Why You'll Love This
A genetic underclass, a mystery plague, and a cast of lovable semi-criminals — Ashton turns near-future dystopia into something unexpectedly funny and tense.
- Great if you want: scrappy, street-level sci-fi with dark humor and real stakes
- The experience: fast and punchy — escalates quickly once the chaos starts
- The writing: Ashton blends dry wit with thriller plotting in a distinctive, breezy voice
- Skip if: you want deep worldbuilding — the setting stays deliberately thin
About This Book
In a near-future America split between the genetically engineered elite and everyone else, Anders Jensen occupies an awkward middle ground — modified enough to matter, broke enough to still have terrible neighbors. When a catastrophic plague tears through a nearby city and the chaos reaches Baltimore, Anders and his ragtag circle of morally flexible friends find themselves caught between government forces and something far worse. Edward Ashton builds his stakes quietly at first, letting you settle into the scrappy, lived-in details of Anders's life before pulling the floor out from under him — and you.
What makes this novel work as a reading experience is Ashton's voice: dry, self-aware, and genuinely funny without undercutting the tension when it counts. The pacing moves like a thriller but thinks like science fiction, asking real questions about class, bodily autonomy, and who gets to decide who matters — without ever getting preachy about it. The cast feels specific rather than assembled, and the world-building earns its complexity by staying grounded in the small, human details. Readers who like their near-future fiction with wit and actual stakes will find this one hard to put down.
