Chapter By Chapter> TekWar chapter 22

Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at a time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

Last week’s chapter was kind of short. This one is normal length but I’m not convinced this couldn’t have been one chapter from the skimming. It’s already getting harder to make this intros as long as I’d like, even with the opening narration.

Jake is trying to get in touch with a contact (after more beating the reader over the head with The Future) but gets distracted when he sees what appears to be a prostitute being chased by an overzealous client. That’s where we are headed into this chapter. It’s the last third of the book but it’s a long book. Let’s dive back into it.

Well, even Jake called what was going to happen at the end of the last chapter, but points to the bad guys (and Shatner/Goulart) for keeping you guessing until the end of the chapter. Jake goes in to rescue the girl from the cyborg, and then his two friends. They must have had some faith that they weren’t going to kill him or be killed themselves if they were part of the “game”. Turns out he has some clever non-lethal methods of taking them down, though not necessarily non-violent. I also hope someone fixes that fire escape before its needed even though I doubt it given the description of this area.

And there is a good description of the craphole that the lady takes her “hero” to, presumably to get the drop on Sombra. Except this turns out to all be a very elaborate play to trap Jake. Like I said, it keeps you guessing if the girl is in on it or not. Then she shoves him past the closing door and you, as well as Jake, knows it was a trap after all.

This was a good chapter. There’s action, good descriptions, it takes place in the future (the cyborgs with a blade, flamethrower, and saw blade for a hand–one per thug) without beating you over the head with it, and even when you know what’s going to happen, you second guess yourself depending on how things go. What will happen next time? Join me and find out.