New Pacific (Paperback)

~ G. Miki Hayden (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Set in the not-too-distant future, New Pacific gives a frighteningly possible picture of what the new global order of things might well become. Can one corporate underling—an investigator set to finding a missing scientist—make any difference in what happens within humanity’s brave new world?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The door led them into an office and lifeless lab. Nothing appeared to be going on in this important location; no occupants breathed this stale, long-dead air. Najita glanced around as if he himself were still curious about the contents of an unknown spot. Then he looked at Takashi without bringing himself to break his silence and announce their purpose here. "Whose lab is it?" prodded Takashi. "Dr. Sato. You probably haven't heard of him. But what he's working with... Well, you'll see. Come into the other room and we'll open the locked box. ... was working with, I ought to have said." Najita disappeared behind another door with Takashi following. The lights blinked on, and for a minute Takashi thought that nothing was in here. Then he saw what appeared to be a deep freezer case, a metal meat locker such as those once found in butcher shops. This latch, too, had a combination, which Najita entered twice. He swung the handle of the box out to disclose its contents. Takashi jerked back in a moment of horror. Inside the refrigeration unit lay two human heads. But the heads, though disembodied, were not dead. Curious eyes stared straight into the young man's eyes, as he prevented himself from recoiling once again. The cold emanating from the receptacle assailed him as if it were the breath of its residents. Takashi sighed but didn't cry out. "Interesting," he observed impartially. "Interesting," one of the heads said in turn. "Don't just stand there." "Terribly." Najita shut and again secured the icy vault in place. "The temperature is kept at minus 50 American. I don't think it's necessary, but... no, I'll explain in a minute. Let's go back into Dr. Sato's office and sit down." "Where is Dr. Sato, anyway?" asked Takashi, looking around the office and taking the visitor's chair, while Najita seated himself at the master computing station. "Oh yes, indeed. That's part of the question." Najita sounded a note of mock bemusement. Takashi pointed his head in the direction of the security chief. Since he had been brought up in a former enclave of the Japanese empire, not all his habits were quite Japanese, but he had learned not to look at a superior directly. He focused on the console beside his boss. "What were those...things...in there?" he inquired quietly. "Yes, yes, that, too." Najita booted up the puter and began to idly thumb through the stored files--one of those security habits that Takashi, too, practiced when the occasion arose. "We don't know where Dr. Sato is right this minute," Najita continued. "One of the things I'd like you to do would be to find him. And going back to the issue of implants that we raised before, think how easy it would be to uncover our subject today, if he had an imprint inside his tissues. Yes, an embedded can be surgically removed, but it would have given us an edge in locating him when he first disappeared." "Which was?" "Five days ago--or maybe before. Oh, yes, probably. During the holidays, he wasn't expected to show up at work--although during previous days off, he liked to check in, watch over his 'experiments.' But not this time." Najita paused, lost in his own personal reverie, his big hands still mechanically roving over the keyboard in front of him. "Defection?" asked Takashi. "Or a kidnapping."

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Silver Lake Publishing (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931095809
• ISBN-13: 978-1931095808
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,546,255 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read...!, March 24, 2004

By	Christopher Belton (Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan) - See all my reviews

An excellent book that provides us with a wonderful sequal to Pacific Empire. It is set in the (not-too-distant) future in a time when governments are superfluous and huge conglomerates have total control. The New World Order sets out to eradicate poverty and ensure that the entire population of the world is clothed, fed and accommodated, but there are some people who dream back to a time when things were less regulated. Takashi Tanizaki is one of these people; he just doesn't realize it yet. Originally dedicated, loyal and hard-working as he climbs his way up the corporate ladder, Takashi's world is thrown into turmoil when his brother becomes a thorn in the side of Morimoto, Takashi's own company. But Takashi's problems don't end there. Betrayed by clones and not knowing who he can trust, Takashi's own destiny becomes intricately tied in with the future of Morimoto in a wonderful twist that ingeniously links back to Ms. Hayden's earlier work, Pacific Empire; although not having read PE will in no way detract from the enjoyment of the story.

But the real joy of New Pacific lies in the evocative prose. Ms. Hayden writes with a lean, economic hand, and has a rare talent for stimulating the imagination of the reader into believing that she has provided more information than she actually has. At 179 pages the book is comparatively short, but having finished it, I felt as if I had just completed one of the fullest novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. A must-read for anyone who demands quality in their literature.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced and suspenseful look at the future, February 22, 2004

By A Customer

In a future world where big corporations have taken over the role of big government, Tanizaki Takashi finds himself a pawn in a dangerous game that takes him all over the world, and to the moon. An underdog trying to stay one step ahead of devious corporate powers, Takashi's eyes are opened, and his basic beliefs challenged in his travels. G. Miki Hayden's lyrical prose and thought-provoking ideas kept me turning the pages and rooting for her hero.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New World Order or Nightmare: New Pacific, February 4, 2005

By	Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews

New Pacific
By G. Miki Hayden
Silver Lake Publishing
www.silverlakepublishing.com
2004
ISBN # 1-931095-80-9
Large Trade Paperback
$13.95 US

Kevin R. Tipple (c) 2005

"A society that depended on companies for its daily sustenance could not mandate restrictions in those companies." (Page 28)

Years ago, when I was a teenager and thought I knew it all, a certain domestic car company produced a car that they knew would detonate and kill passengers when struck from behind during an accident. That a certain number of people would die was considered acceptable by this company as a cost of doing business. Such a concept is the theme behind this highly disturbing, yet very enjoyable novel penned by G. Miki Hayden.

In this not too distant future, the NEW WORLD ORDER has actually come to pass. Along with the effects of a steadily increasing population and global warming, large monolithic corporations have completely replaced governments. National boundaries and interests no longer exist and instead, corporations ensure peace and stability worldwide while taking care of all. Those that die, beyond those that die from natural aging, do so due to accidental technology glitches and the survivors are well paid. The world is a controlled safe place but dissent and freedom still simmer in mankind.

For Tanizaki Takashi, those issues do not exist, as he is a small part of the huge corporation known as Moritomo and acutely aware of his place in it. Summoned to Singapore by his supervisor, Najita, he goes and follows rigid protocol. His role is what it is and Najita reminds him of that repeatedly before assigning him the task of finding a missing scientist, Dr. Sato. Dr. Sato has created a living weapon system that could be targeted to a number of variables including, a person's age, gender, race, etc. Dr. Sato may have taken a part of it with him and they want their property, both Dr. Sato and his weapon system, returned to them.

Takashi begins the hunt, which will lead him to the Moon and Moritomo's lunar colony. In so doing and while coming to terms with the realization that he is an expendable pawn in a high stakes power game, he begins to question his own life and reason for existence. When the pawn becomes self aware, it ceases to be a pawn and becomes something more.

Filled with social commentary about a world that may be coming, this intriguing science fiction mystery presents a dark tale that does not seem that far fetched at all. As the read moves forward, the levels of corporate deception become more complex as do the possibilities for escape. Ripped from his place in the world where he had become all too complacent, Takashi looks deeply into the abyss in search of himself. The question becomes can he survive long enough to find the answers he seeks.