Review by Richard Saar
It’s coming up to Christmas, the biggest book receiving (and giving) period
of the year for me, so in the month of December I enter into a kind of self-imposed
book buying exile. All my friends and family have by now received a list of
books I’d like, if they’re going to be kind enough to be buying books for me. However,
I’m not going to stop reading, so I go back to my bookshelf and pick a few books
to re-read before Christmas, ones that I remember enjoying, but can’t exactly
remember what happened.
So the first book of my bookshelf tour is Richard
Morgan’s Market Forces; set in London in the near future, 2049 to be exact,
we meet Chris Faulkner, an up and coming junior executive who’s just recently been
recruited by Shorn Associates.
Chris was head hunted by Shorn on the strength of his last promotion, but
it wasn’t his results or profits earned that got him noticed, it was a
particularly violent car duel where he killed a senior associate of his old
firm.
You see in London in 2049 executives win jobs, promotions and contracts
by fighting duels on the highways of London, quite often to the death and
always televised live to adoring fans. Chris’s wife Carla is his mechanic, the
one who keeps his car going after each duel, not that she’s a fan of his line
of work.
Chris’s new job at Shorn Associates involves working in “Conflict
Resolution” essentially betting on the outcomes of minor wars being waged around
the world in exchange for lucrative government contract from the winners.
Sometimes they bet on both sides.
Teamed with his new work colleague Mike, another ambitious junior
executive, they have to fight off the competition to prop up an ageing South
American dictator. Can he stay alive to win the contract, just who is he
competing against and will the law eventually uncover what they really do for a
living?
Having spent the last 20 or so years as a progressively more senior
executive, the subject matter of this book seemed to resonate with me from the
start. It really is a cut-throat world out there, but what if you really had to
kill for a promotion, or new deal?
Morgan makes the choice
much more subtle than that, Chris is gradually drawn deeper and deeper into the
violent business practices of Shorn Associates where killing isn’t just done on
the highway, but progresses into the boardroom. We see the toll it takes on
Chris and his marriage to Carla as Chris realises just what he is doing and how
dangerous the stakes really are.
The London that’s built up in Market
Forces is quite vivid and disturbingly not too far from what we have today.
There’s a clear distinction here that those with money can basically do whatever
they like and those without are really screwed, the televised car duels akin to
the Roman Gladiator games to keep the public satisfied. So whilst just below
the surface there’s a statement about our world if we take current trends to their
extreme, it’s a subtle message that doesn’t get in the way of a great story.
For me though the stand-out were the gripping car duels on the highway,
you just want a few more and they really serve to heighten the tension as
neither Chris Faulkner, nor the reader knows when the next deadly challenge will
come.
It was well worth the re-read on my bookshelf tour, if you haven’t read
this one search it out, if you have, time for a refresher!
Source: Bought from a real book store!
IBR
Rating: ★★★★
Recommendation: If you’ve read any of his previous books, this is
best of his to this point, if you’ve never read him, start now.
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