Wow, what a ride! In the interest of full disclosure, I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Secondly, this book is the third book in the Avery Cates series. So, in essence, I was kind of dropped into this world. At first I was confused. I did not understand why this world was the way it was. Another confusing point was the way the story was structured, alternating chapters in Chengara Prison and chapters outside the prison. Once I figured that out, the story came alive for me. I was captivated. I had difficulty putting the book down.The Eternal Prisontakes place in a bleak world. The world has been devastated by a plague. There are armed skirmishes everywhere. Manhattan is being bombed. Las Vegas is run by the Russians. There doesn’t seem to be any countries. Food is scarce; people rely on n-tabs for nourishment and sometimes they even resort to cannibalism. The yen is the currency used to purchase items. People travel by hover. There are some interesting high tech gadgetry and some very scary weapons. This is a world where people are augmented, especially the police force. There are vision and auditory augmentations. There are bone strengthening augmentations. Some people are so augmented that they are “more gadget than human.” In fact, most police officers have been made immortal – they are avatars of themselves. "People of interest" are collected and sent to Chengara Prison. Chengara Prison is in the middle of Death Valley. If one should escape, the chances of survival are relatively low because one would die of exposure. At Chengara Prison, peoples’ minds are taken out and stored until they can be put into an avatar or robotic copy of the person. The story is told from Avery Cates’ point of view. I like his inner dialogue. Avery’s external dialogue is also amusing. I like his perspective of life. Avery is definitely a survivor; he is quick thinking, and he allies himself with some very useful people. The story is told with a sense of humor. It is wry and ironic at times. Avery is a likeable character, and you really are rooting for him as you read.The story is exciting and each section seems to end in a “No way! I can’t believe it!” cliff hanger. If you like science fiction, dystopian worlds, cyberpunk (a new one for me), you will definitely enjoy this series. I’ve added the rest of the series to my to-read list and I can’t wait to read them all.
