The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) [Paperback]

Jeff Somers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2009

Avery Cates is a wanted man. After surviving the worst bioengineered disaster in history, Cates finds himself incarcerated - in Chengara Penitentiary. As Chengara has a survival rate of exactly zero, the system's most famous gunner must do some serious plotting. And a betrayal or so later, he achieves his goal. At a price.

All he has to do now is defeat some new personal demons, forge some unlikely alliances, and figure out why the people he's killed lately just won't stay dead.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. After graduating college he wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey brought him back to his homeland. In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). The website for THE ELECTRIC CHURCH can be found at www.the-electric-church.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition (August 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031602211X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316022118
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. As a child he imagined he would be a brain surgeon, until a spirit-crushing experience convinced him that in order to be a brain surgeon he would have to actually attend school, work hard, and master basic mathematics. After a severe head trauma, he chose instead to write stories and learn the high art of cocktail mixing, and spent the next twenty years in a pleasant haze of fiction and booze.

After graduating college, Jeff drove cross-country and wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey (a delicious mixture of chromium, cut grass, and indolence) brought him back to his homeland in, where he got a job as an Editorial Assistant at a medical/science publisher in New York City. Most experts agree that this is likely where the young man went insane.

In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). His first novel "Lifers" was published in 2001, his second "The Electric Church" is coming in September 2007 from Orbit Books, and he's also had stories published in many magazines, most of which regret the connection. His story "Ringing the Changes" was chosen for "Best American Mystery Stories 2006".

He currently lives in Hoboken, NJ, with his lovely wife Danette and their plump, imperious cats Pierre, Guenther and Oliver. Jeff insists the cats would be delicious.

In-between all this and writing too, Jeff plays chess and staves off despair with cocktails.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Return to Form for Somers, September 28, 2009

By 

The Czar of Arkansas (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) (Paperback)

While I thought that The Electric Church was one of the best recent science fiction works I've read, I felt that the follow-up book, The Digital Plague, was less than fulfilling. Jeff Somers has returned to form, however, in the third installment of the Avery Cates series, The Eternal Prison.

Avery Cates is back in The Eternal Prison, which takes place soon after end of the digital plague from the second book. The cops and the army are fighting it out for control of society. Cates, the anti-hero hitman, gets pinched by the cops and thrown into Chengara, a prison specially developed for "people of interest" like himself. Cates has to use all of his wits to stay alive, and staying alive means breaking out.

The action moves along briskly in The Eternal Prison and avoids most of the exposition that slowed down The Digital Plague. Cates always has a new set of associates, since being a Cates associate tends to dramatically reduce life expectancy, but some old familiar faces also are in the mix. The new characters are woven into the story well and are, for the most part, more interesting than most of the new faces from The Digital Plague.

Probably the best thing about this entry in the series, apart from Somers' pacing, are the changes in Avery Cates. He's famous, he's tough, but as things continue to slide downhill, Cates begins to wonder if fighting is even worth the bother, especially if things look like they'll turn out the same way in the end. Or, if he goes on, for what purpose? Cates works through the questions in Cates fashion, simply but directly, without Somers turning him into some fountain of metaphysical mess.

It's a great installment, a return to the tight pacing of The Electric Church, and the central character is revitalized as something more than a stereotype. The Eternal Prison is definitely worth your time and money.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet another entertaining addition to the Avery Cates saga!, September 3, 2009

By 

Z. R. Murray (MT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) (Paperback)

As the third, and most recent, addition to the continuing Avery Cates serious The Eternal Prison doesn't dissappoint. If you haven't yet read the first two novels featuring Avery Cates, The Electric Chuch and The Digital Plague, I would suggest you pick them up first before tackeling the Eternal Prison. It's not exactly necessary that you've read the first two, but it will definitely make the experience as a whole more enjoyable.

The Eternal Prison picks up where The Digital Plague left off, as we once again follow Avery in his exploits as one of the systems most feared and well known gunners. As this story picks up we find Avery struggeling to carry on in a life where he has lost nearly everything he held dear, and nothing seems to be going the way he planned it. In all honesty the only thing he seems to have going for him this time around is a large amount of yen, though it takes a mountain of it to buy anything with all the termoil. It's funny because he's not so much afraid of getting killed as he is of having an unsatisfactory death after all he's been through.

In the end the Eternal Prison is a fast-paced story that creates a perfect mix of action and even a few unexpected plot twists, though looking back there were plenty of hints. It can be a bit confusing as you first start, but just give it time and have faith in Somers writing skills. By the end of the novel all will be made clear and it's definitely a ride worth taking!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Eternal Prison, August 22, 2010

By 

R. Shaffer (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This being the 3rd installment of the Avery Cates series I was a bit worried about not having read any of the other Avery Cates books. "The Eternal Prison" stands on it's own but there are references to characters and events of the past. So reading them in order may be a good idea but not necessary.

Jeff Somers creates a future world where humans are still corrupt and violent and fighting for power, and technology has advanced with scary realism. Where people get their brains digitized and uploaded into avatars and humans get augments to became part machine.

Avery Cates is a gunner (gun for hire), he's great character that you can't help but like and pull for, he's a survivor. In a fight you would want him on your side (and he is usually in a fight).

Jeff Somers is an intelligent and entertaining writer that will keep you flipping pages. I will be reading the rest of the Cates series and I recommend that you do too.

The only note of caution would be language, there is a lot of foul language but the characters would be less real without it.