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Mars Girl
81,622 words (236 pages)
"Mars Girl is reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut's early satire ... [It's] a bizarre, satirical romp that offers a glimpse into the media and politics of a future that is probably nearer than most would like to admit."
-City Pulse
Excerpt
r pistol lighter to a cigarette and took a deep drag. "But if only one's gonna make it, I hope they're right and it's the girl," she said through drifting smoke. "She was always my favorite."
Barker, still wearing his rain-splattered jacket, stood looking through the streaked Plexiglas window of a swinging door that led into the repair shop's garage where Fred had Barker's car on the lift. There were two coiled wires running from under the car's cell compartment to a keyboard and screen on a wheeled cart. Fred, Amber's husband, wore baggy blue coveralls over his thin frame and studied the screen with his back to Barker.
Amber handled the phone and the administrative details from behind a wooden counter that, except for the overflowing ashtray and the deck of cards arrayed in a half-finished game of solitaire, seemed more appropriate for a corporate gatekeeper than an office at a mom and pop repair shop in northern Michigan.
"They said the president's gonna talk soon," Amber said. "So mayb
I really enjoyed Mars Girl. It's fast, it's funny and witty and despite all that, it still has a message. I surely hope Mr. Garrity will bring us a sequel, or at least continue to write since I really like his style.
A reasonably good story, some good hooks but certainly not the best example of this type of work out there. The writing is kind of fractured too, like maybe it was a first time effort by the author? If so, good job. Otherwise, well, if you were aiming for a pulp magazine feel, you nailed it!
Mars Girl turned out to be much more sophisticated than expected. Quite the commentary on today's political arena. However; I got confused on the last page where as the author you allowed Flanagan to present her asteroid view and thus turning the story into a "truth is impossible to know" tale, rather than a "pursue the truth and it shall set you free" story that it was up until that time. That was disappointing to me, yet maybe the real point [I hope not] is that "Spin Doctors" can turn even the worst scenario around. I don't like that philosophy either, but with the "terrorists all around us" governmental point of view verses the "blowback-ers" I am not so sure of anything anymore. Still, until the end, it had a nice libertarian, freedom and efficacy of the individual flavor, and that I loved. I hope you have more in store for your readers, of which, you can count me one.
Okay, one more thing. The style is unique and the story very humerous.
Kind of like Carl Hiaasen, Vonnegut, and even Dr. Strangelove. It's an incredibly fast paced page turner. I read it in about 7 hours and couldn't get enough. I laughed, I cried, I chewed off all my nails. LOL
I'd like to send copies to all our media stars, producers and publishers of the 24 hour news cycle to shame them.
Skip it. Better to read some Jules Verne instead.
Sometimes I wasn't sure where Garrity was coming from during the odd-but-intriguing moments, but the world he creates is believable and the style grows on you. Mars Girl's twists and turns kept me interested and I'm still trying to figure out the ending; if any book I've read recently is ripe for a follow-up, it's this one. I'm curious to see what the author will come up with next.
Mars Girl should make us all pay more attention to the threat of media manipulation of our world. Garrity's subtle wit and the fast-paced action make this a most enjoyable read.
Mars Girl is a terrific read. Especially as we head into the heart of the campaign season, you can see how the novel captures the terrible confluence of media saturation and political cynicism. If we aren't exactly to the point in the future where Mars Girl takes place, it looks like we'll be there soon. This is a not only a really, really funny book, but it's one that has genuine insight behind the humor. This should be required reading for all political science students, news junkies and voters.
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