I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Junkyard War
by
Faith Hunter, December 8, 2022
apocalyptic in a Kindle edition that was published by Lore Seeker's Press on December 8, 2022 and has 200 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Raven Cursed, An Apple for the Creature, Death's Rival, Blood Trade, Kicking It, Blood in Her Veins, Mercy Blade, Shadow Rites, Bloodring, Seraphs, Dark Queen, Shattered Bonds, Black Arts, Broken Soul, Dark Heir, Cold Reign, Blood of the Earth, Curse on the Land, "Water Witch", "Explosion On King's Street", Skinwalker, Dirty Deeds, "Shiloh and the Brick", "Black Friday Shopping with Nell and Occam", Circle of the Moon, Blood Cross, Spells for the Dead, "Easy Pickings", True Dead, Dirty Deeds 2, Trials, Junkyard Cats, Rift in the Soul, Junkyard Bargain, Junkyard Roadhouse
Third in the Junkyard Cats apocalyptic science fiction series revolving around Shining Smith who owns a junkyard with some really cool “toys” in the “barren, stone desert of West Virginia”.
My Take
Shining does have a fascinating, if crude, life with those not-supposed-to-be-sentient cats and AI. It’s a world we learn about through Hunter’s use of first person protagonist point-of-view from Shining’s perspective. It’s darned scary as we have an inside track on her fears and worries about her OMW status and how she and her people will rescue Evelyn.
It is intriguing how the cats and Shining communicate — via a mental telepathy and how Shining interprets those “merow hisses”. The cats’ independence is very surprising, especially when Tuff wants to send out spies. Yep, it’ll be an easy set-up with bikers fighting over who gets which cat.
It’s not just the cats spying, as Alex, with a cat scooped up in his arms, makes the rounds at the parley as does Wanda as she explains to all those Old Ladies just how much power they have. Then there are the made-women whom Wanda rouses.
Part of the battle prep includes reconnaissance. Ten-kilo mega-rats that can gnaw through steel and march in lockstep. If you’re into weapons, Junkyard War will be your heaven, lol. There are so many fun toys in this!
Complications include Shining’s touch, that includes her sweat, that can turn people into thralls. I can understand Shining’s thoughts on thralls. It is a horrible thing to take away someone’s independence, yet I’d love to have someone around to cook, clean, and organize *grin*. With more thralls, Shining has to increase the housing at the junkyard, so it’s a good thing that Cupcake is so good with inventory and bargaining. Of course, Shining has that additional complication with her thralls achieving more independence, and Shining begins to see how it could backfire on her!
That Cupcake is even more amazing with her sense of presentation — that intro she gives for Shining was most impressive. I love that Jolene has given herself a Southern accent.
Even more “fun” is the alliance of Warhammer with the government, military, and corporate military complexes. Any one of these groups is a major threat to Shining! Especially if they were to discover all that advanced weaponry along with the warbot and the SIMBA that would find Shining in a deep, dark prison, so avoiding the military is a number one priority.
Then there’s McQuestion’s expectations that Shining will come back to the gang. Hah. Ha-ha. Instead, the usual usage of women gets flipped on its head, lol. Go, Shining!
It’s a post-apocalyptic world where only main roads are maintained, water is at a premium, crops no longer grow where they used to, and it’s everyone for themselves.
A world where a parent, a husband, will take down someone they are supposed to love, send them into harm’s way.
There are characters galore and way more action that you’d think . . . with quite the complimentary ending.
The Story
Shining, her thralls, and the cats have been preparing for war, for rescuing Evelyn from Warhammer, but they’re not enough. In spite of the threat to Shining’s independence, she’ll need to broker a peace with rival gangs.
She has the weapons but not the manpower, and she fears betrayal from those who covet what she has.
The Characters
Shining “Little Girl” Smith, alias Heather Smith, has been enhanced with a variety of nanobots — don’t touch her. She inherited Smith’s Junk and Scrap from her dad, Pops, a.k.a. Bill Smith, the international president of the Outlaw Militia Warriors (OMW) and its war chief. “Little Mama” had been Shining’s mother. Death’s Reaper had been Shining’s wartime bike, a Harley Machinegun.
Felix catus destructus is what the cats have named themselves. Tuffs is the pride Guardian Cat queen; Notch is her mate. Spy has mated with Maul, her enforcer. These cats understand English and can work as a team!
Mateo is a patched-man living inside a neural-net-controlled warbot, a cyborg — all that allows him to live and communicate. He’s also the commander of the crashed USS SunStar. Jolene is the enhanced AI for the ship; Gomez is the AI from the alien Bug ship that makes up Shining’s office. Amos is the bodyguard from Junkyard Bargain, 2, who fell in love with Cupcake, another thrall and the most organized woman! She’d been Red’s Old Lady in the Hells Angels. Wanda had been Marty’s right-hand woman at his junkyard; she has a son, Alex. Jacopo, Marconi’s son, is a hostage with Shining.
Captain Evelyn Raymond had been Mateo’s second-in-command who is now held hostage by Warhammer.
Logan “Asshole” Jagger (he rides a One Rider and is torn in his loyalties) is an enforcer for Roy “McQuestion” Gamble, the war chief and vice-president of the OMW. Six-Gun Annie Gamble is McQuestion’s Old Lady. Camilla Mary Gamble is McQuestion’s daughter and a hostage with Marconi. Razor McBride is McQuestion’s number two enforcer. Big Dick McKraken wanted Jagger’s job. Oil Man Durbage gets Jagger’s job.
Somewhat amenable motorcycle gangs include the OMW, Hells Angels (HA) with Charles Whip as its president, Black Sabbath is led by J’Ron “Mama-Killer” Walker out of Old New York, and Boozefighters led by Henry “Bengal” Thibodaux. Some of the bikers who show up for the attack include WingDing; Puta-Bella, who is Bengal’s made-man; and, Demetrius. The Berdoo Charter in San Bernadino, California, had been the most prestigious house of the HA.
Daniel Marconi runs Marconi’s Famiglia, an Italian restaurant in Charleston, as well as being regional president of the Hells Angel chapter there. His kids include the psychopathic Mina, Lorenzo, and the enthralled Enrico.
Clarisse Warhammer is another queen, but one without the compassion of Shining. She’s also the leader of the MSA motorcycle gang — a combination of the West Coast Hells Angels and the Mara Salvatrucha. One-Eyed Jack is her Number One and mate. Rico “Three Fingers” Garcia Perez is the top man of the MSA. More of her men include Marvin and Charlie.
The Hand of the Law are today’s cops. EntNu is a practical application of the science of entwined neutrinos — and you now know as much as I do. A queen is a nanobot-modified mutated human who is motivated with creating a nest (of thralls). Buck Harlan had been Shining’s best friend (Junkyard Cats, 1). A WIMP is a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle bomb. A SIMBA, a Suit Initiated Main Battle Tank, was rescued in (Junkyard Bargain). Marty Morrison had once run a treasure trove of a junkyard in Charleston (Junkyard Bargain). Berger chips are silicone implants that provide additional memory, knowledge, and speed up the brain’s ability to make connections. Grant Zuckerman had been out of luck. Garrouling PopPop had been the alien who died in the Bug ship. Yep, he achieved maximum inactivity. The Battle of Mobile had been a turning point in the war against the PRC.
The Cover and Title
The cover is dark with a range of grayed-down browns with junk everywhere. In front is the short-haired Shining in a combination of black “leather” and hardened purple battle armor, sitting on a double copper arch of metal with cats prowling in front, back, and sides. The title is at the top in a burnished gold with an info blurb in white at the bottom with the author’s name below that in the same gold.
The title is a two-way street with Shining fighting her Junkyard War to keep her place and use her weapons.
