Kimberly Unger’s new technothriller THE EXTRACTIONIST continues to enthrall with reviews from Kara Babcock at Kara Reviews and Pamela Scott for The Book Lover’s Boudoir as well as an interview with Paul Semel. Also, be sure to catch Unger reading from the book for KALW Pubic Media.

THE EXTRACTIONIST is a pretty strong contender for a new generation of cyberpunk that hews to the traditions of the subgenre while also carving out new ones given our modern society’s flirtation with a metaverse.

Kara Reviews

I’ve read other books by the author and was looking forward to THE EXTRACTIONIST. I liked the world-building and the level of detail used to bring McKay’s world and job to life. It got a bit technical at times but I was fascinated. I enjoyed the thriller elements but preferred just hanging out with McKay and her strange life.

The Book Lover’s Boudoir

I’d like to start with a little background: Who is Eliza McKay, the main character of The Extractionist? What does she do? And what exactly is an extractionist?

So, in every science fictional universe with some kind of “alternate reality” technology, there’s a story about someone getting stuck in it. Star Trek did it, Stargate did it, even The X-Files did it. An extractionist is the person whose job is to pull you out of those virtual spaces in time for dinner, even if you really don’t want to go.

Eliza McKay is doing this as a fallback career. After she royally fucked up in her day-job, this was the slice of the gig economy where she really found a fit.

Paul Semel