First, thank you so much to Scott for the opportunity to read this. I haven't read anything like this I don't think, so it was a fun diversion.

Nekonikon Punk is set in a future where mega corporations have broken away from the US and formed their own territory. Allegiance to the megacorp gives a certain level of privilege while remaining 'unaligned' with a corporation leaves you persona non-gratia and scraping a living at the edges of society.

We follow military grunt with a heart, Juan. He's kind of a meathead, not too bright. Sucked in to the corporate world and the motto 'Dominate. Control. Prosper.' Until, he isn't anymore, and being thrust into the world of underground hacking has him questioning everything he took for granted.

As others have said, this novel is fast-paced and it tackles some really interesting themes like the use of AI, corporate greed and the dangers of massive corporate power and encouragement of aggressive and competitive individualism.

The writing style is a little pared back for my tastes, but it suits the kind of cyber brutalist settings and themes well. Juan was a little stereotypical. But the found family element was really great, and Juan's doubts about his life were convincingly portrayed. I am a complete dolt about anything remotely tech based but it all sounded convincing to me!

If dystopian anti - capitalism is your thing, you could really vibe with this one!