When I started reading Firebreak by Nicole Kohrher-Stace, I noted that it reminded me of Ready Player One. As I read more, that was not the only dystopian setting it brought to mind, as you’ll see in this review. This review was originally published in the April 1, 2021 issue of Booklist.
Mal, the protagonist of Nicole Kohrher-Stace’s Firebreak, is one of many war survivors in old town working multiple jobs to scrimp by, including her team’s video game streaming. The team lives with several roommates in a converted hotel room run by Stellaxis, the company that owns this half of town, and is the only legal provider of drinkable water. When Mal catches sight of an elusive SecOps character, special NPCs modeled after Stellaxis’s twelve bioengineered operatives, the team launches in pursuit in the game to catch her on video for two seconds before their power curfew kicks in. By the time Mal heads down for her daily ration of water, they’ve secured a lucrative contract, involving an in-person meeting and a conspiracy theory, paying them to capture images of the three living SecOps characters. When Mal returns to find out why the next payment failed, she becomes involved in a fracas that will endanger everyone she knows. This dystopian novel will appeal to fans of Ready Player One and The Hunger Games with its blend of gaming and real life adventures. Mal’s unwitting evolution from disadvantaged video gamer to real life hero will appeal to every reader’s inclination to improve the world around them.
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