The Digital Renaissance: Review: Zero-Day: A cyberpunk action adventure

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Review: Zero-Day: A cyberpunk action adventure

Zero-Day: A cyberpunk action adventure by Al Davidson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good Cyberpunk with a Major Cliffhanger

In a [typically] ridiculous dystopian world centered around SoCal and the former state of Nevada (carved up by imminent domain to accommodate the additional conspiracy theories coming out of Area 51). Our Hero (Joshua, Z[er0-Day], Shot, Reaper) is a misplaced genetic experiment turned gang banger/leader and former e-games legend trying his hand as a more traditional death merchant (aka arms dealer) when the deal goes south. Don’t over think this … it is just fun entertainment until the story drops off a huge cliff (-1 star just for that). It loses another star for the gratuitous sex scenes.

As can be expected for the genre … most of the characters are over the top … but surprisingly relatable (with an obvious hero’s journey and potential for redemption). Equally surprising is the lack of anything soooo unbelievable that with just little effort you can slide right on past and still enjoy the story (it really was quite fun to listen to). Overall, the story moves quickly with plenty of action that manages to avoid getting overly descriptive or long (nice balance) and the narration was truly excellent … enough so that despite the crappy cliffhanger, I am tempted to get the sequel just to see what else he does with his world building.

I was given this free advance listener copy (ALC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Zero-Day #AudiobookEmpire #AuthorsDirect #KindleUnlimited

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My Ratings Explained ...

[ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
[ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
[ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
[ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
[ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.