DNF on page 29. Sordid, unpleasant torture-porn in an extreme dystopia. ( )

Cyberpunk police procedural – incredibly good

Oh my this is a good book. I had not heard of Ren Warom till I got this one and now I have to search out her others. Ms Warum's cyberpunk world building is stunning, her characters are impeccable, and the murder mystery plot is convoluted and believable within the world construct. No one else writes cyberpunk police procedurals, do they?

I received a review copy of "Coil" by Ren Warum from the author through LibraryThing.com. ( )

Not my style, I found the writing to be difficult and it didn't flow for me. Started it,, put it down, started it again and realized I just couldn't decipher it, and wasn't worth the work, I don't care for books that I feel I have to put in work to read. It was also too gross and gory for me. I can handle some of that but the level in this book was too much for me. Its part of the story and fits but from my POV its off putting. That said I always appreciate the time and effort an author puts into writing a novel, that is way more than I could even hope to do. This is just not my cup of tea. ( )

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I hope they don't regret that decision.

This is a murder mystery with very vivid descriptions of violence and torture. The gore is never gratuitous; it always serves the, very brutal, story. If you don't care for or can't read such things, don't even start this one.

Am I the only one who didn't know this is a book one? I can't find reference to this being part of a series anywhere, but the book doesn't so much end, as stops with an implicit "to be continued." I HATE when that happens. I have been known to say some very, very bad words when I run into a non-ending like this. I can almost forgive Coil for its lack of proper ending, because, otherwise, I really enjoyed this book. The complex worldbuilding has social commentary so smoothly integrated you may not realize it's there. The writing style has a rich intensity I quite enjoyed.

If you can stomach the violence and accept that this doesn't have a tidy ending, the characters and plot are well worth the effort. ( )

Book source ~ ARC. My review is voluntary and honest.

There’s a twisted serial killer on the loose in the Spires. City Officer Stark needs the best mortician he can get and that’s Bone Adams. Except Bone is not part of his jurisdiction, so Stark has to find a way to get Bone in on the case before more bodies pile up. Once he accomplishes that, they are off and running, but it seems like the serial killer they’ve named Rope, is always steps ahead of them. In the course of trying to find Rope, Stark finds out more than he could possible believe, about his city, his old friend Burneo, and about Bone. What is seen and known, cannot be unseen or unknown.

Set in the distant future, this is one twisted and dark Sci-Fi story. I wish I could say that I came away from it with that deep euphoria one gets after finishing a really good book, but I can’t. I was confused for most of it and the writing just isn’t my style. It seems like everything is a simile or metaphor. I have nothing against these things when used judiciously, but when I can’t read more than a page or two before the entire thing becomes entire passages of symbolism…well, it just gets tiresome. For me anyway. And that ending? Totally didn’t get it and I feel like I missed something huge. There is a lot that I did like: the descriptions of the city and the people are fascinating. Stark and several other characters are pretty good, but I couldn't get a handle on Bone. I thought I'd love him, but I didn't. Rope is terrifying. What I brought away from this is the future is pretty damn bleak. I hope we can avoid that particular path. ( )