06/19/2017
There are lots of witty moments in Klein’s debut (the winner of Geek & Sundry’s hard science fiction contest), but its flaws turn a potentially fun adventure into an exercise in frustration. In 2147, Joel Byram, who makes his living teaching AIs how to appear more human, is about to teleport off on a vacation with his estranged scientist wife, Sylvia. When a terrorist attack takes down the teleportation network, Joel learns the awful truth (which experienced readers of SF will already have guessed): rather than literally transporting people, it recreates them at their destinations and then destroys their earlier selves. Thanks to a complicated series of events, Joel’s previous body isn’t killed, and there are now two of him running around. In spite of the predictability, this setup has potential, but there’s either too much or not enough goofiness. Lengthy footnotes that are too long to be serious but not funny enough to entertain, gags such as a pet dog named Peeve, and excessive 20th-century pop culture references all keep the novel from committing to being a thriller, but it never feels like a romp, either. (Aug.)
"Klein's debut effort comes to us via the crowd-funded publishing enterprise Inkshares, after winning the reader-voted Geek & Sundry Hard Science Contest last year, which is pretty much aces in terms of genre cred. If you're not yet convinced this is a story that will grab you: Lionsgate Entertainment has already secured the film rights—which makes sense, because aside from being the smartest sci-fi book you'll read this month (or most months), it's also incredibly cinematic. Did we mention it's smart?" —Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
"It's hard to say enough good things about this hard-science future thriller with humor and heart—an excellent debut." —Kirkus (starred review)
"Fans of hard sf and time travel will enjoy Klein’s imaginative debut." —Booklist
"I read a lot of books but haven’t enjoyed one as much as The Punch Escrow in a long time. I picked it up for a cross country flight and didn’t put it down until we landed in New York. Tal Klein creates a plausibly real future that sucks you in and then he powers his story with action, twists and a dash of humor. Young actors will be lining up to play the lead character and any director worth his salt would kill (or at least teleport) for a chance to adapt The Punch Escrow." —Andy Lewis, Book Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
"Klein transports us to a beautifully rendered near-future world. This is refreshingly original and immersive hard sci-fi. You'll turn the last page and yearn for Joel Byram's next chapter." —Ben Brock Johnson, host of Codebreaker podcast and NPR Marketplace Tech
"An alt-futuristic hard-science thriller with twists and turns you'll never see coming. I couldn't put it down." —Felicia Day, author of You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)
"A compelling, approachable human narrative wrapped around a classic hard sci-fi nugget, The Punch Escrow dives into deep philosophical territory—the ethical limits of technology, and what it means to be human. Cinematically paced yet filled with smart asides, Klein's Punch pulls off the slick trick of giving readers plenty to think about in a suspenseful, entertaining package." —Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica
"One part adventure journal, one part letter from the future... It's a clever way to explore this brave new world. Darting between The Bourne Identity and Blade Runner, The Punch Escrow travels through time to unwind the global conspiracy theory. Klein has written a quick-witted, self-aware thriller that is addictive and fun." —Foreword Reviews (starred review)
"A headlong ride through a future where 'huge international corporate conspiracy' is a box you check on a form and teleportation takes you anywhere—it just blows you to bits first." —Quentin Hardy, Head of Editorial, Google Cloud (formerly Deputy Tech Editor for The New York Times)
"The Punch Escrow has a cool high concept and an action-packed story that will leave your head spinning." —Daniel H. Wilson, The New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse and Clockwork Dynasty
"If I lived in the world of The Punch Escrow, I'd teleport around the world shoving copies of Tal M. Klein’s thrilling, hilarious and whip-smart debut into everyone’s hands. Save me the trip—and buy this novel now." —Duane Swierczynski, author of Revolver and the bestselling Level 26 series
"A fast-paced near-future sci-fi adventure peppered with exotic technology and cultural references ranging from Karma Chameleon to the Ship of Theseus, The Punch Escrow will have you rooting for its plucky, sarcastic hero as he bounces between religious fanatics, secret agents, corporate hacks and megalomaniacs in a quest to get his life back. If you've ever wanted to get Scotty drunk and ask him some tough questions about how those transporters work exactly, The Punch Escrow is the book for you." —Robert Kroese, author of The Big Sheep and its sequel, The Last Iota
"This book angered me to my core, because it’s based on an idea that should have occurred to me. The fact that Tal executed it so well, and made such a page-turner out of it, just adds insult to injury." —Scott Meyer, author of the Magic 2.0 series
"Some writers take us to the future so we can question the effects that technology can have on humanity on a global and personal scale along with the impact upon the social fabric. Others do it to take us on a wild ride made all the more fantastic by pushing the boundaries of what we can expect from the world of tomorrow. Tal Klein masterfully balances both and sets it all to the beat of an 80s soundtrack. An excellent piece of contemporary science fiction." —J-F. Dubeau, author of A God in the Shed and The Life Engineered
★ 07/01/2017
One day in June 2147, Joel Byram suddenly realizes he is going to be late to meet his wife, Sylvia, for their anniversary. No worries, he will simply pay for a trip via teleportation through a device called the Punch Escrow. The couple, who had been struggling, partly owing to Sylvia's high-ranking job at International Transport (the company that controls teleportation), had decided to take a second honeymoon in Costa Rica. Sylvia arrives safely, but a terrorist attack leads her to assume that Joel is dead. Instead, he is safe in New York, although desperate to get to his wife. Meanwhile, Sylvia, in her grief, has made an even more desperate decision to use a secret capability of her company to bring back a stored duplicate of Joel. Now there are two Joels, and one very angry executive determined to keep his company's secret safe. Footnotes explain some of the science and societal changes, as the pacing increasingly becomes more propulsive and our hero gets mired deeper in danger. VERDICT This debut thrill ride will please fans of Blake Crouch's Dark Matter looking for the next compelling sf technothriller. [Winner of the Inkshares Geek & Sundry Hard Science Fiction contest, Klein's title is the first to be released from Inkshare's new imprint; film rights have been acquired by Lionsgate.—Ed.]—MM
★ 2017-07-24
In this science-fiction thriller, a man fights for his wife and his lives after he's duplicated in a transporter malfunction. In 2147, the Last War ended half a century ago. Now the world is run mostly by corporations, which provide basic needs and run the global economy with the help of nanotechnology, which, among other advancements, has made human teleportation possible. Narrator Joel Byram is a "salter"—that is, he poses puzzles to artificial intelligence applications, hoping to stump them and improve their decision algorithms. He loves '80s pop music and his wife, Sylvia, a quantum microscopy engineer. She works for International Transport, the company with a monopoly on teleportation thanks to its proprietary Punch Escrow technology. (Anything teleported is held in "escrow" until its arrival is confirmed; quantum entanglement is involved.) After a recent promotion, Sylvia has been working on a secret project that eats all her time, and the couple has drifted apart. Sylvia suggests a 10th anniversary vacation to Costa Rica, their honeymoon spot and one of the world's few remaining off-the-grid locations. But as Joel is teleporting, a suicide bomber attacks, and he finds himself still in Greenwich Village, though he's reported dead. At IT headquarters, Joel learns that Sylvia, already in Costa Rica, has panicked and done the unthinkable: used Escrow technology to restore him, creating a duplicate Joel. With several well-organized yet shadowy forces arrayed against them, both Joels must use all their combined experiences in manipulating AIs to rescue each other and Sylvia and stop a mad genius' nefarious plans. Technology is important to debut author Klein's novel, particularly the truth about how transportation really works, but character drives the story as much or more. Throughout, the narrator (whether Joel or Joel No. 2) has an appealing voice and presence. He's funny, a bit of a smartass, but thoughtful, concerned about his marriage and, in the face of mortal danger, grimly determined to do anything to rescue his wife. The duplicate-Joel plot has an extra payoff in how Joel is forced to contemplate some of his less admirable qualities when he sees them in his double. Klein's worldbuilding is superb, especially effective for how he blends nifty gee-whiz stuff with characterization. For example, in 2147, engineered mosquitoes eat pollution and piss water. They're saving the planet…but Joel hates the thought of being rained on from mosquito bladders and can't stop complaining about it. Seeing how well Klein has thought through his premise is a great pleasure of the book. He also offers philosophical food for thought regarding identity and originality that recalls Walter Benjamin's great essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." But readers with less taste for technology and ideas can still be drawn into the book's twisty plot, unexpected turns, cunning plans, action, and struggle, plus entertaining matches of wit between Joel/Joel2 and various artificial intelligences. The '80s pop music that threads through the book is another enjoyable feature. It's hard to say enough good things about this hard-science future thriller with humor and heart—an excellent debut.
