Official Blurb
Bruce Gordon looked at his ticket, grimaced at the ONE WAY stamped on it, then tore it into bits and let the pieces scatter over the floor. He counted them as they fell; thirty pieces in all, one for each year of his life. Little ones for the two years he'd wasted as a cop. Shreds for the four years as a kid in the ring before that--he'd never made the top. Bigger bits for two years also wasted in trying his hand at professional gambling; and the six final pieces that spelled his rise from special reporter helping out with a police shake-up coverage, through a regular leg-man turning up rackets, and on up like a meteor until.... He'd made his big scoop, all right. He'd dug up enough about the Mercury scandals to double circulation. And the government had explained what a fool he'd been for printing half of a story that was never supposed to be printed until all could be revealed. They'd given Bruce Gordon his final assignment...
My Review
Bruce is sent to Mars, supposedly as part of an undercover operation, but he doesn't want the job, doesn't believe they mean it, it's just an excuse to git rid of him. Mars is a hell hole. Corruption and gang-life run rampant. The cops steal what the gangs don't and people live in a misery of hand to mouth existence.
This is a brutal story of life at Mars port where beatings and muggings are the norm and our hero, or perhaps I should say protagonist, is beating and fighting his way through life. In the "dome" the thugs carry clubs instead of guns, because even they realize a stray bullet could puncture the dome. So the copy carry a shield and club!
I really enjoyed this story. It's well written and well narrated and if you love sci fi you'll like this.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 7/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first chapter.
Bruce Gordon looked at his ticket, grimaced at the ONE WAY stamped on it, then tore it into bits and let the pieces scatter over the floor. He counted them as they fell; thirty pieces in all, one for each year of his life. Little ones for the two years he'd wasted as a cop. Shreds for the four years as a kid in the ring before that--he'd never made the top. Bigger bits for two years also wasted in trying his hand at professional gambling; and the six final pieces that spelled his rise from special reporter helping out with a police shake-up coverage, through a regular leg-man turning up rackets, and on up like a meteor until.... He'd made his big scoop, all right. He'd dug up enough about the Mercury scandals to double circulation. And the government had explained what a fool he'd been for printing half of a story that was never supposed to be printed until all could be revealed. They'd given Bruce Gordon his final assignment...
My Review
Bruce is sent to Mars, supposedly as part of an undercover operation, but he doesn't want the job, doesn't believe they mean it, it's just an excuse to git rid of him. Mars is a hell hole. Corruption and gang-life run rampant. The cops steal what the gangs don't and people live in a misery of hand to mouth existence.
This is a brutal story of life at Mars port where beatings and muggings are the norm and our hero, or perhaps I should say protagonist, is beating and fighting his way through life. In the "dome" the thugs carry clubs instead of guns, because even they realize a stray bullet could puncture the dome. So the copy carry a shield and club!
I really enjoyed this story. It's well written and well narrated and if you love sci fi you'll like this.
Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 3/3
Total Score 7/9
Download it from the Librivox
Listen to the first chapter.
