Popsicle by Christa Wojciechowski

This is the story of Andre, a forty something New Yorker who has used drugs since childhood, who wakes up in a bad situation and tries to remember how he got there.

This fast paced dark character study starts with a killer hook and an enticing promise of transhumanism themes.

The story is well written and clips along at a fast pace. Andre quickly remembers taking part in an experimental procedure that essentially implanted his phone into his head. I hoped that this implant would play a big, and horrible, part in the story, but its role is minimal and the resulting message rather trite.

I wish the transhumanism element had been explored and developed in a more original way. Real life research into neural implants is rich fuel for the horror writer, so you don’t have very far to go for inspiration.

Instead, this is primarily Andre’s life story, which he tells in a remarkably candid and psychologically self aware way.

Unfortunately I struggled to picture Andre as more than the sum of a series of tragic parts. I longed for him to imply things, because they were too painful to speak outright, or to justify his actions or rationalize his behavior. I don’t think his artistic, extremely detailed way of recounting information would have bothered me if the story had been written in third person.

However, it’s an entertaining read that I raced through in one sitting.

I award Popsicle…