Obsidian Run

I tore through this in one rainy sitting — Obsidian Run hits like that first gunshot at the tram junction: sudden and impossible to ignore. The opening imagery (the rain as the city’s “least expensive accessory”) is gorgeous and sets the mood perfectly. I loved the little tactile details — Anya’s clamshell case nested in foam and ceramic, her strap across the chest, the way she moves “like she had learned to move through water.” Those moments made the heist feel lived-in. The Foundry infiltration and the showdown with the corporate architect of control had me on edge; the scene where the tram switch shorts and a maintenance tram careens in felt cinematic. Best of all was Anya’s moral beat — she once helped build the weapon and now must decide its fate. The choice lands emotionally. I wanted more pages right after the climax. Brilliant, moody, and human. 💧

Tight, efficient and atmospheric — Obsidian Run is a smart tech-noir heist that does a lot with a little. The author excels at scene-setting: the rain-slicked neon, the elevated tram junction, the way old transit software is described as patched and humming. Those details inform the plot mechanics instead of just dressing them up. Anya’s background as a systems patcher gives the infiltration plausible grounding; the small cheat she uses on the tram controllers reads like the handiwork of someone who understands cybersecurity and legacy infrastructure. I appreciated the logistics of the break-in (the clamshell case, timing with train brakes) and the payoff: confronting the corporate architect and the ethical quandary over a device that can rewrite the city’s records. A few peripheral characters could use deeper development, but the pacing and tech-savvy plotting make this a strong, lean action piece.

There’s a noir lullaby beating through Obsidian Run — rain on neon, the metallic whisper of trams, and a protagonist who carries regret as much as gear. The prose here is often lovely: the simile about moving through water, the city’s “map of failures,” the tram doors that “whisper” open. Those lines made me pause and savor the world-building. The Foundry scenes are where the story truly catches fire; the confrontation with the corporate architect is tense and morally complex. I especially liked the final moral hinge — Anya holding the weapon she once helped craft, deciding whether to destroy, expose, or repurpose it — that ambiguity stayed with me. This is action with heart and consequence, a proper urban thriller that’s as thoughtful as it is gripping. Highly recommend for fans of wet streets and hard choices. 🔥

So, a rain-drenched city, a mysterious clamshell case, and a device that can rewrite records — original? Not exactly. I enjoyed the tram-shotgun moment (nice set piece), but a lot of the story reads like a checklist of cyberpunk tropes: corporate villain, rogue techie hero, moral dilemma about a superweapon. The corporate architect of control could’ve been chilling but ends up more cardboard-evil than nuanced. A few beats felt engineered for tension rather than earned. The ‘don’t deviate’ client instruction, the neat foam nest for the case, the perfectly timed rail-switch short — all too convenient. And that big choice at the end? Rushed. I wanted the consequences explored, not just hinted at. Solid setpieces, but—honestly—been there, done that. 😒

I wanted to love Obsidian Run more than I did. The opening is superbly rendered — rain, neon, and the tactile worry of the clamshell case — and the first assault sequence (tram junction, sudden gunshot, maintenance tram out of schedule) is genuinely cinematic. But after that exciting start the narrative stumbles into predictable territory. Two main issues: pacing and depth. The middle feels like it stalls on exposition about the city’s “map of failures” while several supporting players (the courier, the black-cloaked figure, even some of the Foundry guards) never get enough texture to matter. The device that can rewrite records is a terrific conceit, but its societal implications are barely interrogated; it’s treated mainly as a MacGuffin. Also, a few convenience beats strain credulity — the clamshell that doesn’t rattle, the perfectly timed tram brakes — which undercuts tension. If the author expands the interpersonal fallout of the final choice and tightens the middle, this could be a standout urban thriller. As-is, it’s a very pretty action piece with missed opportunities.