Published: Jan. 13, 2010
Words: 29,906 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452300214

Description

If you were a sentient gadget, what would you do? Travel? See the world? After overhearing one warehouse worker tell another that 'Green Bay is better than San Francisco', a newly conscious handheld device decides to re-route its shipping destination. From there one hell of a wild goose chase is on as the gadget's designers' agents race to track it down and bring it in before it gets away for good

Tags

urban fantasy, women, suspense, science fiction, software, corporation, mind control, chase, shipping and receiving, warehouse, gadget, gizmo, geek fiction, comic science fiction

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Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Download
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Reviews

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Review by: Paul Samael on Sep. 21, 2012 :
In a world of personal devices, how personal is too personal? Zoey Bridges makes her living testing gadgets – but on this occasion, the gadget she’s been sent doesn’t seem to do anything. She sends it back, only to discover (to her horror) that it’s got lost in transit. She and the gizmo’s obsessively secretive designers then try to track it down - but it seems to have developed a mind of its own. Aside from the gadget (and one or two other details), the world of the story is recognisably our own – and there is some enjoyable satire of high-powered corporate types and their more lowly minions.

A well written, entertaining and thought-provoking story – well worth a read even if sci-fi is not usually your thing.

For a longer review, see: http://www.paulsamael.com/blog/ledman-pickup
(review of free book)

Review by: Jim Stinson on Feb. 19, 2012 :
This story raises science fiction to the Neil Gaiman level. No battles, rockets, time travel, or aliens; a contemporary setting instead, and an ending that is JUST open-ended enough to satisfy but still intrigue the reader. The well-controlled satire is aimed at human frailties – and what humans they are too! The author builds 3-D characters by giving us their thoughts and words directly, and the various POV voices are distinct, realistic, and believable. Yes, this is a satisfying science fiction story, but with the extra dividend of highly accomplished fiction-writing. Oh: aside from frequent naughty language and some drug references, there is nothing here to occasion the NC17 warning. (The usual disclaimer: I have never had any connection whatever with this writer.)
(review of free book)

Review by: Bumblefish on April 21, 2011 :
A fun story; enjoyable and lighthearted. The adventures of the device and the people chasing it kept me entertained and grinning.
(review of free book)

Review by: Doug Pardee on March 20, 2010 :
An interesting story, worth the read.

The number of typos, misspellings, and the like, was distracting. There were also a couple of spots where the Point of View was vague. At least in the Epub version, the line spacing and font size often varied from paragraph to paragraph. These problems were relatively minor, though.
(review of free book)

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