A story clawing to escape the mass media that ensnares it, Ryan Oakley’s Technicolor Ultra Mall is a dystopian tour de force that will baffle and incite you in a spiral of emotions that haunt this seemingly all-but-human world. Resisting your urge to live-tweet it, the novel is set in a not-so-far future where cities have evolved into mega  malls. The pollution and destruction of the world will remind readers of the vile charm of Neuromancer, or be a pleasing gateway drug to those yet to read it. Follow Budgie as he swoons for the woman who kills his best friend, and watch his self-destruction as he is trapped in a world-altering scheme beyond his control. The chapters are besieged on either side by adverts, hashtags, info dumps, and sitcom recaps that draw you into the chaos of familiar advertising schemes and their unrelenting devouring of the human experience in this cold, profane world. A plastic pawn on a bleak chessboard, Budgie ultimately questions the value of human life in a commercial society.

Buy it in your comparatively-tranquil modern malls (book stores in a mall in 2012? hah), purchase your copy online at the Amazon store, or download it from the Kindle store.