Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader!
As a first run reader for the Cybils, I’ll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.
Enjoy!
While some girls are horse-crazy from the minute they’re tall enough to reach a stirrup, others of us… are not into Pony Club books and that type of thing. I find that I’m mainly into the equine only when they’re a.) bloodthirsty unicorns, a la RAMPANT, by Diana Peterfreunde, or b.) slightly rage/possessed water horses, a la THE SCORPIO RACES. Otherwise, meh. I could take ’em or leave ’em. Which is why this book tickled me. We gotcher insane horses, we gotcher mystical man-eaters, and now we’ve got… androids? Right. The Uncanny Valley widens.
Synopsis: Detroit once was a place for the people. Its working-class denizens knew where a good time was to be had – where the music was, where the best food was, and where to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon – at the races, sliding tickets across the counter, cheering and shouting, taking a chance, and making book. But, the racetrack where horses ran fell into disuse with the Titans came. Good, clean entertainment, it was supposed to be. Safer for everyone – for horses, for riders. But the Titans came and crushed a very old industry, and the betting on this new breed was easier – faster paced, and more addictive than anything that had come before. The rich got richer, the backers, the steel manufacturers, those in the right position…and the poor – betting on a dream of breaking even someday – got poorer. Families were losing houses, jobs, and everything was sliding downhill. Astrid could feel it — and see what was coming for them. But she could no more ignore the Titans than her father. Only, her bailiwick wasn’t the betting… it was the dream of a ride.
Astrid is betting on the “just one shot” like everyone else. She’s given sweat, blood, time, and silence to put her hands on a single dream: to keep her family together. She just wants to make up for the one mistake she’s made — but is it possible? Can you ever really have back what you’ve lost?
Observations: This novel doesn’t have a romantic storyline that toils away surreptitiously beneath the surface then rises up to swamp the narrative. Let’s just caress that thought for a moment and gaze at it fondly.
