Amortals by Matt Forbeck

It’s year 2168, and Secret Service agent Ronan Dooley is investigating a savage homicide, of which he happens to be the victim. In fact, this is the eighth time Agent Dooley has died in the service of his country.

Several of Ronan’s lifetimes ago, he took a bullet meant for the president. His heroic death won him the honor of becoming the first participant in Project Amortal: a medical procedure where the deceased’s mind and memories are downloaded into the brain of an exact clone. The project was initially intended for heads-of-state or those whose public service had proven exceptional, but of course the few with the means to afford it could sign-up too.

When I started this book, it seemed apparent that the character of Ronan Dooley is somewhere between the likes of James Bond and Dirty Harry: a typical action hero, easily found in any number of 70’s/80’s action movies or TV shows... Read More

Vegas Knights by Matt Forbeck

The cover of Matt Forbeck’s Vegas Knights describes the novel as “Harry Potter meets Ocean’s Eleven,” but it may be slightly more accurate (if not quite as effective, marketing-wise) to replace Harry Potter with Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Vegas Knights’ main characters, Bill and Jackson, are two college students on Spring Break in Las Vegas. Sounds fairly normal — except the topic of their studies is magic, and they’re not just in Vegas to party. Instead, they’re planning to use their magic skills to become rich by cheating at the gambling tables. However, they quickly find out that this is easier said than done, because Vegas is very different from what they expected...

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Carpathia by Matt Forbeck

So it's April 1912, and here I am aboard R.M.S. Titanic, on her maiden voyage. By heaven, she's a lovely ship! Big, too. But I'm a little worried we're getting rather close to that iceberg. Oh I say, we've struck it! Not to worry, old man, everyone knows this ship is unsinkable. What's that? We're sinking anyway? Dash the luck! Off to the lifeboats then. What do you mean, there's no more room? Blimey. Rest assured I'll write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about this! Alas, I suppose there's nothing for it but to dress in my evening best, order a brandy, and prepare to die like a sir. Could be worse, I suppose. At least we aren't being attacked by vampires. What's that? We are being attacked by vampires! Of all the bloody cheek!

You could read Matt Forbeck's Carpathia a lot like this: as an extended sketch rather than a novel. Forbeck is a writer... Read More