Book Review and Giveaway: Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

Jacob Durango is a trained regulator on Mars, but fell into disgrace when his father went to prison. Still, he’s bound by the tenets of a regulator, so when a mining crew from the South Pole engages his services to protect them from a band of Draeu, Jacob accepts. He already knows the job won’t be easy or well-paid, but then, he gets more than he ever bargained for…


First off, I loved the voice in this novel. Jacob is snarky and fun and has an easy rapport with the AI grafted to his brain (who also happens to be his former chief, Mimi). The dialogue is fast-paced and often hilarious, making for an enjoyable read despite the rather shallow characterization of some of the supporting characters (for example, I couldn’t for the life of me distinguish between Jenkins and Fuse, two dim-bulb guys on Jacob’s crew).

The plot was mainly action driven with a lot of blowing things up and fighting, but there were enough inventive surprises thrown in to keep me interested. Although we do get some background into the Orthocracy, some sort of now defunct despot leaders, the Mars presented seems more like a wild west sci-fi setting than a true dystopia - think the TV series FIREFLY (and if you are a fan of that, you should love this). Jacob even reminded me a bit of Captain Mal (with a body to match).

4 Zombie Chickens!

BLACK HOLE SUN just came out in hardcover on the August 24th. Find out more about the book at the author's website, and read an excerpt at the publisher's website.

Annnnnnd now, for the giveaway!  I have one hardcover copy up for grabs for my readers in the US, curtesy of HarperCollins.  I'll keep this open until September 6th at 11:59 pm CST. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address.

See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore