CORPORATE GUNSLINGER by Doug Engstrom – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Corporate Gunslinger by Doug Engstrom
Published by Harper Voyager on June 16 2020
Genres: Adult, Science fiction, Thriller
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A tense, fast-paced futuristic thriller that was almost impossible to put down.

I love finding well written debuts, and I’m happy to say that Corporate Gunslinger is now on my list of favorites. I don’t usually make “blank meets blank” comparisons when I’m reviewing books, but in this case I have to go with “Docile meets The Hunger Games,” although Corporate Gunslinger feels unique and has its own voice. However, if you are looking for a hopeful story about America’s future, this might not be the right book for you at this time. This is a grim look at corporate greed and the consequences of being in debt and losing your freedom. Add in a cavalier, nonchalant attitude towards gun violence and you have a tense, anxiety-inducing futuristic story.

Kira Clark is a twenty-six year old actor with an MFA from a prestigious college, but she can’t find a job that will pay her enough to stay on top of her student loans. When she hears about an opening in the gunfighter’s academy—which includes a big signing bonus—Kira takes a chance and joins, hoping she’ll score a job with a top insurance agency as a gunfighter once she graduates. Kira does well and attracts the attention of Diana Reynolds, a former gunfighter who now trains and mentors new recruits. She knows that having Diana on her side is a sure fire way to rise in the ranks. But what she doesn’t count on is the toll that becoming a killing machine will take on her mental state.

As the stakes continue to rise, Kira must make some tough decisions: risk her life for a huge payday, or walk away and lose everything.

Corporate Gunslinger is set in a future where large insurance companies employ gunfighters to ensure people keep up with their premiums. Those who are unable to pay or who have defaulted on a loan are forced to make a decision: enter a duel against one of the company’s professional gunfighters, or face losing everything and become little more than a slave. Those who actually win the duel will have their debts erased and can claim freedom. But many are injured or die in the ring, so as you can imagine, life in this dystopian world is harsh and dangerous. Even Kira’s role as a gunfighter doesn’t mean her life is easy. Every time she steps into the ring, she faces mortal injury or death, but the lure of money and freedom means she doesn’t have much of a choice. When Kira graduates from training, she’s offered a contract with TKC Insurance, but in order to fulfill that contract, she must complete twenty-six matches as a gunfighter. Engstrom asks lots of moral questions like which is the lesser of two evils—dying in a duel or becoming a government slave? 

Once the recruits finish their training—where they practice simulated gunfights against bots—then the real fights begin, and the author doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to describing gunshot wounds and the emotional repercussions of having to kill another person. Just like duels in the old West, duelists start back to back and walk away from each other a certain number of paces, then quickly turn and shoot, although Engstrom gives the duels in this story a futuristic twist. Entrants are awarded points based on what kind of shot they are able to complete. An outright kill earns 100 points, a grave injury less, and anyone who falls over after being shot automatically loses the duel. There are some graphic descriptions of gunshot wounds, so if that’s a trigger for you, do consider before picking up this book.  

Engstrom uses an unusual hook to compel his story forward. He opens the story with Kira about to enter the gunfighting ring for what we presume is a high stakes gunfight, and breaks up this scene into short chapters scattered throughout the book.  In the first chapter, the reader doesn’t know what’s happening, as we haven’t yet been introduced to Kira and this world. But as these chapters progress, we discover that Kira is engaging in the fight of her life. I don’t want to tell you much more than that and ruin the story, but I will say that this device worked brilliantly, and it compelled me to keep turning pages, even when I knew I should put down the book and go to bed. When we get to the second chapter, Engstrom goes back to the beginning and describes Kira’s first day at the academy, and the story spirals outward from there. Readers who like to be hand fed world-building details might struggle with this method of storytelling, but personally I enjoy putting all the pieces together for myself.

Kira was an interesting character, and I loved that Engstrom made her an actor, which she uses to her advantage to psyche out her opponents before the duels. She develops a close relationship with her roommate Chloe, the only other female recruit at the academy, as well as her mentor Diana, who becomes almost a mother figure to Kira. I loved how the author handled her mental state as she realizes that this is a “kill or be killed” situation that doesn’t have a happy ending no matter which way it goes. One reason this story is so suspenseful is that we’re never certain what Kira is going to do in any given situation, and I have to admit I was surprised more than once.

Granted, this is a fairly short book and Engstrom doesn’t waste a lot of time with detailed world-building, so some of the specifics about why TKC and other insurance companies need gunfighters to do their dirty work are lost. But I honestly didn’t mind. The driving force of this story is Kira’s final gunfight, and I wasn’t thinking about those details at all while I frantically turned pages to get to the end. And wow that ending! I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but I’m trying to imagine a different ending and I can’t, so kudos to Mr. Engstrom for doing something so unexpected.

I really had fun with this story and I can’t wait to see what Doug Engstrom writes next. 

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.