Desmond Poole is
damaged in more ways than one. If he was an underachiever before, he’s entirely
useless now that he’s lost his right hand. He spends his time drowning his
sorrows in vodka while he deliberately blows off the training that would help
him master his new prosthetic. Social Services seems determined to try and stop
him from wallowing in his own filth, so he’s forced to attend an amputee
support group. He expects nothing more than stale cookies, tepid decaf and a
bunch of self-pitying sob stories, so he’s blindsided when a fellow amputee
catches his eye.
Corey Steiner is a hot
young rudeboy who works his robotic limb like an extension of his own body, and
he’s smitten by Desmond’s crusty punk rock charm from the get-go.
Unfortunately, Desmond hasn’t quite severed ties with his ex-boyfriend, and
Corey isn’t known for his maturity or patience.
Meatworks is set in a
bleak near-future where cell phone and personal computer technologies never
developed. In their place, robotics flourished. Now robots run everything from
cars to coffee pots. Taking the guesswork out of menial tasks was intended to
create leisure time, but instead robots have made society dependent and
passive.
Desmond loathes robots
and goes out of his way to avoid them. But can he survive without the robotic
arm strapped to the end of his stump?
Wow. Just wow. Once I started reading Meatworks, I couldn’t put it down. That’s not to say the novel was
always comfortable. There were times when I felt like I was watching a speeding
train headed for the edge of a cliff. But dang, it was worth the ride. Let me
just start by saying this is not a romance. If you are a
reader who likes weddings and puppies, you’ll have to look for them somewhere
else. The closest you’ll get here are some re-hydrated sea monkeys.
Desmond Poole is a beautifully written anti-hero. More than
just flawed, this guy is a hot mess! While he’s not the most likeable character
I’ve ever read, his vulnerability really shines through--even when he doesn’t
want anyone to see it, or admit it to himself. I do believe this is the first
science fiction novel I’ve read where the main character is a total Luddite
when it comes to technology, and that was one of Desmond’s most endearing
traits. He lost his dominant hand, and has a robotic prosthetic that, because
of his aversion to robotics, he doesn’t know how to use. But just when you
start to feel sorry for him, he does something completely despicable.
The supporting cast isn’t much better. Corey is a hot little
guy Desmond meets at the amputee support group. He’s fun and a bit wild, but
also moody and immature. Then there is Desmond’s ex-boyfriend, Jim, who on the
surface appears to be a well-adjusted, productive member of society, but under
his veneer is just as flawed as the others. While Desmond and Jim broke up
before the accident, Jim, a social worker, has made it his do-gooder mission of
the year to “help” Desmond and assuage some of his residual guilt from the
break-up. I know this sounds like the makings of a love-triangle, but really,
it’s nothing that sappy. Like I said, this is not a romance. Even if there
is some boy drama and a couple hot sex scenes.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the quality of the
writing. Jordan Castillo-Price writes prose the way some writing poetry, each
sentence carefully constructed for maximum impact. Her setting details were so
gritty, I could see the story like a film in my head. She also used action to
convey character brilliantly. My favorite example of this is the hamburger
wrapper. Each day, Desmond stops by a burger joint and eats the sandwich on the
way home. He then tosses the greasy wrapped over his neighbor’s fence, so his
lawn-bot will have to come out to clean it up. This small action of tossing the
wrapped in his neighbor’s yard says so much about Desmond’s contempt for the
robotic helpers as well as for other people.
Meatworks is a
dark and gritty story that sucked me right in. Desmond is the perfect
anti-hero, masking his vulnerability in a tough façade, ten inches thick. His
bent toward self-destruction is, at times, disturbing, but you won’t want to
put this book down.
Overall, I give Meatworks...
Plot - 5
bookmarks
Character development
- 5 bookmarks
Writing quality -
5 bookmarks
Love story -
PSYCH!!!! How many times do I have to tell you this is not a romance?
Dream cast (Otherwise
known as who I pictured while reading) - A really punked out and dirty
Channing Tatum (Desmond), Jake Bass (Corey), William Levy (Jim), Cate Blanchett
(Pam)
Find Meatworks here:
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