If only this book had the energy, fun, and cheesy 80s vibe of the Better Off Dead / John Cusack movie. Alas, other than having shades of the “where’s my two dollar” bit, this book was a snooze.
Roak is a Larry Stu with no backstory or character, other than his blockheaded fixation with recovering 600,000 chits from a gangster without killing said gangster. When offered more than 600,000? “No thanks,” he says, “I just want what’s owed me.” Riiiiight. Said gangster spends the entire book trying to kill Roak and when they finally meet up, Roak is still willing to let him live if Roak gets his money. Riiiight. Roak gets stabbed, bludgeoned, and shot over and over again, yet proceeds to keep fighting as if his injuries are mere hangnails… then he pops into a med-tube and “poof” all healed for the next identical scene of nonsensical fighting. Shampoo, rinse, repeat.
If you’re looking for a better sci-fi anti-hero bounty hunter story, I recommend the Tyrus Rechs Contract Consortium trilogy, particularly Requiem for Medusa.
If you’ll settle for a hitman anti-hero, go with Agent G; it’s like the movie Hitman/Agent 47… only with cyborgs and future laser guns.