Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self.

Now he’s a hitman.

In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to “tap in” to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. When his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, he must navigate between these two worlds—the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy—to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.

3rd book for the #ProjectTBR Read-A-Thon.

This book was a very conflicting read for me. While I really enjoyed the conversation style of the writing, the lack of true dialogue was bothersome at times. This book follows Spademan who is a garbageman turned hit-man after a devastating dirty bomb attack on NYC. I really loved the description of just how destructive the attack was on the way of life. But it was also so strange to me that nothing was done to fix it.

This book focuses on Spademan's latest job to find and kill a famous evangelist's daughter Grace. However it is not that simple and Spademan is thrust into a world he doesn't fully understand.

For me this book was mediocre at best. I liked the premise and the hard-boil aspect of the character. But it was nothing special. I have the second book in this series for review and I have heard it is better than this one. So I'm looking forward to picking up the next book.

It's the near future, NYC has been rendered nearly uninhabitable by terrorist attacks and most of those that are still there aren't really in NYC – they're permanently jacked in to a virtual reality, kept alive by IV feeding bags. (think of a dystopian vision of Ready Player One's OASIS)

One of the few not hooked to the VR world is Mr. Spademan, a hitman. He doesn't care who, he doesn't care why, as long as the money's right and he's given a name, he'll take the job. Once he's taken the job, you might as well consider it done, he never fails, he never quits.

Well, until this job. Otherwise, it really wouldn't be much of a story now, would it? Something happens that keeps Spademan from doing what he does – and the aftermath is pretty deadly. Spademan, his friends/allies, and those around them will be fighting for their lives before long as they plunge into a world of the ultra-rich, ultra-pampered and pseudo-religious.

The voice that Sternbergh employs is strong – you want to hear this guy tell his story. It's a little heavy-handed from time to time – particularly at the beginning. But there's a purpose for it, I think – at first I thought it was just a product of this being his first novel, but that's condescending, and blind. Sternbergh knew exactly what he was doing – persevere through the heavy-handedness and you'll understand why it was there.

A great mix of noir, SF, and suspense – with a little extra thrown in. It'd be easy to just chalk up this book to a fun combination of style, setting, and premise. But it'd be a mistake, there's real heart here. Heart, genuine suspense, and a good story (yeah, and style, setting, and premise).