"Kill Code" By Clive Fleury

by Terrance McArthur

It’s 2031. Global warming melted the icecaps—drowned coastal cities like Santa Monica, raised temperatures into the 100s, and destroyed most agriculture. Over 80% unemployment, renegade Krails on motorcycles raid towns, people live in thrown-together shacks and tents, and they fight for unopened, dented cans and trash at the garbage dumps. The rich, the “One-Fifth,” have walled communities with ritzy shops and fine restaurants, and there are guards with dogs to keep out the people who don’t belong there. The closest thing to law and order in what’s left of America is the National Security Council, the NSC.

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Image Source TCK Publishing

Welcome to the dystopian world of Clive Fleury’s Kill Code. Hogan Duran was a cop; he resigned after his partner was paralyzed, unable to bear his feelings of responsibility. His only chance of escape from crushing poverty is joining the NSC, and his invitation to compete arrived on his third try. Whisked away to an off-the-map training fort, the officers subject him to tests of strength, endurance, honesty, mental fitness, and virtual reality simulations. Things don’t seem right—they never do in dystopian novels—but Hogan fights on, to qualify for the one NSC opening.

Fleury is a screenwriter, director, and producer, and Kill Code resembles a screenplay or a comic book, with brushstrokes of everything from Mad Max and Soylent Green and Inception to Logan’s Run and The Hunger Games, and you might even think of James Bond at times. Hogan may be the oldest candidate, but he always seems to be the toughest, smartest, and the most moral. Ruby, the only woman with more than momentary mention, is his equal, as they leap from motorcycles, slide down buildings, fight armed opponents, and look good doing it. The action is over the top, the plot twists come fast and furious, and the situations defy laws of physics, but it’s so much fun to read that you go along with it all, and this rocket-powered ride is short—137 pages—with an ending that screams “trilogy.”

If you’re looking for futuristic, fast-paced, almost-apocalyptic conspiracy fiction that knocks your brain around for a while, this might do it for you. If you aren't, you'll still have fun.

You can learn more about the author on his website and about the publisher here tckpublishing.com.

You can use this link to purchase the book. If you have adblocker on you may not be able to see the Amazon link:

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Librarian in Fresno County, California. He is also a storyteller, puppeteer, magician, and maker of pine needle baskets. On top of that he writes stories that range from rhymed children's tales to splatterpunk horror. He's an odd bird, but he's nice to have around.

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