The Electric Church by Jeff Somers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews of The Electric Church, which surprised me because I thought it was really good. Some of the reviewers out there really hated it, thought of it as unoriginal, thought it was stereotypical cyberpunk, were bored, thought it was predictable. I thought it was none of those things. Indeed, it was such an action packed thriller that each page seemed to have something integral to the plot and I was so intrigued, I read it in less than a day.

Avery Cates is a Gunner, a killer in a dystopian world. He’s old at 27 and has killed some 26 people for money, and during this book, he really adds to his kill total. The seemingly super human cops (The SSF) are after him for cop killing and now he’s on the bad side of the Electric Church, a growing religion whose adherents are cyborgs who were once human and whose brains have been transplanted from murdered people to their new cyborg bodies. It’s quite creepy. The head of the SSF cops hires him to kill the leader of the church in their heavily guarded headquarters, so he assembles a team of transport, tech, and other people to help him out.

Cates is a bad guy, but he’s a likeable bad guy because he plays by a certain set of rules. He’s also cooler than the evil police or the Monks of the Electric Church, all of whom are certifiably evil and probably insane.

Some reviewers thought character development was lacking in this book, but I was really taken with how the author captured and then let us get to know a Monk. The author really delves into good descriptions here and I had a great vision in my head of how the scene was taking place.

There’s a whole lot of gun fighting in this book, so if you’re into that, you won’t be disappointed. A reason I’m marking it down from five stars to four, however, is the excessive swearing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a prude. I’ve got a mouth of my own. But this was gratuitous swearing, dropping the F bomb every third word. It got old and felt forced. Additionally, the author constantly has to let us know that Cates is a hardass and is putting on his macho, hardass face to scare other people away. That got old too.

Still, the book is non-stop action and it’s enthralling. I wasn’t prepared for the end and thought it was quite good. Apparently, this is the first in a series (of course), so I might read the second one soon, although I’m of the opinion that sequels rarely live up to the original. This book is highly recommended!

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