The Way Up is Death

Starred review from November 11, 2024
Cleverly blending science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Hanks (Swashbucklers) uses a video game format to probe the nature of humanity in all its glory and gore. The story kicks off when a mysterious and foreboding tower suddenly materializes in the air over central England, and a diverse group of 13 strangers are zapped up to its doorway. Among them are Alden, a disillusioned teacher; Nia, an underappreciated game designer; Dirk, an arrogant American Instagram influencer; an unnamed priest; and a father, Earl, and his precocious teenage daughter, Rakie. Though the group fear the tower and sense that it is somehow sentient, they follow the instruction to ascend, which is written in glowing letters above the door. The priest believes it’s the Rapture, but upon taking some gold from a treasure chest on the first floor, he is ripped apart by scythes. The remaining 12 realize they are in a video game designed to “test on what’s important” and must survive various levels within the tower—including a torture chamber, a huge drilling machine, and an upside down room—as they work their way to the top. Hanks punctuates each level with displays of the best and worst human qualities: fear, logic, betrayal, sympathy, sacrifice. The pages fly by through all the humor, social commentary, and suspense.

December 1, 2024

An ominous-looking tower suddenly appears, floating over the English countryside. When 13 random strangers are jerked out of their lives to its doorstep, the game, whatever it might be, is clearly on. Some think it's a live-action role play. Others are convinced it's reality TV. Initially, the only clue is emblazoned over the entrance: "ASCEND." As they climb, the tower creates scenarios from the depths of their imaginations, revealing their most horrifying fears, and it becomes clear that only one can survive the perilous ascent. The tower will judge their choices, and the price will be higher than any ever imagined. Hanks (Swashbucklers) combines the entertainment of reality TV with the deadly consequences of epic disaster films, the traps and monsters of video games, and the worst horrors hiding in the human psyche to tell a story about people bonding and fracturing between hope and dread, searching for escape or salvation. VERDICT A compelling blend of science fiction and horror, conceptualized as reality TV with huge consequences. Readers of SF thrillers will be chilled and thrilled.--Marlene Harris

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.