Chromed: Delilah – Richard Parry (Future Forfeit City Stories Book 2)

*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Blurb: It’s 2150AD. Samson will pay.

Delilah Griffiths is ex-Metatech. She’s got the best covert ops bionics money can buy. None of that helped brother Ollie when the link virus crippled him. Smart money says the terrorist hacker Samson is behind it, using his link-jacking skills to destroy lives. Reed Interactive’s bounty on Samson’s head is Delilah’s dream job.

When Delilah puts the muzzle of her weapon to Samson’s head, he tells her a story too perfect to be true. It’s a story too monstrous to be a lie. Syndicates are creating mind-control technology. Killing Samson could give Delilah the vengeance she craves, but let the syndicates get away with everything.

Faced with the choice between darkness and salvation, Delilah holds the future of millions in her hands.

Megacorps. Cyborgs. AI. Gene-spliced monsters. Syndicate enforcers. Off-grid illegals. Supersoldiers. Rock music. Violence. Einstein-Rosen bridges. Liquor. Enhanced reflexes. Power armor and energy weapons. Full body replacements. Swearing. Mind control. Telekenetics. G-Men. Drugs. Neural links. Orbital cannons. THIS IS CYBERPUNK.

Wow! Straight in at the action right from the start, Delilah takes us on a fast-paced adrenaline explosion of high tech and black ops, firefights and corporate espionage.

Parry has created a world of tech syndicates and bionically-enhanced humans that forms a fascinating backdrop to Delilah’s kick-the-door-in and take-no-prisoners attitude.

The book is a quick read and the plot is action-packed and high stakes. The main character, Delilah is a genuinely tough, kick-ass protagonist; a professional who gets the job done and deals with the consequences afterwards. I loved her!

Delilah is a short, sharp rush of awesomeness, and I will definitely be checking out the rest of Parry’s work…definitely the rest of Chromed, but his Tyche series looks fab too, so I’ll let you know! 😉

Delilah shook Scott’s hand. “Likewise.” She eased herself into the seat opposite them. It was the tiny details you noticed, like their lack of drinks, and their lack of weapons. When the real job interview started, they didn’t expect to be a part of it, and they wanted to be sharp enough to get out of the line of fire in time. “What’s Reed want?”
Scott winced. “Reed? This isn’t–”
“Hey,” said Delilah, “I’m just going to cut you off there. You and I both know this is a Reed gig. The barman is Reed black ops. The woman across from him pretending to flirt over her martini is his partner. The asshole down the back is one of your company enforcers. I’m not a hundred percent sure on the guy out front. I figure him for a night-only rental. Might have come with the Bourbon.”
“The what?” said Lily.
“The Tarmac Bourbon,” said Delilah. “It’s the name of the bar you rented for your interview circuit.” She looked around. “It’s a nice place.”

– Richard Parry, Chromed: Delilah