Book Review: "These Mean Streets, Darkly" by Austin Dragon

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

☆☆☆☆

Genre: Cyberpunk
Source: Author

"Metropolis wasn’t a bad place, but it wasn’t a good one either.

"These Mean Streets, Darkly" is the prequel to the cyberpunk, detective series, "Liquid Cool".

It’s a world of colossal skyscrapers. Hover-cars fly above in the dark, rainy skies and gray people walk below on the grimy, hard streets in the “Neon Jungle.” Uber-governments and mega-corporations fight for control of the super-city, but so does crime. 

An average woman, Carol—hardworking and decent in every way— loses her daughter to the psycho Red Rabbit. Can Police Central find the girl in time—alive? And is it really a random, senseless kidnapping in the fifty-million-plus city?

There are a million victims and perpetrators in this High-Tech, Low-Life World. This is one of those stories…before we meet our private eye (and unlikely hero), Cruz, in the soon-to-be-released, debut novel, Liquid Cool." - Goodreads

This book provides a brief glimpse of the world and the characters, which subsequently will be of great importance for the series.

Although not as well developed, the world-building is good enough to spark the reader's interest and nourish his need for more of this world.

Switching between POVs of majority of the characters in this case is quite appropriate since the book seeks to provide as much information about the characters as possible in such a small book. There are some filler characters, whose sole purpose is to reveal the essence of other characters - mainly of the villain in the book - The Red Rabbit. Frankly I liked this psycho-killer - he does everything with such composure and instills a sense of respect. I don't really care about the mother and the abducted child, I prefer to think of them as characters who serve as a springboard for the development of the others.

I really like detective stories with interesting characters and well-paced mystery - so this book is just right up my alley. I look forward to finding out how the story and characters will develop in the upcoming books.