Hard Carry - A cyberpunk thriller by JS Holloway

I have never actually read a cyberpunk novel before, so going into Hard Carry by J.S. Holloway I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. Cyberpunk is something I have obviously come across through films, games and TV, but it's never really been a genre I've explored through books. So, I guess Hard Carry ended up being a bit of an experiment for me, and it was an amazing one. The story follows Felix, a data courier in Neu Berlin. His latest job should be simple enough, take the data, make the drop, get paid and get back to the girl. Now obviously if everything went according to plan there wouldn't be much of a story. When the clinic gets hit and the broker ends up dead, Felix is suddenly on the run with a piece of data that could cause him some serious problems. He must make his way through Neu Berlin while being hunted by corporations, revolutionaries and the Mob. All while trying to stay alive long enough to finish the job. What I really liked about Hard Carry is that it doesn't spend ages getting you into the story. Things go wrong quickly and from there it just keeps moving. Felix doesn't get much time to sit around and think about what's happening because there's always something coming at him. It gives the book a good pace and, considering it's a relatively short read, it never feels like there's loads of unnecessary stuff thrown in just to make the book longer. Then there's Neu Berlin itself. This was probably one of the things I found most interesting as someone who isn't particularly experienced with cyberpunk. You have all the technology, crime, corporations and general grimness you'd expect from the genre, but setting it in a version of Berlin gives it its own identity. The world feels dirty, dangerous and lived in, and the descriptions do a good job of putting you alongside Felix. I also liked Felix as a character. He's not some badass who walks into every situation and destroys everyone. He's capable, but he's also vulnerable, so you get the feeling that things could go horribly wrong for him. The supporting characters work well too. There's enough there to make you interested in them without the book stopping every five minutes to give everyone a massive backstory. You get little pieces of who they are as the story moves along. For me, the biggest compliment I can give Hard Carry is that it knows what sort of book it wants to be. It's short, fast and gritty. It doesn't waste your time. I went into this expecting to maybe struggle with it because cyberpunk isn't a genre I've really read before, but I found myself getting properly invested in what was happening. More importantly, it made me want to explore more cyberpunk novels, which is probably the biggest sign that this was a successful introduction to the genre for me. Hard Carry is the first book in the Neu Berlin Arc, with Hard Traffic following as the next story, so it sounds like this is only the beginning for Felix and Neu Berlin.