Review: Bounty, by Jason Pchajek
Bounty by Jason Pchajek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The promotional blurb for Jason Pchajek’s new cybercrime novel reads: Nikos Wulf is at the top of his game. Within the sublevels of 2120 Winnipeg, he is the undisputed king of bounty hunters, working for the elite Bounty Commission Eco-Terror Taskforce. The job: maintain the delicate ecological balance in a city holding back climate collapse. But when a series of bounties go wrong, Nikos finds himself on the trail of a troubling new player among the city’s anti-establishment. Bound to a sense of duty to the city that made him, Nikos finds himself in a deadly game of catch-up with an insidious enemy bent on bringing down everything he’s fought so hard to protect.
I have to state unequivocally that had I been browsing for my next read, this is not the sort of novel I would have chosen. To say I have an antipathy toward anything cyberpunk, crime story, or hard-baked drama would be an understatement. That’s why my reaction to Pchajek’s debut novel is startling, because I actually found myself entertained.
First some background on Jason Pchajek. He’s a Manitoban with a Master’s in Sociology from the University of Manitoba, deeply interested in climate, biotechnology, human enhancement, inequality, and the future of humans. He’s also a journalist, radio host, hockey announcer, and corporate researcher. Knowing that, it became clear to me how that experience informed and gave credibility to much of what he presents in this action-packed, Clancy meets Gibson novel.
From the first pages Pchajek creates a real and believable character in Nikos Wulf, a bounty hunter who works in the new version of Winnipeg which not only rises in skyscrapers but delves deeply beneath the tremendous rivers of this remarkable city. If I’m honest, I couldn’t help but think of a version of Thomas Jane’s engaging performance as Josephus Miller in The Expanse, a character I was deeply fascinated by and fond of.
Pchajek’s ability as a writer doesn’t stop with excellent characterization; he has an innate understanding of how to build believable and credible worlds geographically, materially, and sociologically. His is an immersive experience.
Once introduced to Nikos Wulf’s world and occupation, the story charges ahead at a brisk pace, rarely dull, always understandable. The writing is crisp, efficient, as suits the subject.
My only criticism, and this is entirely personal esthetic, is that as the major knock-‘em-down scenes unfolded, the atmosphere and characters took on an almost Marvel Cinematic Universe feeling with cloaked superhero bounty hunters in Bobbie Draper MMC special forces armour. I do, however, know many of my colleagues would twitch with glee reading Pchajek’s novel. And that is as it should be.
Oh, and Jason, yeah, about that antipathy of mine: well done, sir. You absolutely shut down that critical, elitist reader I tend to be and took me on a very entertaining journey. Thanks.