The Price of Everything

McGoran (Spiked) conjures a vividly realized near-future dystopia and threads it with a sinewy crime caper. Following the Upheaval, a brief interval of uncontrolled global cyber warfare whose release of virulent malware has so destabilized the internet that cryptocurrencies have tanked, the economy has reverted to “crinkle,” a counterfeit-proof plastic paper used for large cash denominations. Armand Pierce works for the untouchable Couriers Guild, ferrying crinkle to corporate and criminal oligarchs—until the day he discovers that a huge payload in the attache case chain-grafted to his arm has inexplicably disintegrated into a pile of dust. Pierce barely escapes the botched delivery with his life, only to learn that similar evaporations of large cash payments into valueless powder are happening across the country. Desperate to save his skin by proving his innocence, he plunged headlong into a byzantine criminal conspiracy implicating his microbiologist ex-lover, a cult dedicated to halting devastating climate change, and a rogue executive within UniCon, a global, paragovernmental corporate cartel. McGoran’s nuanced characters are believable products of their denatured future and the suspenseful subterfuges they employ to survive keep the pacing brisk. It’s a page-turning thrill ride.

This fast-paced sci-fi thriller is set in a near future where climate collapse has led to the demise of the internet, with an interesting consequence—the end of electronic banking. Cash is king, and the Couriers Guild members who deliver it have a unique position in society. These couriers give their lives as surety for the safe delivery of large denominations of cash. The main character is one such courier, Pierce, with a chain grafted to his wrist that connects him to his attaché case. Pierce has to navigate a difficult path between the Guild, an amalgam of united conglomerates called UniCon, and organized crime. When the money in his attaché case disappears, Pierce needs to get creative. Narrowly avoiding death and dismemberment, he contacts his friend Dugray, an organized crime member who is encountering the same challenges with money disappearing. The pieces of the puzzle come together when Pierce realizes that his ex-girlfriend Gloriana is the key to understanding the reason for the vanishing cash. VERDICT The combination of climate apocalypse and political side effects, layered in levels of intrigue and mystery and leavened by romance, makes for an engrossing novel from McGoran (Dust Up).

Pierce is a courier, ferrying cash. Business runs on Large—superhigh-denomination bills printed on the new plastic substrates—ever since malware took over the internet so thoroughly that it can’t be relied on for finance or recordkeeping. The conditions of his employment are simple: He has a cuff implanted on his arm, which attaches to a case. If he fails to make the delivery, the client can cut his hand off. When he arrives in Alaska for a delivery only to find that his cargo has vanished between the airport and his destination, Pierce discovers that he’s unwilling to be sanguine about the terms of his contract when the failure isn’t his fault. After escaping an already enraged client—Pierce is the fourth courier that day with mysteriously vanishing cash—he returns to New York in search of answers. It turns out that what happened in Alaska is only the beginning of something much, much bigger. A neatly crafted thriller with cyberpunk trappings and a grim, climate-disaster backdrop, McGoran’s latest (after Spiked, 2020) is an entertaining read with a cinematic finish.

Jon McGoran has crafted a cutting-edge humdinger of a science fiction tale in The Price of Everything, sure to please fans of William Gibson, Phillip K. Dick and Harlan Ellison.
Imagine a world without the Internet, credit cards, and pretty much the way we do business electronically today. Stepping into a portion of that void are specialized couriers who transport vital information and documents locked in old-fashioned briefcases secured in retro style by a chain to the holder’s risk. Fail to get the contents where they’re supposed to go is absolutely, positively punishable by death. So imagine courier Armond Pierce finding his briefcase empty when he arrives at his destination. That forces him to become both detective and fugitive, as he tries to figure out the nature of the elusive contents and who made them disappear.
Though somewhat reminiscent of William Gibson’s “Johnny Mnemonic,” The Price of Everything carves out its own pop culture place as a masterstroke of contemporary commentary on the state of our digitally-dominated world. This is accessible science fiction storytelling of the absolute highest order.

In a future world where the delivery of goods is overseen by an organization called the Guild, a courier steps into a conspiracy. Armand Pierce’s job required him to have surgery to graft a titanium handcuff onto his wrist bone so that theft of an attaché case linked at the other end is physically impossible. Like the Domino’s Pizza guarantee of 30 minutes or less, the Guild promises a successful transaction or death for the courier if that person fails to deliver the package for any reason. When Pierce arrives with a package, he’s shocked to learn that the materials inside have vanished, and he’s forced to kill everyone in the room to stay alive. On the run, he has nowhere to go and nobody to trust. This ultraviolent and nonstop action sci-fi thriller delivers (no pun intended) all the goods. McGoran does a terrific job of worldbuilding, and readers will dig this blending of Blade Runner and John Wick. Is there a sequel coming?

It’s so pleasant to read an action thriller that peels more layers than the average narrative. That’s the feeling I experienced reading Jon McGoran‘s The Price of Everything. It’s an action thriller through and through, but it also punches above its weight to speak about the state of our world and where it’s all heading, no matter how oblivious we may be.

Armand Pierce is a courier working for The Guild under a strict set of rules, chief being that a courier must never allow their package to be snatched. Pierce takes his job seriously. So seriously that when the contents of his package mysteriously disappear en route to his destination, he is highly motivated to find out what happened at the expense of mounting bodies at his feet. When this mystery begins to spiral out of control into a world-changing conspiracy, Pierce finds himself in for a ride, hunted by his own folks as he hunts for the truth.

I commend McGoran for creating an intelligent and effective thriller that walks a fine line between total sci-fi and ultra realistic narrative. The result is a moody and atmospheric thriller that reminded me a little bit of Blade Runner crossed with wondering how Jason Statham’s Transporter would be if set in the near future. The action sequences are vivid in their nature, using much of the modern weaponry to help thriller fans visualize the scenes effectively, maybe too effectively as Pierce uses knives, Glocks, throwing spikes, and a metal chain of his surgically embedded cuff. The action is plentiful and slick with great cinematic sequences to hold your attention.

It’s also more than an action thriller. It’s a cautionary tale of resource exhaustion, human greed, and the desperate desire to reverse the damages which may come at a heavy cost. The book is aptly named as it subtly illustrates the price of everything we must do to protect mankind, the later we act, the costlier it gets. McGoran conveys these nuanced truths without being preachy or overbearing. It’s the right balance of entertainment and education.

The Price of Everything is an exciting, engaging, and all-consuming thriller that is the bestest of what you expect to read in a bona-fide entertainer.