My novel, In Search of a Soul does. Nothing like some cheap thrills to get the readers' blood pumping. But it's more than that.
Nicole is slight of build, tech-phobic, and autistic — an unlikely heroine. She's going to be battling mega-corporation super-soldiers, brain-chipped hackers, & a sentient AI. To be believable, she's got to establish her street creds early. So, in the first chapter, she saves her cat—I mean her car—from a bunch of hoodlums outside an upscale sushi bar & restaurant in Myrtle Beach.
These aren't your average goons either. They've been enhanced with mech—skeletal reinforcers and neuro-muscular augments. Nicole only has her basic IdChip neural implant everybody gets at birth. But she's also been hitting the martial arts dojo every day since the first grade. She'd gotten sick and tired of being bullied because she was autistic.
The bullies had gotten bigger, but Nicole had gotten stronger. She had skills. The ruffians abusing her car didn't stand a chance. She was more worried about getting a hair out of place, someone looking up her dress, and the precision of her style than she was about the eventual outcome.
We get our first glimpse into the chaotic mind of our first person narrator. She's a little out of step with the world. She often worries about the wrong things. But she's a master tactician. She controls the battle space like a symphony conductor.
Later, she'll find out that real life is not as well structured as this set piece in the parking lot. She'll have to adapt and she's not good with change. But she's determined to stand her ground. She vowed in grade school she would never flinch again. She'll take the risks and make the sacrifices. What she won't do is stay silent in the face of injustice.
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