Synopsis
In a cyberpunk future, an alarming disease strikes, dissolving the bones of those with cybernetic enhancements. Petya, a refugee, sells himself to a company experimenting with a potential cure and instead finds himself with a strange new implant… and a vampiric hunger for teeth.
Petya only wanted a short trial with easy money, and now he’s at the mercy of a company hell-bent on market control, even if it means turning him into their personal pharmaceutical assassin.
They’re out for political power.
Petya is out for an escape and teeth.
Book 1 in Kaden Love’s newest series, Toothsucker is perfect for fans of Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Red Rising, Gideon the ninth, and epic science fiction.
Review
Grabbed this on my quest to read something by every author I will be sharing the page with in The Book of Spores anthology. And while I have already read some, what a place to start this with this one!
While I like the title a lot, I do think Tootheater would have been more apt. Equally cool too (maybe?). Regardless, this was a really unique blend of fantasy and scifi, giving us a far-flung cyberpunk version of our world that felt like an amped up Blade Runner with its neon-drenched districts. Our group, referred to as the imps, have had a hypothalamic implant—referred to as Bites—added to their neurospaces. This update allows them heightened agility, strength, even intelligence and more, they just have to feed the hunger before it’s drained. The thing is…the cost of that hunger is teeth. Human teeth. And as you can imagine, not many are willing to part with their teeth willingly. The way they lust for them, as well as the buildup to feeding frenzy, is very vampiric in nature. While untraditional, it still follows some of the tropes and adds another layer to how unique this book is.
While we didn’t get too many glimpses into the actual world, the author did a good job explaining how things have become the way they are. Companies, with their ever-growing profits, and civilians’ ever-growing reliance on their products, have realized that they’re the ones with the actual power and resources. This shift has led to deeper subliminal product placement, furthering needs and desires, and even presidencies built upon the backs of the leading companies. Regardless of where you stand (left or right) it’s not that farfetched of an idea when our president is a literal celebrity and companies like Amazon have moved into even pharmaceuticals. While this doesn’t imbue any personal beliefs from the author, this does feel like an extrapolation of a possible future we are seeing now. That, and the change in countries from future wars, kept this book on the side of believable. And it kept it fresh in my mind as an idea that is both science fiction and real.
On the further side of scifi, this book features the existence of physical light. Which color you can buy will decide where you place in the light districts, finding its way into streetlights, advertisements, and even the color of your clothes. The weaponized light felt almost like Star Wars’ vibroblades and the light guns felt like a deep dive in explanation to the commonplace “blaster” we’ve had in books for years. Without saying too much and spoiling it, this also goes into a more spiritual existence to this physical light, which added another layer of uniqueness for me, but you’ll have to read to find out for yourself…
This book is 1st person, and our POV comes from Petya, a character hailing from one of the warring countries. He wants to make things better for refugees from his country, and on his journey to do so, things get much worse at the hands of those that installed the Bite. The author has crafted a well done and meaningful lead. He struggles throughout the book with opening up to the others. Not just in fear of rejection, but due to his disgust with himself over needing to eat teeth. The deaths they cause, as well as the lack of control they exhibit, turns our main from morally grey into much more of a tortured soul. I also think the POV with inner thoughts helped to keep the ball rolling in terms of plot. He is shown as a true friend, a brotherly protector, and even a possible lover, all things that layer him as a character and more than a monster—the exact thing I love about vampire stories.
An intriguing and enLIGHTening first entry into the series. I am looking forward to book two in the future.
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