Sucker

February 1, 2023

In Hornsby's second novel, following the attention-getting Via Negativa, a putative Sucker named Chuck Gross, the errant son of a rich, exploitative industrialist, tries to make his own way by joining a medical startup that's promising to sell immortality. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2023
Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos was sentenced for fraud; her fictionalized counterpart, Olivia Watts of Kenosis, is much more successful, if no less deceitful, in this gonzo, slow-burning speculative thriller from Hornsby (Via Negativa). Charles Gross is a record publisher whose financial viability rests more on his being an heir of the heavily wealthy Grossheart family than on his own music acumen. When he needs to demonstrate his entrepreneurship to his suspicious father, he hooks up with Olivia, a college friend whose startup promises amazing nanotech biomedical monitoring. All is not well with Kenosis, however, a fact curious Charles begins to uncover both on his own and with the help of a company whistleblower. But can he convince his father of the company’s malevolent conspiracy before Olivia puts her hooks into the senior Grossheart? Hornsby toys with the reader through tantalizing glimpses of Olivia’s rise to startup fame and grounds the story’s wilder elements, including the bloody secrets Kinosis hides, in Charles’s struggles to emerge from his father’s shadow. Readers will likely guess Olivia’s ties to the supernatural long before they are revealed, but that doesn’t detract from the entertainment. This is sharp-fanged Silicon Valley satire. Agent: Chris Clemans, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.

July 1, 2023
This skewering of Silicon Valley startup culture is biting satire--complete with fangs. Set in San Narciso, a barely fictionalized version of San Francisco, the story follows Chuck Gross, the disappointing scion of a billionaire who made his money the old-fashioned way: arms and labor exploitation. Chuck thinks he's eager to separate himself from his family--he's changed his name from Charles Grossheart and started a punk record label (secretly funded with family money, natch)--but everything changes when he's actually cut off financially. He catches a break when he's hired as a "creative consultant" by his college friend Olivia Watts, known as "Steve Jobs, but with a heart" in this fictional Silicon Valley. The one catch is that she would like the Grosshearts to invest. While Chuck doesn't mind helping his family acquire more wealth, he quickly realizes that her startup's "world-changing medical technology" is working toward the goal of "remov[ing] all human expiration dates" through means that are less scientific and more Nosferatu. Even as the perennial black sheep, Chuck has to decide if he can really involve his family in a plan that Bram Stoker couldn't have dreamed up. It's a clever idea, and as in Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, it's a bit hard to tell where the line between satire and reality lies. If it turned out that the buzzy weight-loss drug Ozempic were derived from vampires, would people actually stop taking it? It's hard to imagine a world where rich folks offered a shot at immortality and incredible wealth wouldn't take it, even if it came with insatiable bloodlust. While the plot takes a while to unfurl and Chuck, who seems to embody the concept of "failing upwards," is not exactly relatable, anyone who enjoyed the delicious schadenfreude of the Theranos trial will get a kick out of this book. If Chuck Palahniuk and Stephenie Meyer teamed up to write a spec script for Succession, this is what you might get.

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June 30, 2023
Hornsby's playful novel careens between workplace thriller, sf, and fantasy with delightful abandon. Charles is superbly crafted as its narrator, a wisecracking millennial and renegade scion of an influential dynasty. Not content with the tepid success of his bankrolled record label, he secretly takes on a second job at a rising tech company. He is perfectly comfortable assuming the fabricated position that was created solely to court his family's investment. When he suspects the start-up may be a false front for something more sinister, Charles vacillates between being a willing co-conspirator and a reluctant whistleblower. He knowingly leverages the perks of his social circle while also acting as its harshest critic. Charles' sardonic tone and rapier wit, however, provide scant cover for his insecurity and desperation for parental approval. Even astute readers may struggle to keep up with Hornsby's (Via Negativa, 2020) rapid-fire allusions and amusing neologisms, but the effort is well worth it. Sucker capitalizes on the hot trend of vilifying the wealthy and uncontrolled tech but maneuvers among them in thoroughly entertaining and inventive ways.

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June 16, 2023

Hornsby's latest (after Via Negativa) is a satire of wealth and capitalism with a supernatural twist. The book follows the exploits of its unlikable protagonist, Charles Grossheart (or Chuck Gross to his friends), as he struggles to maintain his failing punk label, stay in his evil billionaire father's good graces, and possibly do some good at the large corporation Kenosis with his old friend Olivia. But all is not as it appears with Olivia, who is in the business of selling immortality. Unfortunately, the novel struggles to find its footing, and the satire is a little heavy-handed. The supernatural part of the novel is excellent but rationed too finely in the beginning and comes too late at the end, although Hornsby's characters are interesting and make the reader want more. VERDICT While the author's writing style has good flow, the satire is over-the-top, making the story less palatable.--Jeremiah Paddock

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.