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Jack Four

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Jack Four

By: Neal Asher
Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
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About this listen

Created to die - determined to live.

Jack Four - one of 20 human clones - has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador, and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that’s been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity’s Polity worlds would have this information.

The prador’s king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King’s Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons - and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.

Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren’t as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.

©2021 Neal Asher (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited First Contact Genetic Engineering Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Fiction Scary

Critic Reviews

"Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain." (John Scalzi, author of the Old Man’s War series)

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I am a big fan of Neal Asher. "Gridlinked" is a tour de force. The polity universe that he sets his stories in is unendingly intriguing and he is a master of plot and character.
The ideas and plot in this book, however, are really only enough for a short story. The book lacks the multiple story lines and constant revelations that mark his earlier works and that make them so exciting to read. I hope this is readin the spirit that is meant. Asher is a giant of science fiction in my humble opinion. I would be happy to wait years for his next novel if it meant a return to the standard of his earlier works.

Asher needs an editor to speak truth.

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Having enjoyed this latest offering immensely; am l too selfish to immediately want more?
Afraid so.
Thank you Neal - keep typing - I, and many others, will be waiting eagerly.

Supremely competent & engaging, as always…

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Goood start... Good finish. A little long winded, meandering in middle. Links well to previous stories.
🙂

Sort of OK

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I wasn’t sure about whether I would enjoy this book because after a great start it slowed to a first person account of the protagonist alone except for violent encounters with robots, animals and all combinations in between. However it really picked up with the deepening of the plot, quickening of pace, increasing violence and addition of some interesting characters and relationships.

Surprisingly excellent

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I think maybe it's a genre thing but other reviews talk about adrenaline and action, I gave up waiting for it. So many of these stories seem to have flat characters but lots of interesting settings and aliens etc. I could read a wiki page for an info dump, give me a meaningful character and I'll jump back in.

Not much fun

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Very Disappointed. it went on and on and nothing happens. maybe it's just me but this book was just missing something.

I have loved Neal's other books but not this one.

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I'm a big fan of Neal Asher and have read almost everything he's published. This book was not up to the usual standard of his works. There were too many "oh no, I'm in a bind here I'm going to die. How am I still alive? That was lucky" moments for me to enjoy the story. The voice performance was awesome..

Too many lucky escapes ruined this story.

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