SINdicate is second in JT Nicholas’ New Lyons Sequence. Campbell is now living in a safe house with several synthetics that have made their way to him after fleeing captivity or being turned out of their owners’ homes. He’s there as protection, especially for the pregnant Evelyn, since the synthetics are unable to harm humans. One morning he wakes to find a body dumped at his doorstep.
This body is a message of sorts. With help from Hernandez and Tia Morita, Campbell follows the clues deep under New Lyons, and all the way to a surprising new ally- the very first synthetic. Al’awwal helps Campbell and Silas retrieve all the data his creator father, Dr Kaphiri, collected during his forced tenure at Walton Biogenics. It’s a devastating cache, detailing not only synth origins and proof they are human, but all of the cures for disease, and all the beneficial medical advances Walton has been withholding out of greed. But in order to make the most of this information, and best aid the revolution, Campbell chooses to make a major personal sacrifice.
I absolutely devoured this book. It’s a great continuation to the series. I got so angry reading about how the synths were retaliated against after the revolution began. These are people who genuinely cannot fight back thanks to their conditioning. One uber-rich asshole started a ‘gameshow’ where people participated in challenges, and the prize was to kill a synth any way they wished. Disgusting.
Humanity’s brighter side began to show through, though. People who knew deep down already the truth of the synths began protests around Walton Biogenics facilities. Campbell found willing assistance in his former colleague Hernandez, and in the medical examiner’s assistant, Tia Morita.
It was neat to see the synthetics beginning to find their true selves. Despite being ‘designed’ for jobs, like being Toys, or as menial workers, they very much have their own personality and preferences. Take Silas for instance. The big man (who calls to mind Varys, from ASoIaF for some reason) may have been designed for hard labour as a ‘sewer rat’ but he very well could have been a statesman, an ambassador. Or LaSorte, designed as a preternaturally beautiful Toy, who is a tech genius. You can’t program personality.
Learning how Walton Biogenics corrupted the horrified Dr Kaphiri’s work, perverting it for greed- that sickened me. Even moreso because I could see it potentially happening in my home nation given the current political climate dominated by greedy corporate types with no business in such an office. I would hope that our world at large would never accept such a farce. I hope we realise that with any form of artificial life. This was a corruption of eugenics I never even pondered. Usually, if I think it a bad thing, I recall Khan Singh and the Eugenics Wars from Star Trek. I don’t think it a bad thing, though, to work towards speeding evolution of humanity, or even of putting us back on the right track, but that’s a debate for another time. I’m definitely looking forward to the continuation of this series! Highly recommended if you like fantasy/sci-fi oriented dystopia crime thrillers with a deep emotional punch.
Read my review for SINthetic.
***Many thanks to Silver Dagger Tours and the author for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
