Book Review: Hyper by John A. Autero

Don’t You Love It When a Plot Comes Together?

There are books that end with threads still hanging.  There are the ones that tie it all up, but you saw the finale coming after the first 20 pages.  And then, there’s the ones that sneak up on you with a finish that makes you rethink the whole story.  They’re fun.  Hyper is one of them.

Hyper is a whodunit, set in the future and on a station in deep space.  And with a limited cast of unusual characters (seven of them), guessing the killer is possible…even quite likely, as the body count continues to rise.  But giving the killing spree context was the real twist for me, and when the author sprung it, I admit making that admiring nod.  He got me.  And when it happened, I saw several of the characters in a new light.

In general, the pace of the book is good, as the story moves from death to death at a nice clip.  There are some deliberate flashbacks that seemed to interrupt the flow, but even those apparent diversions made sense by the end.  The violence is intense and gruesome; the book is adult reading.  Character development is adequate, although a bit stereotypic around people like the “thug from the south side of Chicago” (author synopsis).  But the individuals are interesting and easily distinguished, allowing the story to flow readily.

With its future setting (the year 2061), the technology gave me some pause.  It seemed to range from futuristic (space stations and cyborgs) to 2017-era manufacturing, communications, and computing systems.  In some ways, it seemed like ‘steampunk,’ except that the technology inserted into the dystopian future is not Victorian-era steam gauges and engines, but the maze of pipes, tanks, and compressors of today’s manufacturing world.

Overall, for a somewhat grisly whodunit all tied up neatly with a thought-provoking climax, I recommend Hyper as a fun and fast read.