Mercy (Post-Apocalyptic Western Gutter Cyberpunk)
I had heard of hoodrat Kelby Losack somewhere before, can’t remember where, but happened upon this gem of novelette while taking a trip to a weird fiction con in 2024. Actually bought my copy from Baltimore’s resident spook master David Simmons (look him up), but I sat on it for awhile until I decided to give Mercy a look last week, and promptly finished it in about an hour. Because it was short? Partially, but mainly because it was sick good. Gutter cyberpunk with urban fantasy mixed in until not only am I not sure about the absolute reality of the story but my own reality? You better get with it and sign your ass up for this.
“Sanctuary had been a cineplex hundreds of years back, before the moon split. The marquee was busted neon tubes of crooked letters. A crucifix wearing the skull of a deer hung by cables above the entrance. Inside, the priest rehearsed his next sermon to rows of empty theater seats, some of which had been reupholstered with coyote fur. From the entrance where the man who’d been summoned now stood waiting, daylight spilled over the cracked concrete in the shape of a coffin. Constellations of dust motes danced across the man’s outstretched shadow.”
Mercy takes place in a post-apocalyptic future and is largely in first-person from the perspective of “the man.” You never learn entirely who you are, just that you have a death wish against some living, technofreak, biologic mutant god, of sorts, and you’re willing to die while killing it. In fact, he’s selling his heart for a shaky piece of equipment that only gives him about ten days to remain alive while he rebonds with his son, whose arm is robotic, on a hunting trip to kill said god. The character pastische here is absolutely wonderful, with tons of details that assist in setting the world and mood. I was especially drawn in early on when a cyberpunk preacher uses special discs to talk out of a deteriorated speaker system in his throat, but expect way more of that. Combining the dregs of cyberpunk with a western outlaw, antihero plot sets Mercy up as one of the best underground reads I’ve ever come across, and for cyberpunk fans, I’d recommend it enough that I’d sell my heart to get you to read it. Please save me the trouble and support this agitator without risking my life.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Mercy (2024)
Kelby Loscak
Broken River Books, Independent
Cover Art: Kelby Losack
4.6 / 5
