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Cover of Hammered

Hammered

352 pages

A gritty, neon-drenched cyberpunk thriller anchored by a world-weary heroine fighting for ownership of her own failing body.

What it feels like

Reading this feels like stepping into the grimy, rain-slicked streets of a classic cyberpunk dystopia, but with a deeply human, aching heart at its center. The narrative moves at a brisk, relentless clip, mirroring the protagonist's desperate race against both government forces and her own unraveling cybernetic body. The atmosphere is heavy with the exhaust of battered cities and the hum of complex wiring, creating a tense, oppressive mood that grips you from the first page. The prose is sharp and kinetic, perfectly suited to the hardboiled, world-weary tone of a veteran who has seen too much. It will thoroughly delight fans of old-school, tech-heavy sci-fi who crave older, fiercely resilient heroines fighting tooth and nail for their bodily autonomy.

Mood
  • grimy
  • oppressive
  • tense
  • neon-drenched
Tone
  • gritty
  • cynical
  • world-weary
  • hardboiled
Pace
brisk
Themes
bodily autonomy · aging and physical decay · trauma of war · government exploitation · survival
The writing
Sharp, kinetic, and steeped in gritty cyberpunk vernacular, balancing visceral action with introspective character beats.
The arc
Moves from weary, pain-racked resignation to a fierce, desperate reclamation of agency and survival.
Who it's for
Readers who crave classic, gritty cyberpunk anchored by older, battle-scarred female protagonists and complex, tech-heavy worldbuilding.
Content notes
  • chronic pain
  • body modification
  • violence
  • PTSD

About the book

Once Jenny Casey was somebody's daughter. Once she was somebody's enemy. Now the former Canadian special forces warrior lives on the hellish streets of Hartford, Connecticut, in the year 2062. Racked with pain, hiding from the government she served, running with a crime lord so she can save a life or two, Jenny is a month shy of fifty, and her artificially reconstructed body has started to unravel. But she is far from forgotten. A government scientist needs the perfect subject for a high-stakes project and has Jenny in his sights. Suddenly Jenny Casey is a pawn in a furious battle, waged in the corridors of the Internet, on the streets of battered cities, and in the complex wirings of her half-man-made nervous system. And she needs to gain control of the game before a brave new future spins completely out of control.From the Paperback edition.

Description from Open Library.

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