I finished Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This would not be the type of book I would normally pick up, but since I forgot to reply to my featured selection for Sci-Fi Book Club, this was sent to me. Since it was such a small book, I figured I might as well give it a shot.
The book is set in New York City in the near future. A dirty bomb was set off and then multiple subsequent terrorist attacks have caused the city to be an empty shell of it’s former self. Spademan is a former garbage man turned hitman. The story starts off fast and we learn more about the character as we go along.
The style of the book was very intriguing. Sternbergh uses short paragraphs and sentences. Spademan does not describe his surroundings for twenty-five pages. Instead, you get the basic and it is very concise, yet it works because the story is always moving forward. The action gets pretty intense at times with Spademan fighting all sorts of individuals.
The imagined future was a bit unbelievable. It felt very Matrix-y at times, especially with the people saying how they are the master inside their own construct. Other than that though, the book was pretty damn good and I look forward to reading the sequel. I am also intrigued by the idea of a movie starring Denzel Washington.
