A refreshing blend of science fiction, horror, mystery and action.
As enjoyable as the book was during the first half, the story slips into overdrive near the middle, as the storylines begin to converge. This was when the book changed from being good to being one that was hard to put down. Attribute that to Thomas' slick prose and enjoyably consistent pacing. While the book plays with the themes of identity and destiny - from Stake's ever-changing features, to the clones' place in society, to the doll's ever-expanding sense of awareness and power - it will be the blend of science fiction, horror, mystery and action that will appeal to most readers. The suspenseful scenes played out at Steward Gardens, for example, were reminiscent of a well-dome futuristic horror movie complete with violence and gore. More good news: characters are expendable. And let's not forget the vast array of aliens, mutants and other creatures that adorn the streets of Punktown: Among many others, there's the super-strong Big Meat, his shorter, ammonia-spewing cohort, Tiny Meat, and the amorphous blob that walks in a spider-like mechanical body.
Come for the plot, stay for the setting.
-- SF Signal
Far-future science fiction meets hard-boiled detective story... Stake is an ex-army corporal, a veteran of an inter-dimensional war against an orientalized, blue-skinned race called the Ha Jiin. Now he is a private detective, still pining for the beautiful enemy sniper he fell in love with during that long ago war. Stake is skilled at his work, largely due to the genetic mutation that causes his face to change shape, mimicking the visages of others merely by looking at images of them ... Punktown is well-imagined and richly observed, and Stake’s personal history and emotional life is well-rendered ... A page-turner.
-- Kirkus Reviews
This is that rare animal, a thriller that keeps the reader guessing. Thomas's control of pacing and plot is expert, while Punktown has the chaotic immediacy and lived-in feel of a real place. Stake is both blessed and cursed by his mutation, a complex man made sympathetic by his own confused identity and his uncertain relations with others. Deadstock is a gripping page-turner written with verve and intelligence.
-- Eric Brown, The Guardian
Punktown, you'll have gathered, is a colorful place. Part the Ankh-Morpork of Terry Pratchett's novels, part 2000AD's Mega-City One, it's the perfect playground for a writer who reserves the right to hop from sf to urban fantasy to supernatural thriller as the muse dictates...
-- Finn Dempster, Strange Horizons
I really liked Deadstock in a giant-monster-trashing-a-city kind of way, and also in a hard-boiled-private-detective kind of way - though it is more entertainment than brain food - enough that I would/will seek out more by this guy. Long-time genre readers will have loads of fun unpicking all the references to the work of many other authors, not least HP Lovecraft (another reason it appeals to me specifically), and characters, not least Godzilla, and so on. Overall, a good and satisfying science fantasy romp. Readers more familiar with Thomas’s Punktown will hardly need my recommendation to pick this up, but the rest of you can take my word for it that this is a highly entertaining novel and great fun.
— Tony Chester, Concatenation
Stake has a vivid imagination, his world, part Blade Runner Los Angeles part modern day Tokyo, contains a wealth of intriguingly dark ideas. The ouija phone that might just allow young girls to talk to the dead, genetically engineered golems and a Vietnam style war in a different dimension all add texture and levels of complexity to the novel. His 'Punktown' feels like a fully formed place and having appeared in previous novels and stories it will no doubt grow organically like his ill fated genetically altered beasts.
— Adam J. Shardlow, BFS Magazine
Fans of the classic cult movie "Blade Runner" will absolutely LOVE this novel. The author, Jeffrey Thomas, has added several items and flashbacks (Stake's) that do not truly matter to the plot and/or story line, except for a small reference near the end; however, I found them to be extremely creative and never got bored. If P.I. Jeremy Stake has a future assignment published, I hope to be first in line to read it. I believe Jeffrey Thomas possesses a riveting imagination and I am hoping for more on this mutant character.
**** (of 5)
-- Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews
After finishing Jeffrey Thomas’ Deadstock I can see why it was one of the feature titles for the launching of new publisher Solaris Books... As a backdrop, Punktown immediately evokes shades of Philip K. Dick – think a cross between Blade Runner and Total Recall – with an interesting mélange of cyberpunk dystopia, neo-noir vibe, mutants, Japanese cultural influences and themes involving technological ethics & what’s real vs. what’s not. Toss in virtual reality, cloning and various other familiar concepts, and you might think that you’ve seen this all before. That’s when Jeffrey Thomas throws you a curveball with multiple alien races cohabitating alongside humans, alternate dimensions, bio-engineered life forms (BELFs) like the Blank People, the trendy Kawaii-dolls, deadstock – genetically manipulated livestock without unnecessary appendages like heads, tales, hooves, etc. – and Ouija phones that allow users to communicate with the dead, not to mention flavored Lovecraftian-spiced deities, cults & other horror elements, and it’s apparent that you’ve stumbled onto something a little bit different. Of course, this is only a good thing, and because Jeffrey Thomas has spent a lot of time developing the world, Punktown feels like a fully realized universe rather than a caricature of mish mashed ideas... There’s lots of action to visualize, far-fetched futuristic concepts to think about, mysteries to try and solve, somewhat startling revelations, and enough sex, violence & profanity to appease your darker side.
Going back to the characters, Jeremy Stake is an intriguing protagonist. Because of his chameleon-like abilities, Stake immediately offers some interesting moral dilemmas regarding identity, which is explored sexually and spiritually. Yet, aside from this one distinguishing feature Stake is your prototypical, flawed hero plagued by the past. ... In short, if you like your science fiction crossed with horror, full of action & demented imagination, and reads quickly, then Jeffrey Thomas’ Deadstock might just be up your alley…
-- Robert Thompson, Fantasy Book Critic
The first science fiction novel in the new Solaris line is one of Thomas' visits to Punktown, an urban setting on a distant world where humans and aliens interact, with more than a touch of cyberpunk but somewhat wider horizons. Jeremy Stake is a somewhat seedy private detective who is hired by a prominent and rich local man to find a rare living artefact, a doll that belongs to his teenaged daughters and which is mysteriously missing, presumably stolen. Stake has an unusual talent, although some times it's as much a curse as an asset. He's a chameleon, a shapechanger whose appearance can be altered very quickly to resemble others. But Stake is not the only one who isn't what he appears to be. His new employer hasn't told him the whole truth, and the living doll he's pursuing is more than just a very sophisticated plaything. Lots of revelations, twists, and turns will follow.
Although there's a pretty good mystery here, the real charm of the book - if that's the right term for a novel about a generally repulsive society - is the evocation of a corrupt, many layered, city where high tech and low morals co-exist, where gangs prowl the lower levels in an entirely different environment from that of the wealthy who live, literally, above them. Stake is a brooding figure whose personality fits perfectly, and I was reminded at times of the promising early works of Piers Anthony (pre-Xanth) like Chthon. Thomas seems to have grown more confident of his material with each book, and this is far and away the best he has done, clear evidence that he is evolving into one of the more exciting talents in the field.
-- Don D'Ammassa, Critical Mass
Living human skin is the latest designer fabric, mobile phones call the dead and genetics corporations manufacture headless livestock for the butcher in the latest dispatch from Thomas's Punktown, a vividly realized, ultra-bleak off-world cityscape, in which bloody terror and sci-fi spectacle meld to ferocious effect. The central plot -- from which there are a number of strange digressions -- concerns Jeremy Stake, an interdimensional war veteran and private eye who's constantly aggravated by his involuntary, Zelig-like ability to mimic those around him. His latest assignment is to track down a missing one-of-a-kind bio-doll manufactured specially for a genetics tycoon's daughter -- a toy that isn't quite as defenceless as its teenage owner presumes. When describing the intricacies of Punktown's macabre culture, Thomas's prose sizzles, but the setup proves largely superfluous to the narrative, propelled by splatter-happy action and firefight climaxes, along with occasionally stilted exposition regarding extradimensional deities. Those hoping for a provocative exploration of the ethical dilemmas posed by Punktown's morbid culture -- the sale of living female torsos to brothels, for example -- will be disappointed. For a wild ride, however, readers will be hard-pressed to find a better vehicle than Thomas's bizarre multiverse; fans of cyberpunk noir and Lovecraftian horror will find much to enjoy in this messy, bravura hybrid.
-- Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
Punktown is not wholly Thomas' demesne; it's a shared world that's been contributed to in the past by a number of writers, including his brother, Scott. But he seems to know it better than any other, and he is the perfect tour guide to a city as dangerous and beguiling as Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris and China Miéville's Bas-Lag. Like these authors, linked now past all protestation with the New Weird, Thomas combines tropes from horror, fantasy and science fiction in his work. His distinctive blend results in a mutant mash-up of H.P. Lovecraft, Bruce Sterling and Blade Runner, a slow-motion apocalypse of gritty surrealism and future schlock limned by a stark noir vision of damaged souls scrabbling for whatever shreds of honor and dignity remain to them ... and those are the good guys.
Thomas is a the kind of writer a mainstream critic might attempt to compliment by stating that he "transcends his schlocky material." But the fact of the matter is, Thomas wallows in the schlock. He gets down and dirty in it. And thank God, or Dai-oo-ika, for that. Because what he connects with is not only the chilly terror of Lovecraft's bleak inhuman vision but a contrapuntal humanity (so notably absent from much of Lovecraft's fiction) that both deepens the horror and allows some glimmer of hope, even redemption, in the midst of it. And factors in the cost of hope as well, and the cost of love, too.
-- Paul Witcover, Sci Fi Weekly
