No Dogs in Philly: A Cyberpunk Horror Noir (Special Sin Book 1)

Billed as a Lovecraftian Cyberpunk thriller with a tough female lead, I was instantly enticed as those are three of my favourite things.It is barely any of those things, if at all. It is apparent that Mr. Futuro has in fact read cyberpunk fiction before, but only managed to gleam its near-future dystopian setting. Hardly at all are any of the thematic hallmarks of the genre (transhumanism, the impending deterioration of society, growing ever disconnected, etc.) present.Even when it does touch on these things, and is about to fulfill that cyberpunk promise, there is this immersion-breaking reliance on sex in a very unrealistic and immature fashion.In what is perhaps the most rewarding description of cyberpunk life in the book (with the main character confronted for the first time in her life with real peace and quiet without the technological buzz of society, she feels equally at peace and disturbed) the writer doesn't mine any deeper, instead has her make an unwarranted and sophomoric sex joke.Sex is certainly not without its place in cyberpunk. It can be a great way to explore societal isolation, idolatry, and the loss of both. However, it's never given that purpose here. It's always a distraction.When the main protagonist first meets one of the major players in the story, it's built up as a tense, unnerving meeting, where she is greatly outmatched and instead of paying off that tension, the writer–through his character–muses about a bug biting up her thigh to the "money spot."Another example sees the main character ignoring a character she doesn't trust while being led deep into the dangerous heart of the city and so of course she tunes into a TV show on her implants with men smacking each other with their penises. Although the writer refers to them as dicks. Just like breasts are always tits, and the author is preoccupied with ramming things through them.In fact, the author seems more keen to write like a pornographer, or at least how a twelve-year old would think a pornographer would write. He also mentions that the main character's "tits" tingle around danger as if they have some innate Spidey-sense. Sorry, bud, that's not how nipples work.The author is so mesmerized by his own juvenile, over-sexed playground that instead of using it to sell his dystopia or give the characters depth or connection with readers, it undermines both.At one point the protagonist is gearing up to go find a missing kid, so she decides it necessary to put on her dart-launching bra....yeah.What's even worse is that she has a personal aside to say that they're useless unless, essentially, she needed to seduce someone or put down a rapist. Seduction seems highly unnecessary in finding a young girl. In Futuro's over-sexed fiction, rape is a very real possibility (male ego power-trip on overdrive) but then she says she's never needed them, ever. So why waste so many words on such a juvenile concept? Because they author has such a sophomoric fascination with breasts, plain and simple. Therefore, breast darts.Another example has the main character sharing expensive spirits with an idol of her affection and the writer delivers one of the worst inner monologues I have ever read, something to the effect of "it was like they were kissing, through scotch."That should be all the indicator of whether the author has the maturity to treat his female protagonist as "tough."Saru is anything but. She's fragile, petulant, rash and as immature as the author. Sure, she has the hard-living Decker ala Blade Runner (see cyberpunk Chandler) bit down. She's gruff, mean, hard-talking and harder-living, but without any redeeming qualities and no reason to connect with her. Her immaturity and propensity to just throw tantrums sees any real earnestness in her toughness completely taken out at the knee.She's also completely useless. She doesn't solve the case, or really even make any headway in it. Everything is done for her, or given to her (more male fantasy at work).She's entirely inept and a victim of her author's sexual fantasy, like a dirty, horny princess in another castle. When she's finally let out of that castle she becomes the man-in-skirt stereotype, as if a few cuss words, a quick trigger finger and being the desire of the entire opposite sex is what makes a character tough. The only heroic payoff Saru gets is in the final pages, and even then she's a victim that needs rescuing.The Lovecraftian analogies are actually quite well done, and are a wonderful translation to the setting. They even gave the author ample ways to pay off his libido-driven narrative, but none of that comes until the final chapter and even then fails to capitalize.And while the immensity of the forces feel very Lovecraftian and are at times clever, they lack other Lovecraftian hallmarks like the claustrophobia and paranoia; a refined brand of horror. They're too busy being drowned out by the inner hopes of character sexcapades.All in all, it's almost as if the author decided upon a book based on the tag line "Lovecraftian-cyberpunk thriller with a tough female lead," and then just did the most superficial genre sweep of them, leaving key thematic and stylistic parts behind. Then again, I'm not sure Mr. Futuro has the patience and emotional maturity to do them justice.The sad thing is, there are some great ideas and concepts buried here. However, the obsession with disturbing all of those good elements simply to make a juvenile sex joke, and a real lack of understanding how to write a novel, create characters, develop tension, how to plot and how to give each payoff (there is virtually no payoff for any character or idea in the book) those few good concepts are completely lost.If the author were to mature greatly, work on his craft, and learn to create drama, emotional investment and give both resolution, I feel he probably could deliver a cracking story that lives up to the tag line. It's obvious he's got plenty of ideas on what horrors the near-future holds. As it is now, it's all drowned out in cacophonous, middle-schooler sex jokes and terribly misogynistic concepts of female heroism.

There are some books that just don’t click. It’s not necessarily the book’s fault. I’m a picky reader, so I find a lot of books that fall into this rating for me. It’s got a lot of good reviews on Goodreads, which goes to show how picky I can be. I say to the book: It’s not you, it’s me.To really summarize the plot, it’s basically about stopping killers offing blue-eyed girls. There’s some gods involved, different classes of people, and dark forces.First and foremost, I didn’t like the main character. I didn’t like her voice, her actions, or her approach. I don’t mind a rough around the edges character. Matter of fact, the more flaws the better. I like a strong, kickass female lead. I don’t mind if she’s got a mouth on her, enjoys sex, and is rebellious. But Saru takes all those to an extreme, verging on just raunchy, unlikeable, and immature. It was her tone that set me off. So without having a remotely likable character for me, I just didn’t get into it.Character aside, the world was—for me—extremely confusing in the beginning. A lot of terms tossed at me with little to no explanation. I got it soon enough, but it threw me right from the start. However, the world was not without some fun. Her car could drive itself home without her and there was a fun story that went along with that tidbit. Another cool part was that most people had implants that put the internet in their heads, basically. They could search and stream stuff without any computer. She could tune her body so she looked like she was interested in a conversation when she was really watching television in her mind. I found that incredibly fun, though it took me a bit to understand that was what was happening. Other than that, I’m not sure I ever got a good feel for the world. No big picture. However, this could be because of my lack of imagination. The classes of people were interesting, and how each viewed the other was intriguing. Definitely added some depth to the story.The first chapter was a job Saru had finished. It was long and since all we’re given of it is merely a recap, it was fairly boring. I didn’t find it was all needed. Especially in the beginning. These recaps happened a few more times, all of which I had a difficult time plugging through. They slowed down the pacing and I found it hard to push through quite a few sections. Especially since some internal thoughts seemed really drawn out. I ended up skimming a bit.The writing had some moments, but more often than not, I just didn’t connect. I’m a woman. And our main protagonist is a woman. And I can say with absolute certainty that when I’m scared, my breasts have never, ever tingled. Nor have I ever wanted to jam knitting needles in my breasts when I hear a grating sound. It’s not that I find this offensive, it just ... well, it just didn’t make sense to me. I don’t know, maybe my breasts are sleeping on the job.I always felt at a distance with the book. The pacing was on the slow side with—for me—entirely too much internal ramblings that added little to the story and felt too long. A few fun and interesting moments along with some of the ideas were all that kept me going. This review sounds really negative, but the world had fun, intriguing nuances which is why I didn't give up on it.Overall, it was the tone of the main character that kept pushing me from loving this story. Again, I’ll remind potential readers that there’s a lot of good reviews for this book, so I suggest checking out a sample (Futuro has a few on his website as well as Amazon's preview options).

I found the description of this book as a cross between cyberpunk and Lovecraft intriguing. What do we call this? Cybercraft? Lovepunk?Here the omnipresent mega-corporations of cyberpunk are fronts for the Lovecraftian God races for whom human presence in their world is unplanned but accepted. The Police are hopelessly corrupt to the point that they won't even attend a crime unless there is some illicit loot to salvage. Two of these races are in a conflict over a missing woman and one of them forcefully employs a private investigator to venture into the off-grid underworld to find her. But Saru wasn't their first choice, their superior first choice turned this lucrative job down...The brilliant but troubled investigator Saru reminds me of Lisbeth in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In fact, so does the plot, not that this is a bad thing. There are some great concepts in this book. I liked the casual references to "McChristians" and "embyays" (MBAs, Master of Business Administration). I like how hackers can get into you brain implants and mischievously plant images of your mom as a werewolf so you stab her in the eye. The feasters are rumoured savages supposedly driven mad by glimpsing one of the God races, similar to the reavers in Serenity, driven insane by the open vastness of space. The elzi are the detritus of society.I liked the gritty street scenes and street talk. I am not so keen on the horror or the metaphysical stuff. I've never really understood the attraction of stories where you don't know if somebody is really alive or dead. But maybe that's just me. The book also has a good sense of humour that breaks the heavier stuff.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, a whole new genre. Completely took me along on the journey into dystopia. Good job Andy!

Hits the nail on the head. Gritty, no-holds-barred PI novel, describing a sci-fi future. Writing is strong, the right amount of grit crossed with lyrical style.The genre mash-up (cyberpunk with PI noir) is spot on.Still not sure? Read the 'look inside' sample. If you like it, get the book. The style, writing, and pacing is consistent throughout.

The writer has a very fluid and easy to read style.He introduces us to a whole new world as the story cleveryl unfolds.But.... it's too macabre, weird and twisted for me. It's not a nice world he builds.