Ginger, an out-of-shape bounty hunter, travels to Mars to hunt Earth's most dangerous criminal: the mysterious Alex Patrick Symbol.
But with the odds stacked against him, Ginger's chances of survival are slim, and his chances of success even slimmer. The obstacles in his way are myriad. But his confidence, like his soft belly, is over-inflated, and he dives head first into the world of martian crime.
Follow Ginger as he is swept forward by the inevitable wave of sex and violence on Mars.
Ginger, an out-of-shape bounty hunter, travels to Mars to hunt Earth's most dangerous criminal: the mysterious Alex Patrick Symbol.
But with the odds stacked against him, Ginger's chances of survival are slim, and his chances of success even slimmer. The obstacles in his way are myriad. But his confidence, like his soft belly, is over-inflated, and he dives head first into the world of martian crime.
Follow Ginger as he is swept forward by the inevitable wave of sex and violence on Mars.
The great orange-red sphere of Mars loomed large outside the window of the rickety aluminum space pod. Inside sat a man in one of the craftâs four seats as it flew over the red planet to a landing zone in the southern hemisphere.Â
Almost forty, he was a brutish man with broad shoulders and thick legs, his belly pushed against his suit, and his large hands squeezed into too-tight gloves. The harness that bound him in the chair worked hard to restrain his bulk. Decorative orange stripes ran up the side of his olive drab Atmos suit. Helmet off, he reclined in the flight seat and read a briefing on the tablet in his lap, while chewing the end of a lit cigar. Computer readouts on every surface of the craftâs tight interior flashed telemetry.Â
Light from the tabletâs screen illuminated his jaw's hard line and reflected against his brown hair and dark blue eyes. Ginger tapped the tablet. The name Alex Patrick Symbol appeared along with an image of a person wearing an atmosphere mask, crimson slits for eyes and a jagged circular outline for the mouth.Â
âThis asshole looks like a real nasty piece of work,â he muttered to himself.
Notification of a call appeared on the screen: âVideo call from LUCY.â
Ginger sighed and tapped the tablet to accept it. Â
âLucy, honey, baby,â Ginger said in a light tone.Â
Lucyâs face appeared on the blurry screen, bands of color streaking the broadcast. Heavy distortion marred the image of her blonde hair and blue eyes. The static failed to mask her enraged expression.
âWhat the fuck, Ginger?â Lucy asked, her stark, feminine voice emanating from the speaker. âWhere the fuck are you? I wake up in the middle of the night, and youâre fucking gone. You didnât even leave a note. Itâs been four weeks, you son of a bitch!âÂ
The cheap speaker distorted her voice, turning it shrill.
âWork called.â Ginger smiled around his cigar. âSomething important came up.â
âSomething important? Are you kidding me? Better be pretty fucking important!â
He looked directly into the camera.
âBiggest off-world contract ever. I gotta bring Alex Symbol back from Mars.â
âAlex Patrick Symbol?â The shriek made Ginger wince. Lucy continued, âThatâs crazy, Ginger. He killed the fucking president! How are we going to get married if your fat ass dies out there on Mars?âÂ
âI wonât die! Itâs gonna be easy. The Mars bounties were released after the last atmosphere test. They raised the atmosphere forty percent, Luce.â
 âThe Symbol, huh,â Lucy remarked. âThe bounty must be enormous.â
Ginger grinned. âNow youâre seeing the big picture. And itâs real fuckinâ big.â
Lucyâs eyes grew wide on the vidscreen.
âShit,â she conceded.Â
âYeah. Exactly. Arenât you glad you quit yelling?â Ginger asked.
âI donât know yet,â Lucy said, anger flashing across her face. âDonât fucking push it.â
âYouâre right, baby, sorry.â He smiled.
âSo, how are you supposed to get around? Youâve never been to Mars.â
âThey sourced me a guide, someone called Bishop. Heâs going to find me once I land.â
Red lights began to flash. A computerized voice blared inside the pod. âAutopilot will engage for landing. Prepare for descent.â
âIf youâre lying about anything,â Lucy said and leaned in close to the camera, her curves barely covered by a white tank top, âdonât bother coming back.âÂ
She closed the connection.
âSecure all loose items. Beginning final descent!â A computerized voice cut through the cabin.
Ginger stowed the tablet in his Amphi-seal duffel bag, stacking it on top of his automatic pistol and sealed them in. He grabbed the safety cord attached to his free-floating helmet. As he reeled his helmet toward him the retrorockets fired, jerking the ship into a steep descent trajectory. Centrifugal force jerked Gingerâs helmet toward the top of the craft, pulling the safety cord taut. The capsule began to shake as gravity took hold. He reached for his helmet with one hand, the other gripping the armrest with white-knuckled tenacity. The sensation of falling enveloped Ginger. He clenched his teeth, and bit through his cigar.
The wobbling curve of the horizon sauntered back and forth in the spacecraftâs viewports. The shipâs screens flashed, âWarning! Uneven trajectory!â Ginger stopped reaching for his helmet and grabbed the other armrest, trying to steady himself. The old, unbalanced craft twisted off-course as it became ensnared by the planetâs gravity. He tasted the salt of nervous sweat dripping down around the cigar into his mouth.Â
âError! Error! Uneven entry! Brace for impact!â
The podâs wobble turned into a violent spin.Â
âUgh,â Ginger grunted his face beet red, his eyes bulging.
 Abruptly, the stabilization thrusters fired and the ship snapped into alignment. Gingerâs Atmos helmet flew back at him, colliding with his forehead and knocking him unconscious.
Ginger is a care free bounty hunter on a mission to Mars where he finds himself getting into more trouble than good and his story is exactly what the title suggests. Even if this tale feels a little brief the science fiction world building stands out and the themes are captured well in this setting. Life is cheap, there's sex and violence on the surface of this red planet and our cynical hero sees it first hand near enough everywhere.
The setting is paired with a writing style that I found to be executed very well - its a very easy read with some fun comedic elements. It doesn't take itself too seriously and along with everything else this short book makes for a good read. For what starts out as a slowly paced introduction of this well imagined world soon picks up and is constantly moving forward much like the pages which turn; I was able to read this one in just a sitting.
Ginger is likeable and makes for a different type of hero. It would appear trouble and unpredictability follow him no matter where he goes. His final destination, we'll have to find out next time as the story ends on a cliff-hanger.
Anyone who enjoys space sci fi with some adult themes will enjoy this one.