launch title a shot. The story was occurring in New York City, which sort of made it apropos.

I started reading this action-packed novel on the eve of my departure, and I would have read The Electric Church till the wee hours of the night had I not had an early plane to catch. I was immediately sucked into this cyberpunk/noir science fiction tale.

An explosive near-future thriller in which Kill Bill meets Blade Runner -- that's how they sum up this book on the back cover of the ARC. I figure that's as good a description as any!

Avery Cates is a Gunner -- a hitman. As if his life isn't complicated enough, he finds a way to screw up in spectacular fashion when he kills a cop. From that point on, Cates is basically a dead man walking with the entire System Security Force on his trail. Somehow, Cates will dig himself an even deeper hole by killing more cops as he desperately attempts to save his own skin. Realizing that his miserable life has reached its expiration date, Cates will do the only thing that might see him survive. With no other alternatives this side of death, he will accept to kill someone for Director Richard Marin, of the SFF Department of Internal Affairs. His target: Dennis Squalor, founder and chief prophet of the Electric Church. The only problem is that, since Marin cannot be seen getting involved, Cates must face the SFF and the Monks of the Electric Church in order to succeed and possibly save his own life.

The worldbuilding is not your typical post-apocalyptic environment, though the premise is similar. About two decades in the past, the Riots were quelled rather violently, and every country on the planet is now part of the System of Federated Nation. Since Unification, the System Security Force, the corrupted military arm of the Joint Council, maintains order by taking lives instead of asking questions. It's an extremely gritty setting, and Somers' portrayal of near-future New York City and London is brilliant.

The characterization is the aspect that propels this story forward. First-person narratives can be tricky, especially when you're dealing with the POV of a disreputable criminal like Avery Cates. He's kind of a prick, no question, but it's impossible not to like him! As for his supporting cast, a more endearing band of misfits I would be hard-pressed to name!

The best characteristic of this novel remains its swift pace. Unlike most scifi books, which can be filled with numerous info dumps and slow-moving story arcs, The Electric Church reads like a thriller.

Jeff Somers shows that he has quite a few tricks up his sleeve. The addition of psionics was a nice touch that worked really well in the overall scheme of things. In addition, the whole premise behind the Monks, the Electric Church's converts, who abandon their flesh for enhanced robotic cyborg bodies with human minds, was quite fascinating. With eternal lifespans, they seek to achieve Salvation.

Jaded readers tired of the "same old" should definitely give Jeff Somers' The Electric Church a shot! As for me, it is with curiosity and eagerness that I will wait for the sequel, The King Worm.

Apart from Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth, this could well be Orbit USA's most interesting launch title. It will be released in a few weeks from now. . .

Set in a near future dystopian New York and London, this high-energy story pits mid-level hitman Avery Cates against the two most powerful forces in the quasi-fascist world. The first of these is the System Security Force (SSF), the totally tricked-out elite troops who keep the peace in the name of the System of Federated Nations. (If is the "SS" in their name reminds you of another group of elite soldiers, it's probably intentional.) Of course, in this class-stratified future, keeping the peace pretty much means keeping the plebes in line and protecting the wealth and health of the upper crust. They don't pay too much attention to small fry like Cates until one of his hits goes bad, and he kills an undercover SSF officer.

Alas, if you kill an SSF officer, all bets are off, and you're lucky if you live 24 hours. As it happens, Cates is incredibly lucky -- instead of being stomped into a pink puddle, he is made an offer he can't refuse and is directed to kill a very high profile target. This brings him up against a sinister religion known as The Electric Church, whose membership is growing at an exponential rate. The reason for its growth may lie in the wild rumors of forced conversion and brainwashing, rumors that Cates' new assignment will prove or dispel.

Jam-packed with fast and furious cinematic action, the book's real distinguishing feature is its colorful cast of characters. Cates assembles a team to help him -- including a weedy acquaintance with mysterious mental abilities, a British techie on the lam, and strange twin sisters specializing in transportation -- and then leads them to London for the big showdown. It's crucial in these kind of stories (or movies) that the hero be likable and his henchmen interesting. Cates, as the hitman with a heart of, well, silver if not gold, is charismatic and flawed enough to carry the story (until the end, when he kind of loses it), and the cast of supporting characters have enough personality and surprises to keep one interested. The overall effect is kind of comic-booky (not in a bad way), and while it's not exactly groundbreaking or earth-shattering stuff, it should fit the bill for those looking for an action-packed futuristic shoot-em-up.

It's original and the character is certainly interesting, but there are problems. The writer spends way too much time repeating his mantra about how tough the uber cops are and how corrupt the system is. He doesn't need to say after the first chapter. It would have saved time and been a better read for him to have just shown us his point instead of his endless repetition.

In a world of increasing interconnectedness the author didn't do a very credible job of explaining how the protagonist was able to slip through so many cracks. It seemed to me that the monks should have been much more adept at tracking him down. These are high tech scion, but they don't use cellular phones? 3 monks with blackberry's would have ended this story fast. On one hand the main character is able to dodge his foes with the help of his reliable deus ex machina, but the reasons his savior could help him should have made his detection easy.

The climax has a few plot holes concerning the security of the bad-guy installation. A supertech strong hold should have been harder to enter...harder to crack.

All in all the work is a good first effor that needed more editing, and a little more reveiw by someone who had more than a passing interest in technology. Any editor who read 3 issues of popular science, or even had paid attention inside a Best Buy, or read a sharper image catalog could have made this a truly great work.

Electric Church was a mediocre read, lacking depth, and character development, and most notably the development of our lead character from a hit man into a violent revolutionary. This is my primary concern, from one minute to the next we have a killer (with a heart of gold) suddenly transform himself into a revolutionary guerilla. There is very little development in this regard, at least not enough for our hero to morph that much.
Other than that, the novel isn't bad for a 1st time novelist & I enjoyed the near apocalyptic state of humanity.

Avery Cates is a professional hit man, but his latest kill in old Harlem angers him as his client's agent failed to provide key needed information. First the victim was probably a Systems Security Force (SSF) cop; second there was a child in the apartment. Avery knows the SSF elite Stormers and throwaway Crushers hunt for him for what he assumes is killing one of them, undercover Colonel Janet Hense. He also knows if they catch him the Stormers will set it up so that they can legally kill him in one of the illegal Old Manhattan dives or on the street fleeing.

Instead, the authorities want Avery to kill Dennis Squalor, the founder of the fastest growing religion the Electric Church. The government leaders know Squalor is a threat to their primogenitary power. He espouses the belief that an individual's life is too short to understand the universe as it takes eternity to do so. The faithful convert to invincible cyborgs with their brain inside; these Monks kill objectors. To get to Squalor he must get past protected by concentric circles of Monks, Avery needs a miracle; hell whatever he does he needs a miracle because he is caught between the Stormers and Crushers on one side, and the Monks on the other.

THE ELECTRIC CHURCH is an invigorating futuristic urban noir science fiction that grips the audience from the first fight in the East Side dive and never slows down as the antihero with ethics runs a gauntlet with the stake being his life. If he fails the authorities, they will kill him; if he goes after Squalor, they will convert him, which means they will kill him; if by some miracle he succeeds and kills Squalor, the authorities will kill him. Any way he sees it he sees his imminent death. Fans will want to walk on the wild side of Old New York as tour guide Jeff Somers provides a powerful thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The setting of this book is a dystopia full of have-nots scrounging to get by. Avery Cates is an assassin caught between the security forces that keep everyone under the thumb of the "system" and the "Electric Church": a cult religion of cyborg monks. The writing is nothing original, but quite readable and fast. I wouldn't expect a book with this much swearing and mayhem on every page to turn out sort of thoughtful, but I was pleasantly surprised. The protagonists are interesting (and in some cases likeable, perhaps despite the reader's better instincts). Their enemies include some interesting nut jobs.

The book could have been more nuanced if the bad guys had at least some redeeming characteristics, I mean, everyone must have some. There also must have been some sort of sequence of events that brought the "system" about; this is not fully explained. The ending is not completely satisfying but I think this is because the author is setting up for a sequel

No spoilers. As usual.

THE ELECTRIC CHURCH, by Jeff Somers, is a loose SF/Cyberpunk novel set in a post-apocalyptic near-future USA (and London). In this particular world, a new religion, The Electric Church, guarantees Salvation and Eternal Life...

...with a catch.

The followers of the church are all called Monks, and their method of conversion is (assuming you don't go willingly) murdering you, and implanting your brain in a robotic avatar. It is a cool concept in an otherwise action oriented novel. Our main character is Avery Cates, is a Gunner (aka. assassin and murderer). Our dear Gunner, Avery Cates, is hired to assassinate the leader of The Electric Church.

It's hard to go into too much detail on this novel without going into spoilerville, because really, the plot is pretty thin. This is a SF equivalent to your hack-n-slash fantasy novel. Lot's of guns blazing, lots of staring at people menacingly, but not a ton of content. However, THE ELECTRIC CHURCH is just the first book in a series, and there were enough small ideas that could be built on (hopefully) to make the next two novels better. Popcorn SF right here, folks. In all honesty, I could overlook the thinness of the plot just because it's nice to have an SF novel that doesn't take itself so seriously. You know what I'm talking about.

The one huge complaint I have? Language. Look, I'm not put off by swearing in a novel. But when you start questioning if you will read just ONE sentence without the F-word being dropped in it, it has gone overboard. I get it, Somers. You want to be gritty. But you know what? Language doesn't make a novel dark and gritty. The tone does. The events do. Adding this much language makes us lose sight of the small plot, and it is very distracting. With a tad more effort, and a more creative use of the English language, this book could have been amazing.

So, the positives? An extremely cool cover, a very solid (though not fleshed out enough) world and idea, and it is a really quick read (once again, this is nice for SF these days). The negatives? Avery Cates is pretty flat (Anti-heroes are great when they start questioning everything as opposed to just killing anything that moves. Hello? Character motivation is calling!), the swearing, and a fairly simple plot. After all is said-and-done, a lot of the more mature crowd will like this novel. I like a lot of what Somers did, and will read the next novels, but I was bothered by the bare-bones feeling the characters gave us. In all, this novel rides the line of "Books I Like" and "Books that are Mediocre." Hence, the 3 stars.

Recommended Age: 18 and up due to the language alone.
Language: WAY to much. It makes me wonder about Somers' grasp of the English language...seriously. You know those uneducated, social retards you come across once in a while, that let the F word comprise 50%, or more, of their sentence structure? It felt like every character in this book was one of those.
Violence: Yeah, but it really isn't as crazy as we thought it would be considering the main character is a violent killer.
Sex: Oddly no. With the inordinate amount of swearing in this book, obviously included for shock-value, I expected a number of graphic, shock-value sex scenes. Hurray for Somers that he at least got this one right.

Not a bad read, but not great. The initial idea is very clever, and had great potential, but was mostly wasted by the end. The book really needed the electric monks to be a little less ultimately trivial. Tries to mimic the style of Gibson etc. but just can't quite pull it off. Better luck next time.

Meh. Not the best book I've read in a long time. The concept behind the book is interesting but not hugely original. The chase and fight scenes are run-of-the-mill at best, and characters pop up at convenient times, and with no explanation, often enough that my suspension of disbelief was completely suspended.

If you don't know what "Deus Ex Machina" is then look it up and read this book. It's full of examples.

It's a classic "rag-tag group of criminals plan the ultimate heist" plot with very few surprises. It held my attention enough that I read the entire thing, but I don't recommend it.

The author's notes, and apparent self-interview at the end of the book, show that he thinks very highly of himself indeed.

As a fan of George Orwell, sci-fi buff, and one who loves having that edge-of-your-seat feeling as you're reading a book, and wondering what happens next--this book definitely delivers! It's about time!! Haven't seen a new book that kept me on the edge of my seat as much as this one! The man versus authority theme is played out at the forefront of this storyline, while other themes like man versus self, man versus machine, and man versus instituted religion, all begin to play out over the course of the book. It almost illustrates the horrors that arise when a police state and instituted religion begin to oppress the people, and is not that far off from the current path our society is on--which is somewhat disturbing, although I don't think an android will be running around, cracking people's heads anytime soon! Haha!;) Jeff Somers is an awesome author, whose work deserves more attention than it actually receives--and I look forward to reading more of his books! Read this book if you love classic suspense, and have a penchant for science fiction themes!