Holy fuck, did I ever love these characters; both of them unique, a little damaged, and unapologetically male. Then there’s the sci-fi/cyberpunky setting with great tech which provides not just a cool backdrop but is integral to the external plot pushing these two together. And let’s not forget the writing style, which is full of short, impactful sentences, lending a sense of immediacy to the action. It’s a novella, but the 109 pages still managed to deliver a complete story that left me very squealy-happy. Honestly? I did not expect to like this! I am not a fan of sci-fi in general and with the added cyber punk element, well....let's just say I was cautious going in. Of course, the writing team of Rachel Haimowitz and Aleks Voinov just blew this one out of the park. I loved Bear--and Cyke? Oh golly by novella's end I just wanted to rush out and read the next installment!So Cyke is a special ops soldier who has been cyber geared to the max, complete with weaponry in the form of gloves that link into his dermis and and clot bots who heal him from within. He is a walking man/machine and even his ability to feel sexual pleasure is shut down and closely curtailed. He is also on a mission to infiltrate the high security SenTech to help them improve their security overall. Little does he know he is being played and even the cops are on the dole for this tech company. Time after time, poor Cyke is dumped on the road, beaten, shot, and thoroughly used up energy wise, only to be put back together each time by the med tech, Bear. Bear knows he should be turning this guy in for he is no doubt a criminal of sorts, but for some reason Bear cannot seem to bring himself to do it. Instead he begins to help Cyke, taking him to his own home when Cyke is shot in the back and retooling his various robotic elements--including turning off the pleasure deadening command on his neuro net. Now, despite all the warning bells, both men are falling further and harder for each other. But Cyke must go back in to SenTech one more time to get evidence to clear his name or face the fact that he will be a wanted criminal all his life. But will he survive?This was a fascinating little story and the action in the latter third of the novel when we finally got to see Cyke in action was incredible! If you like sci-fi at all--this is definitely the novella for you. If, like me, you are hesitant to read this genre--pick this one up--I think this team of talented writers will change your mind just as they did me!
Do You like book Break And Enter (2011)?
This book pushed all my cyberpunk geek buttons, and I loved the relationship between the characters!
—meagansmiles
Awesome on the tech-geekery front, not as awesome on the relationship front.
—Stephen
Mm. This is the kind of M/M SF I enjoy. Fun story!
—Greer
