Data Runner
by Sam A. Patel
I got a copy for review from NetGalley
Blurb from Goodreads: In the not-too-distant future, in what was once the old City of New York, megacorporations have taken over everything. Now even the internet is owned, and the only way to transmit sensitive information is by a network of highly skilled couriers called “data runners” who run it over the sneakernet. It is a dangerous gig in a dirty world, but Jack Nill doesn’t have much choice in the matter. A brilliant young math whiz and champion of parkour, Jack must become one of these data runners in order to get his father out of a major gambling debt. But when a mysterious stranger loads Jack’s chip with a cryptic cargo that everybody wants, he soon becomes the key figure in a conspiracy that could affect the entire North American Alliance. Now it’s all up to Jack. With the help of his best friend, Dexter, and a girl who runs under the name Red Tail, Jack will have to use all his skills to outrun the retrievers and uncover the truth before they catch him and clip him for good.
My Review:
The Data Runner is certainly an unique book in it’s genre. There is lots of action, which in this case mean lots of running around. The story is the most important part in this book.
The story starts off a bit strange, the prologue is actually a scene from later in the book, but when I started the book I didn’t realize that and it left me a bit confused. Then when the story really starts it starts with a conversation full of terms I didn’t understand yet and information dump. After that the story got better, the story really is the most important thing in this book. There is always something happening and I did wanted to keep reading to find out more. The story is really original and there is lots of attention for parkour and the philosophy behind it. The story was really good, but sometimes it got a bit too technical for me.
There isn’t a whole lot of atention to the characters overal, but I did get a good sense of who the main characters is. I did like him, although I did got a bit annoyed at the halfway there paradox after a while, because he kept mentioning it. The side characters are interesting and there certainly is enough information to get a feel of who they are, but I would’ve liked to get to know them better. There is hardly no romance in this book beside a few kisses near the end, which actually was kinda nice for a chance.
The world building is actually the thing that bothers me the most, because it is clear there is a whole lot of world building behind it all, but I just couldn’t get a good grab what the world was. There are so many things that aren’t that clear. I think it’s a dystopia world, but what exactly happened? What does the world look like? why has the internet changed nto the Aggranet? What is the free city? There is just too much that isn’t completely explained. Or the explanation comes too late and in an info dump moment. There are a few moments with info dump in the book, which are usually timed a bit strange. I wanted to get to know the world, but even after finishing this book I still don’t have a good idea what the world looks like and what happened to it.
To conclude: Data Runner is a story based book. It’s fast paced, full of action and with an original story. I did get a good idea who the characters are, but still would’ve liked to get to know them better. The world building is there, but the explanation is usually a bit confusing and at the end of the book I still didn’t had a good view of the world.
You can add Data Runner to your to-read list on Goodreads
Data Runner will be releashed 25 June 2013.
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