Item: End Man
Author: Gina

End Man by Alex Austin | Book Review | #UrbanFiction #TechnoThriller

Have you read this fascinating story from Alex Austin? I can’t believe it’s his debut novel. I highly recommend this gripping tale. Let’s chat about it in the comments. Do you enjoy this genre? Can you imagine living your entire life within one square mile? The book has a near-future feel to it. Do you believe technology is overtaking us?

Book Details

End Man by Alex Austin
on 10/11/2022
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction, Techno, Thriller
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 379

Once your life is diluted to ones and zeroes on the End Man’s desk, it’s over. Or is it?

Afflicted with dromophobia, the fear of crossing streets, 26-year-old Raphael Lennon must live out his life within the four thoroughfares that border his Los Angeles neighborhood.

Luckily, he found a fulfilling job within his space as an End Man at Norval Portals, where Raphael is the best possum hunter in the company. He hunts the dead who live, people hiding under the guise of death. He doesn’t want to bring these “possums” to justice but to keep them out of his firm’s necrology database, so their presence doesn’t crash the whole system.

When the company founder assigns Raphael a fresh case, he sets aside all other work to investigate Jason Klaes, a maverick physicist with boundary-pushing theories that may have attracted unwanted and sinister attention. Raphael soon discovers messages sent by Klaes after his supposed death—threats to people who have subsequently died. As he digs deeper, he receives his own message from Klaes, a baffling command to pursue the truth.

As he unravels the mystery, he unearths the secrets of his own phobia-plagued life and the inner workings of Norval, whose corporate ambitions include a nightmarish spin-off of its product.

Raphael must stop them, or he’ll never be free, and neither will anyone else.

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Purchase Links for End Man

Click here for –> Amazon – OneLink for all countries.

BookShop Waterstones The Book Depository

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My thoughts on End Man

End Man is the thought-provoking tale of Raphael, who suffers from dromophobia. Since he can not cross streets, he lives in a one-mile area of Los Angeles. He’s fortunate to be able to live and work within that area.

However, strange things are afoot with his job as an End Man. In this slightly futuristic world, when a person dies, their personal data is mined and sold. A possum is what they call someone who fakes their death. Raphael’s job as an End Man is to suss out the possums so they don’t affect the database.

That’s where the trouble begins for Raphael. He believes he’s tracking a possum, but all other evidence points to the actual death of the man. Is he losing his mind, or are these strange things really happening?

Raphael is determined to discover the truth, but will he uncover more than he bargained for?

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The book is well-written, with a slightly slow start while the world is set up. But then the author ups the tension until every page is a potential clue to solving the mystery.

End Man is one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read this year. I frequently paused while reading to absorb the ramifications of what I read. After I finished the story, I pondered different parts of it often, looking for missed clues or alternate ways of looking at the situations.

If you are a fan of sci-fi techno-thrillers, you will love this book. Grab a copy today and immerse yourself in Raphael’s art world, skateboarding, mind games, and mystery.

I read a copy through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.

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About Alex Austin

Bio from Alex Austin:

I'm a Los Angeles-based journalist and teacher. My latest novel End Man has been acquired by Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing and was released in October, 2022.

My novel Nakamura Reality was published by The Permanent Press in February 2016. Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review and called it "powerful and moving. The following are links to some reviews, interviews and published stories:

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