The latest novel from author J.S. Holloway, Hard Carry, has now been officially released. Hard Carry, like Holloway’s previous The Veil novel trilogy, is a gritty, hard boiled cyberpunk novel. The author has a keen interest in how humans live alongside technology, and how that will evolve, and this latest novel continues to explore that subject.

From the publisher –

The job looked simple: take the data, make the drop, collect the money, and be back in time to get the girl.

But when the clinic gets hit, the broker dies, and the route burns behind him, Felix has one night to cross Neu Berlin’s underbelly before the package leaks and cooks his brain from the inside. Hunted by a corporate recovery team, revolutionaries, and the Mob, can Felix survive this hard carry, or will he end up as just another body on the streets of a City that doesn’t care?

Neu Berlin is the city they promised would save the future. But only one thing is certain: you fight back, or you leave in a body bag.

Hard Carry is fast-paced, gritty and fun Cyberpunk that hits the “punk” hard and never lets up.

Neu Berlin.

The city they promised would save the future.

But one thing is certain: you fight back, or you leave in a body bag.

Felix is a human courier, using the most secure data storage method available – his own body, by way of a courier implant in his arm. The problem with this, though, is storage space isn’t infinite, and when someone is intent on stealing your cargo, it’s your own personal well-being at risk – there’s no option to cut and run. So when the situation goes immediately south, Felix is forced to endure an odyssey, of sorts, as he navigates the shady streets, canal paths, and underground trails around Neu Berlin.

In the process, Felix encounters friends who might be foe, and foe who might be friends. When you’re a courier working for the undesirables in a big city like Neu Berlin, you’re forced to negotiate with some powerful and unpleasant characters. The data in his courier implant begins to take its toll on him, and as time threatens to run out, he has big decisions to make. Who can he trust? Who DARE he trust?

Hard Carry’s first scene is an intense race against time, and from that point on the novel never lets up. Hard Carry is a relatively short novel, which allows Holloway to turn the screws tight on his protagonist, and keep the story moving along at a clip. Hard Carry is quick and dirty, cyberpunk the hard way, just how we like it. The plot forces Felix to be constantly on the run, moving ever forward. Any time he thinks he might find some respite, his grim situation comes crashing back in on him, literally. 

This is the very definition of a bad night. Not only does our hero have to make his way to the arranged drop point, he has to dodge bullets, placate some powerful people, and as the story progresses, get to grips with an increasingly complicated situation. Each event is more brutal than the last, and political intrigue is introduced, a broader conspiracy comes to light, all building to a fitting climax.

We had the chance to talk to J.S Holloway about the book, and his writing.

What led to you becoming a writer?

Almost an accident. I hyperfixate on serial hobbies anyway, but I had ruptured my Achilles so I couldn’t do anything for ages, and I thought I might as well try a book.  My interests were more comics and movies, especially 90s Cyberpunk, so I used those as my kickoff, which is probably why my writing style is a bit leftfield at times.

The topic of ‘wearable tech’ is taken to the next step in Hard Carry. Was this element of your novel inspired by something specific? And do you think something like this is likely to be a reality sooner or later?

I had just come off the back of writing my Veil trilogy, which has Wetware and a Parasitic AI in it. Which was heavily inspired by the real-world work on Organoids. Did you know they grew brain organoids in space and put them in spider robots like nothing would ever go wrong with that! Some of them spontaneously grew eyes (This is all real; you can Google it). Anyway, Veil was super epic, and I wanted something more small-stakes, and what could be more small-stakes than one man in a race against time? It’s existential to him, but if he dies, the world keeps turning. There’s an obvious nod to Johnny Mnemonic in the Data Courier trope, but it really does its own thing after that.

Wearable tech will definitely increase. I feel extremely uneasy about smart glasses and what that means to our human rights, but I think what will really be the conversation to have is how much do we trust the corporations selling them and what happens to our data (something Felix comes across in Hard Carry).

What are 5 facts about yourself you’d like your readers to know?

I work in tech now, hence the content

I train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

I have a 22-year-old cat called Deedee

Under a different alias, I produced music and was once on a compilation album with Chuck D from Public Enemy

The most influential author to me is not a cyberpunk great but is actually Michael Moorcock. He gives a masterclass in Pacing and Plotting 100% would recommend. Plus he could cocaine a whole novel in three days, which is pretty impressive.

What are your Cyberpunk/Dystopian influences?

Most of my influences come from movies, especially 90s action sci-fi movies and Japanese cyberpunk, so I’m talking Johnny Mnemonic, Nemesis, Split Second, and obviously the anime like Akira and GiTS, and movies like Tokyo Gore Police, Meatball Machine, etc. I love all that.

What are you working on next? 

Hard Traffic, the sequel to Hard Carry, is written and edited. I’m just waiting for the cover, and I’m just now writing Hard eXit, which is book 3.

You can see the 90’s movie influence in the names, and also I’m printing them all in 4.25 x 7, the old mass market paperback size.

J.S Holloway’s previous cyberpunk novels include The Veil Trilogy of Neon Veil, the Ascendant, and Analogue Dreams. 

Hard Carry was released on 31st July, and is available to order, at his website, www.jsholloway.com