Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
New York : Crown Publishers, [2014]
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML:The futuristic hardboiled noir that Lauren Beukes calls �??sharp as a paper-cut�?� about a garbage man turned kill-for-hire. Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, and before the city became a blown-out shell of its former self. Now he�??s a hitman. In a near-future New York City split between those who are wealthy enough to �??tap in�?� to a sophisticated virtual reality, and those who are left to fend for themselves in the ravaged streets, Spademan chose the streets. When his latest client hires him to kill the daughter of a powerful evangelist, he must navigate between these two worlds�??the wasteland reality and the slick fantasy�??to finish his job, clear his conscience, and make sure he�??s not the one who… (more)
Media reviews
The Guardian (UK)
Ever since cyberpunk in the 1980s, science fiction has been only too ready to slap on the noir paint. Down these mean streets a man must walk, and if the streets are located (as here) in a half-deserted future New York where Times Square has been dirty-bombed and climate catastrophe has sunk the
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outskirts, then so much the meaner –and better. Adam Sternbergh's debut is as lean and muscular a noir thriller as I have read in a long while: swift, structured around a series of expertly timed twists and shocks, very hard to put down. The style is what used to be called "Chandleresque", before a generation started using that word to mean "quippy, like that character from Friends" – tough-guy brevity leavened with hard-edged wit. Dialogue predominates. Paragraphs are short. The violence is frequent and nasty. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member c.archer
What a super fast read. This book has no extra words and plenty of action. I sometimes found it almost too sparse in words and slightly hard to follow, but it was an absorbing read that kept me on my toes. I really enjoyed that it was set in NYC, a place that so many people know and love. The
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future in this book is bleak, yet the story works thanks to the edgy humor and the surprising appeal of the hitman/hero, Spademan. It is a futuristic novel with a twist that works rather well. Show Less
LibraryThing member ivan.frade
What a gripping reading. Short sentences in a restless upbeat stacatto, every word moving the story forward.
The story itself doesn't feel very original but the setting is interesting, the notes of violence gives it an edge and again, the writing puts everything together very nicely.
The story itself doesn't feel very original but the setting is interesting, the notes of violence gives it an edge and again, the writing puts everything together very nicely.
LibraryThing member mahsdad
The City of NY has been devastated by a dirty bomb that went off in the middle of Times Square. In the aftermath lives Spademan (not his real name), a former garbage man dealing with losing his wife in the explosion. He deals with becoming a hitman (still taking out the trash), give him a name and
A pretty good story that I enjoyed a lot. It was a quick read. It took a turn from a noir thriller to cyberpunk sci-fi that I wasn't expecting but it worked.
8/10
S: 8/17/16 - F: 8/21/16 (5 Days)
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he gets the job done. He is very good at his job, until he's tasked with Persephone. His life takes a right turn when he's asked to take a young girl named Persephone, but can't. It makes him question what he does.A pretty good story that I enjoyed a lot. It was a quick read. It took a turn from a noir thriller to cyberpunk sci-fi that I wasn't expecting but it worked.
8/10
S: 8/17/16 - F: 8/21/16 (5 Days)
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LibraryThing member bookmuse56
This gritty near future-noir thriller set in New York City after a dirty bomb exploded in Times Square thrilled me from the first page to the last, so much so that I immediately had to search the internet to see if there was a publication date for the next book. A former garbage man now hit man
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Spademan is my type of anti-hero protagonist – devastatingly ruthless yet ruled by his conscience. Fast-paced action, strong storytelling, a dollop of humor, and flawed compelling secondary characters rounded out this delectable read. Recommended for fans of urban noir who don’t mind a tinge of fantasy thrown in. Show Less
LibraryThing member UnderMyAppleTree
After a dirty bomb hits Times Square in a near-future New York City, most people moved away and the city turned into a ghost town. Some people stayed and tried to carry on, others became addicted to machines that would allow them to stay in a dream state and live life in a virtual world. Spademan
While most of the characters in this dystopian world are unlikable, creepy, unsavory types, I found Spademan to be tolerable. He did have some morals, he won’t kill children, but for the most part he was indifferent. This becomes more understandable as the layers of the story unfold and Spademan reveals the details of his past.
This fast-paced, action-packed gritty noir tale is told in the first person using short sentences and sparse prose. The feeling of noir was so heavy I expected to find Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade appearing out of a dark corner at any moment, and at the same time there was the paranoid future feel of P.K.Dick’s Blade Runner. It was a fun, sometimes humorous read until the about the midway point when the story got a little gory and violent; not too much for me to handle, but the squeamish may want to be aware.
Audio Production:
I read a few chapters in print but mostly listened to the audiobook. Warning: The print book doesn’t use quotation marks, an annoying style I’ve been encountering more frequently than I would prefer.
The audio was narrated by Arthur Morey. His vocalization of Spademan was perfect: A gravelly, clipped voice exactly how I imagined Spademan to sound. His voices for the other bad guys all sounded similar so I needed to pay attention to which unsavory character was speaking, but otherwise an enjoyable performance.
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adapted. He was a garbage man, now he’s a hitman. He stayed in waste disposal. To him a job is a job – until he meets his latest victim, a woman who changes his mind about a few things.While most of the characters in this dystopian world are unlikable, creepy, unsavory types, I found Spademan to be tolerable. He did have some morals, he won’t kill children, but for the most part he was indifferent. This becomes more understandable as the layers of the story unfold and Spademan reveals the details of his past.
This fast-paced, action-packed gritty noir tale is told in the first person using short sentences and sparse prose. The feeling of noir was so heavy I expected to find Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade appearing out of a dark corner at any moment, and at the same time there was the paranoid future feel of P.K.Dick’s Blade Runner. It was a fun, sometimes humorous read until the about the midway point when the story got a little gory and violent; not too much for me to handle, but the squeamish may want to be aware.
Audio Production:
I read a few chapters in print but mostly listened to the audiobook. Warning: The print book doesn’t use quotation marks, an annoying style I’ve been encountering more frequently than I would prefer.
The audio was narrated by Arthur Morey. His vocalization of Spademan was perfect: A gravelly, clipped voice exactly how I imagined Spademan to sound. His voices for the other bad guys all sounded similar so I needed to pay attention to which unsavory character was speaking, but otherwise an enjoyable performance.
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LibraryThing member PatrickJIV
Sorry, but I couldn't get past chapter 6 before quitting it.
LibraryThing member Jfurnee
Lovely, lovely noir book. Unexpectedly likable protagonist . Could not put it down. Great city building, premise and plot. Highly recommended .
LibraryThing member Jfurnee
Lovely, lovely noir book. Unexpectedly likable protagonist . Could not put it down. Great city building, premise and plot. Highly recommended .
LibraryThing member HenryKrinkle
Welcome to New York in the not too distant future. A dirty bomb has depopulated lower Manhattan, and the rest of the country is in an economic free fall. Enter Spademan (the name freighted enough for you?), a garbageman turned assassin for hire. He has one rule: don't kill anyone under eighteen.
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When he takes a contract to hit a girl named Persephone (Okay, okay, we get it), he finds his rules bending, and his targets changing. Fine post apocalyptic noir. Show Less
LibraryThing member tcards
Interesting style with a nice plot and minimalist punctuation. I'll read more books by Mr. Sternbergh.
LibraryThing member mhanlon
With all this apocalyptic reading I've been doing lately it's something of a surprise to me when I walk out the front door and find that the world isn't a barren, radioactive wasteland, or that the sky has been obscured by an object from the heavens, bent on our destruction.
"Shovel Ready" happens
Sternbergh has fun with the premise and he's built a great character in Spademan -- an elusive hit man who tries to just treat it like a job. Like his old job, in fact, as he was a garbageman in pre-bomb times.
I loved the book, great writing, excellent, fun characters, engaging story that's funny in parts. At times the staccato dialogue, like you're being punched in the face by Spademan's succinct, brutish bon mots, is a bit much, but Sternbergh comes out of those dips roaring and ready to go again.
* Zing!
"Shovel Ready" happens
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in a pretty near post-apocalyptic New York City and New Jersey (post-apocalyptic or not, who can tell, right?*). A couple bombs went off in the city, near Times Square, the whole thing is pretty near uninhabitable, unless you retreat into a bunker behind a wall of security or burrow down in the filth and depravity at street level and hope that it insulates you against the leftover radiation.Sternbergh has fun with the premise and he's built a great character in Spademan -- an elusive hit man who tries to just treat it like a job. Like his old job, in fact, as he was a garbageman in pre-bomb times.
I loved the book, great writing, excellent, fun characters, engaging story that's funny in parts. At times the staccato dialogue, like you're being punched in the face by Spademan's succinct, brutish bon mots, is a bit much, but Sternbergh comes out of those dips roaring and ready to go again.
* Zing!
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
I like quirky. I like mystery. I like science fiction and dystopian themes. I like edgy, dark , noir tinted story-lines, that tiptoe into suspense and prick the shadows of life. I liked Shovel Ready.
I'd been in the dumps, because several of my favorite thriller writers have passed from this life,
Shovel Ready introduces readers to a New York City in the not so distant future. The big difference between our Big Apple and this one is that someone set off a dirty bomb in Times Square, tainting much of the city, and causing much of the population to flee. The remaining inhabitants mostly occupy that rung of society's ladder that is too poor, too battered, or too zoned out to leave. The other big difference is that, while the internet still exists, it's mostly for the scruffy folks. There is, however, a new play-toy, a modern day opiate that is a linked in virtual reality. There, you can make your own dreams come true, but only if you have enough money to afford both hooking into a fantasy world and the attendants to keep you safe, and monitor your intake of nutrients given IV to sustain you while you are hooked in.
Spademan was a garbageman in the old New York. In this world, he is a hit-man, taking out lives someone else deems garbage. He's got his own set of principles. (I kill men. I kill women because I don't discriminate. I don't kill children because that's a different kind of psycho.) He's got his box cutter, which he uses to dispatch his victims. He's got a circle of friends, and he's got his memories of days before the bomb, before his wife was killed and he and the city tumbled into a different world. He's hired to kill the run-away daughter of a powerful (in both the real and virtual worlds) evangelist. He asks no questions as to motives, just sees himself as the bullet (or box cutter) that gets the job done.
Except, things aren't as clearcut as they seem, and Spademan finds himself sorting through realities, switching from hunter, to protector, to avenger. It's a gritty, dark ride, but promises to be the beginning of a new series to follow.
Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the publisher for sending me this copy to read. I look forward to future books in the series.
Tags: blogging-for-books, currently-reading, dystopian-ish, part-start-of-a-series, science-fiction, suspense-thrille
I'd been in the dumps, because several of my favorite thriller writers have passed from this life,
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leaving me minus their writing skills, and a hole in my literary friendships as well. The characters I've followed now exist in some sort of unfinished arc limbo. Happily, Adam Sternbergh gives every indication of helping to fill this gap created by the untimely demise of other well-loved authors. Shovel Ready introduces readers to a New York City in the not so distant future. The big difference between our Big Apple and this one is that someone set off a dirty bomb in Times Square, tainting much of the city, and causing much of the population to flee. The remaining inhabitants mostly occupy that rung of society's ladder that is too poor, too battered, or too zoned out to leave. The other big difference is that, while the internet still exists, it's mostly for the scruffy folks. There is, however, a new play-toy, a modern day opiate that is a linked in virtual reality. There, you can make your own dreams come true, but only if you have enough money to afford both hooking into a fantasy world and the attendants to keep you safe, and monitor your intake of nutrients given IV to sustain you while you are hooked in.
Spademan was a garbageman in the old New York. In this world, he is a hit-man, taking out lives someone else deems garbage. He's got his own set of principles. (I kill men. I kill women because I don't discriminate. I don't kill children because that's a different kind of psycho.) He's got his box cutter, which he uses to dispatch his victims. He's got a circle of friends, and he's got his memories of days before the bomb, before his wife was killed and he and the city tumbled into a different world. He's hired to kill the run-away daughter of a powerful (in both the real and virtual worlds) evangelist. He asks no questions as to motives, just sees himself as the bullet (or box cutter) that gets the job done.
Except, things aren't as clearcut as they seem, and Spademan finds himself sorting through realities, switching from hunter, to protector, to avenger. It's a gritty, dark ride, but promises to be the beginning of a new series to follow.
Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the publisher for sending me this copy to read. I look forward to future books in the series.
Tags: blogging-for-books, currently-reading, dystopian-ish, part-start-of-a-series, science-fiction, suspense-thrille
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
In a near future New York Spademan works as an assassin for hire, he used to be a garbageman before it all went to pot after a dirty bomb in the centre of New York, his latest case involves a girl and in the course of trying to find her he finds out too much about her, and is pursued by other hit
Include a venial televangelist, who is offering a path to salvation that allows poorer people into the rich people's immersive internet and things get complicated fast.
It's interesting, but I wish some of the characters had survived for longer. I didn't feel an empathy with the narrator, I also didn't get a sense of place or time from the story, it felt like any time. I won't avoid other books by this author but I have no compelling urge to look them up.
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men. He finds it hard to kill her because she's pregnant,Include a venial televangelist, who is offering a path to salvation that allows poorer people into the rich people's immersive internet and things get complicated fast.
It's interesting, but I wish some of the characters had survived for longer. I didn't feel an empathy with the narrator, I also didn't get a sense of place or time from the story, it felt like any time. I won't avoid other books by this author but I have no compelling urge to look them up.
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LibraryThing member beckdg
I was lucky enough to get and ARC of this book, and am so happy that I did! (I have since seen it for sale in SFBC so awesome!)
I have to say, I think you will either love this book, or you will not. I don't even know if there is room for middle ground. I say this for one reason, this book left an
Spademan used to be a garbageman. Before. Before New York was wiped out by dirty bombs and before he lost his wife. But now a box cutter is his tool and the garbage is of a different sort. But no kids. Never kids. "I kill men. I kill women because I don't discriminate. I don't kill children because thats a different kind of psycho".
In the future New York, the wealthy can "tap in" to a virtual reality while those who aren't are left to fend on the streets. Spademan is hired to find, and bring back, the daughter of a prominent television evangelist. It's just another job, until he starts to learn more about Persephone (who is very adept at taking care of herself it seems)and her father and his vision.
The style of writing may not be for everyone; personally I enjoyed it. Again, I have an ARC copy, so some changes may have been made, but it read like someone speaking directly to you. Telling you their story.
I have to say, I think you will either love this book, or you will not. I don't even know if there is room for middle ground. I say this for one reason, this book left an
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impression with me, and like any work of art, you will love it or hate it, but you will remember it. Spademan used to be a garbageman. Before. Before New York was wiped out by dirty bombs and before he lost his wife. But now a box cutter is his tool and the garbage is of a different sort. But no kids. Never kids. "I kill men. I kill women because I don't discriminate. I don't kill children because thats a different kind of psycho".
In the future New York, the wealthy can "tap in" to a virtual reality while those who aren't are left to fend on the streets. Spademan is hired to find, and bring back, the daughter of a prominent television evangelist. It's just another job, until he starts to learn more about Persephone (who is very adept at taking care of herself it seems)and her father and his vision.
The style of writing may not be for everyone; personally I enjoyed it. Again, I have an ARC copy, so some changes may have been made, but it read like someone speaking directly to you. Telling you their story.
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LibraryThing member kishields
Clever idea of post-dirty bomb New York City denizens battling over the life of the pregnant daughter of a hugely wealthy religious cyber-evangelist. After a dirty bomb explosion, New York City is left to those who either escape into virtual reality "coffins," dreaming their life away in a fantasy
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cyber-world or wander the streets, trying to scrape out an existence squatting in abandoned buildings and public parks. Our hero is a hired killer who calls himself a "garbageman," and is armed with a box-cutter. Studied staccato style imitates the hard-boiled prose of earlier noir fiction and films, but I found it a bit off-putting after a while. Show Less
LibraryThing member SebastianHagelstein
The whole idea and setting of a futuristic, post-apocalyptic New York City is cool. The virtual reality and the way it's incorporated into the story is good too.
LibraryThing member horomnizon
A quick enough read, and somewhat interesting, but not really my thing. I don't necessarily mind dark, but the combination of the futuristic apocalyptic NYC and the plot was just too blah for me. Didn't really care for any of the characters and won't be picking up any sequels.
LibraryThing member muddyboy
The first in a promising new mystery series features a garbage collector of both the traditional kind also people that he kills for hire. He is commissioned (during a time after a dirty atomic bomb has unhinged New York City) by a powerful evangelist to kill or later capture and return his
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rebellious runaway daughter. The setting of the world he creates is unique and the characters he brings alive are a breath of fresh air. A fresh new voice here and an Edgar Award best first book nominee. It does take a while to get adjusted to his short choppy sentences. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Set in a NYC that has been nearly deserted after the explosion of a dirty bomb. Our noir narrator and his trusty box cutter set off to save a pregnant daughter from her rich/powerful evangelist father. Using choppy, easy to understand sentences Sternbergh constructs a complicated tale of daring do
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set in the core of what’s left of the Big Apple. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
This month's Post-Apocalyptic Book Club selection!
In a dilapidated New York City reeling and in decline after a dirty bomb attack on Times Square, we meet Spademan, who describes himself as a 'Garbage Man.' In fact, he was indeed once employed collecting trash. But now? He's a hit man. Times have
The novel has a double-pronged structure - it does a great job of gradually revealing both the history of what happened to New York and what happened to Spademan himself, and simultaneously setting up a noir thriller plot.
Spademan is hired to kill a young woman - but what he discovers about her leads him to renege on his contract - and to find himself in an increasingly-deep pile of crap, as he ends up investigating the suspicious promises of an evangelical cult that promises a virtual-reality Heaven - but, of course, hides something much nastier behind the sparkling golden sales pitch.
Hard-boiled mystery, cyberpunk, and dystopian genre tropes gleefully rub up against each other in a quick-moving, highly entertaining story.
In a dilapidated New York City reeling and in decline after a dirty bomb attack on Times Square, we meet Spademan, who describes himself as a 'Garbage Man.' In fact, he was indeed once employed collecting trash. But now? He's a hit man. Times have
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changed.The novel has a double-pronged structure - it does a great job of gradually revealing both the history of what happened to New York and what happened to Spademan himself, and simultaneously setting up a noir thriller plot.
Spademan is hired to kill a young woman - but what he discovers about her leads him to renege on his contract - and to find himself in an increasingly-deep pile of crap, as he ends up investigating the suspicious promises of an evangelical cult that promises a virtual-reality Heaven - but, of course, hides something much nastier behind the sparkling golden sales pitch.
Hard-boiled mystery, cyberpunk, and dystopian genre tropes gleefully rub up against each other in a quick-moving, highly entertaining story.
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LibraryThing member SESchend
Held up all the way through and I still stand by the comment that this is science fiction the way Raymond Chandler would have written it. That said, it's a bit too bleak and dark in tone for me to really enjoy all that often. I'll give the author's next book a read as it was well done, but if the
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tone remains this dark, I doubt I'll stick to the series. (Have the same problem with the Sandman Slim books--well done for what they are, but I'm not dark enough to be a regular fan.) Show Less
LibraryThing member bookappeal
The audiobook narrator’s gruff voice was not easy on the ears, especially in a format that did not allow a faster listening speed. The book is an interesting combination of genres which “futuristic, hard-boiled noir” captures pretty well. The action-packed plot allows for a few
The futuristic elements are realistic enough to believe and Spademan is a sympathetic character, despite his chosen occupation. A fast-paced, graphic thriller.
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thought-provoking moments, though. “Spademan”, a former garbage man, is now a hit man with very few rules - he’ll kill anyone for no reason other than he was hired to do so. He doesn’t want reasons. He doesn’t care. Just give him a name. And the money. The only line he won’t cross is killing children. If you don’t think you can care about someone with this employment philosophy, even in a dirty-bomb decimated New York City, don’t bother reading this book. The futuristic elements are realistic enough to believe and Spademan is a sympathetic character, despite his chosen occupation. A fast-paced, graphic thriller.
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LibraryThing member nwhyte
Shovel Ready is an attempt to do a noir story of a hitman in post-apocalyptic New York. It has the usual problems - every character seems to speak with the same voice, the only scene told from the main female character's pov is a sexual assault; added to that, the retreat into virtual reality is a
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key world-building element which is not very deftly handled. Show Less
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Well, that was different, sort of Leon meets William Gibson. Set in a dystopian near future, Spademan the hitman, who will target men and women because he doesn't discriminate but not kids, is hired to find and kill the runaway daughter of VR evangelist but becomes her bodyguard when he discovers
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she is pregnant. I was intrigued to start with, and enjoyed the deadpan narration and world-building, but didn't really care about any of the characters. Short and savage, though! Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
Spademan (not his real name) used to be a garbage man. That was back before New York City was devastated by a dirty bomb and abandoned by half its population, while most of the other half retreated from reality into VR dreams. These days, he's a hit man. Usually he doesn't ask questions and doesn't
I could quibble with a few aspects of the plot, and I suspect it may be entirely too dark for a lot of people, but overall, I really liked it. Spademan's a very well-drawn character, dangerous and damaged, whose personality comes through strongly and immediately. The writing style consists of lots of terse little sentences, often no more than one to a paragraph, almost like a parody of a hardboiled noir story. This looks like it should be annoying, or at least get annoying very quickly, but instead it works surprisingly smoothly and effectively. The setting and the premise reminded me a lot of The Dewey Decimal System by Nathan Larson, but I enjoyed this one much better. I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.
As a bonus, the volume I have also includes a short essay about anti-heroes by Sternbergh, and a thought-provoking, delightfully nerdy conversation about genre and the blending of genre boundaries between Sternbergh and Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians and sequels, which was well worth reading all by itself.
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hesitate, but when he's hired to kill a young woman, he finds a reason not to follow through and instead ends up taking her side against her father, who turns out to be up to some ugly, ugly stuff.I could quibble with a few aspects of the plot, and I suspect it may be entirely too dark for a lot of people, but overall, I really liked it. Spademan's a very well-drawn character, dangerous and damaged, whose personality comes through strongly and immediately. The writing style consists of lots of terse little sentences, often no more than one to a paragraph, almost like a parody of a hardboiled noir story. This looks like it should be annoying, or at least get annoying very quickly, but instead it works surprisingly smoothly and effectively. The setting and the premise reminded me a lot of The Dewey Decimal System by Nathan Larson, but I enjoyed this one much better. I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.
As a bonus, the volume I have also includes a short essay about anti-heroes by Sternbergh, and a thought-provoking, delightfully nerdy conversation about genre and the blending of genre boundaries between Sternbergh and Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians and sequels, which was well worth reading all by itself.
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Subjects
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2015)
Gaylactic Spectrum Award (Nominee — Novel — 2014/2015)
RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist — Science Fiction — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2014-01-14
Physical description
256 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0385348991 / 9780385348997