Bone Wires by Michael Shean

Bone Wires by Michael Shean

A Review by Ian Caithness

Michael Shean returns this week with his second novel, Bone Wires as he seeks to explore and investigate the world which he so beautifully crafted in his first novel, Shadow of a Dead Star. In this second novel, Shean demonstrates an aptitude and fluidity in being able to explore and dismantle themes and genres in the novel. Bone Wires shifts from an opening as a dark and horrific murder mystery that keeps readers on edge and becoming embroiled, even fascinated, with the sadistic murders in this neo-libertarian world to a novel rooted in the exploration of relationships and the inter-connectedness of different plots. There can be no doubt that this novel shows Shean to be a writer who is prepared to tap into the darkest recesses of the mind in order to shock audiences with his graphic detail of a world sustained by corporatism and built upon foundations of savagery and ambition.

Bone Wires follows Daniel Gray, a Tier Three Detective with Homicide Solutions, a branch of a public-listed organisation known as Civil Protection, Washington's police force, as he looks to explore a series of gruesome murders in which the culprit removes the spines of their victim as a “trophy”. Gray is portrayed as vicious and ambitious in his desire to reach the next level of corporate success in Homicide Solutions and these murders provide him with ample opportunity to become the shining star of Civil Protection. Shean's depiction of Gray in Bone Wires is harrowing for the recognition that it paints a portrait of society governed by corporate ambition and by individual desire superseding the wider moral questions. Bone Wires follows a trend and pattern set in Shadow of a Dead Star in being character-driven, allowing the reader to connect and explore the inner workings of its principal character as we are thrust into a multi-faceted plot that promises to delight, surprise and shock audiences.

What this novel does so well is to build and craft the world in which the characters are set. There is a loving attention paid to the detail from the corporate structure of Civil Protection to the chemical composition of drugs. That same love and attention is paid to the characters as it is to the world, meaning that readers are engrossed in the novel because of the characters, because of their human nature. Bone Wires excels in its depiction of characters, people who audiences will all recognise as having been part of their lives – the ambitious, the meek, the betrayed, the bully. These are all characters or facets of people that come out in the novel and create a woven tapestry of human emotion that becomes society in and of itself.

Bone Wires is, to me, a novel of two parts. The first part deals with Gray as a Tier Three Detective and his investigation into the murders of seemingly unrelated people but with one connection – their spines having been removed. In this first part, we see Gray as an ambitious and altogether inconsiderate character, someone is bound and tied to the corporate culture as much as he is a product of that culture – the suits, the lifestyle, the personality. His treatment of women is the single redeeming feature as he becomes a real person – someone is driven by the same needs, hungers and desires as most people are. The second part sees Gray as a Tier Four as he discovers that the culture with which he was so besotted with is little more than a web of deception. It explores in more depth the characters which were introduced in what I have described as the first part, characters who come out and shine as individuals, rather than as plot devices to advance Gray as a character. The first part is a murder mystery. The second becomes a fully-fleshed out detective novel.

Even if this is a novel of two parts, Shean excels in demonstrating his prowess with the written word in Bone Wires. We are treated to a luxurious exploration of this world, its characters and the underworld which thrives on the ambiguities of people's lives and personalities. What Shean does in his novels is to defy the expectations of traditional science-fiction and demonstrates a preparedness to explore different forms of genre from noir to detective fiction. Bone Wires works because it forces the reader to think and challenges the understanding of what is going on in the world. Characters become more real as the novel develops and the ending secures Daniel Gray as a memorable character who goes through a transformation from the ambitious to the noble.

Bone Wires is a free-flowing novel that explores ideas and engages the reader, trapping them in a vice of decadence, violence and plot. It captures the imagination of the reader and asks them questions. Much like the great Sherlock Holmes novels, the ending is as much a resolution of affairs and matters as it is a statement. Bone Wires is both a logical and heart-felt novel that feeds into people's ideas about what the future might be like, about their own lives and how much we are trapped by own expectations and conventions. Michael Shean, once again, demonstrates a talent for capturing the imagination of his readers and having the courage to build on his inventive and creative world. As a science-fiction novel, it is excellent but where it is exceptional is in its capturing the heart of a world ensnared by corporatism and creating characters motivated by it. 

Blog, Blog, Blog, Blogging

Now, it's been a while since I've blogged here and that's for good reason! I've been looking to get more involved in the creative writing process and came across an excellent cross-political blog titled Speaker's Chair. When I investigated, I discovered that they were looking for contributors from the Conservative perspective so I thought I'd write something and see where it leads me. Now, I'm a semi-regular contributor in so far that I write articles and they seem to publish/like them. So, here's a list of the articles I've written so far:

• David Cameron's welfare reforms risk isolating and worsening the problem
• UK needs tax system that supports businesses and allows private individuals to thrive
• Education: Gove must press ahead with proposed reforms

I have a couple of other articles coming as well including an article on the coalition and what it needs to do to survive the next two years and I'm hoping I'll get the approval for an article about the European Union and calls for a referendum. So, go check it and pretend like you agree with everything I say!

The Better Side of Politics

Earlier this month or perhaps last month, I wrote an email to Nick Boles MP, a man with whom I've had a little contact with and wanted to raise concerns about social welfare. In essence, my argument was that I was being unfairly excluded from claiming social welfare because I hadn't had a job during my time at university that contributed national insurance and because I was in a relationship where my partner worked more than sixteen hours and therefore we qualified for zero support from the government. I had a response a few days ago from his caseworker asking me to send my national insurance number so he could check it out but I imagined that wouldn't go anywhere and it didn't seem like a good reason to blog.

Well, I just got an e-mail back from the caseworker and, in what has got to be one of the most surprising things this year, Nick Boles decided to write to the Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP (that's how he was described in the e-mail), the Minister of State Department for Work and Pensions and Lord David Freud, the Minister for Welfare in the House of Lords  Now, I wouldn't have expected that. I wouldn't have expected Mr Boles to write to two people who are rather high up in the Conservative government chain to ask about this state of affairs. I don't know what Mr Boles' opinion is on all of this and whether he necessarily agrees with me that the social welfare system is all a little ridiculous at the minute but the fact he's gone away, done his research and said "I'm going to do something for my constituent" just goes to show that the Conservative Party isn't all that people make them out to be.

With this being the huge surprise that it is, I'm not expecting Mr Boles to come back to me in a week or two and say "You know what, we completely agree with you and we're going to reform the system because one person has complained" but it's nice that he's bothered. I've seen a lot of criticism in the local newspapers about how much a party man Mr Boles is but I'm beginning to see why he was selected as a candidate. He's an extremely intelligent and considerate man and he's someone who is constantly referenced as being a progressive Conservative when there's talk of a leadership challenge for David Cameron. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the expected cabinet reshuffle, he finds himself in a better position than he currently is (Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister). It's an assessment quite a few people have made, including The Telegraph who listed him as one to watch.

All this means that I won't be able to write him long, angry e-mails and complain but I'll be proud to say that I'd support his re-election in this constituency. On two occasions, I've contacted him and in both those situations, I've felt like he's dealt with them in a professional manner that takes into consideration the issues I've raised. Too much is made of how MPs from the 2010 batch are all baiting their breath to boot Cameron out. Now, all I have to do is convince Mr Boles to give me a job and I'll be sorted for the next twelve months. I think I've earned it with all the complaining I do.

The Rant of a Weary Traveller

Below is a transcript of an e-mail that I sent earlier this afternoon to my local Member of Parliament, Nick Boles, about the discrepancies in the benefits system and the altogether fantastic notion that I am being sidelined by the government as "youth unemployment" (despite defined as a youth myself) takes priority. There seems to be a sense that people who are in committed relationships must therefore be dependent upon one another, irrespective of that person's financial commitments. We shall see whether my complaint goes any further than an expression of an apology and to be left in the dark once again.

Dear Mr Boles, 

Having just come off the telephone from three different organisations - Jobcentre Plus / Citizens' Advice Bureau / Entitled To - I am under the impression that I am being wholly disadvantaged by a benefits system that seems to suggest partners are reliant on one another. I was rejected from claiming National Insurance based JSA and then spoke to the CBA and Entitled To, both of whom informed me that the information provided by the Jobcentre (that I wasn't entitled to JSA) was incorrect because there was a second tier - Income-Based JSA. I have, however, been informed that because I live with my partner and she works more than the maximum earnings per week, I cannot claim either JSA or Working Tax Credits. 

Since my partner works for a nursery as relief staff and her hours vary wildly and earns much less than the national average, it seems grossly unfair to me that I cannot find a job in a volatile market and am punished financially for being in a committed relationship. People are not dependent on one another for financial support and this is certainly not the case for my own situation. I find that there is a grave injustice in the benefits system that seems to reward people who claim separately, despite being in a relationship versus those who may live together and yet are independent in their financial situation. 

I must urge you as my Member of Parliament to raise the issue and do more as the government to resolve this issue. I have made more than fifty applications to different jobs and had one interview, for which I subsequently had no response. The government's "Youth Contract" scheme is, in itself, weighted to those who are claiming Jobseekers Allowance and therefore able to support themselves financially while taking work placements and work experience and unfairly disadvantages people who have come out of university into a saturated job market without any hope of a job in an extremely competitive industry. Revelations over the past year that upwards of twenty-five people apply for every job is indicative of the challenge I face in finding a job. 

I appreciate that you taken the time out to offer me some work experience in the House of Commons for which I am entirely grateful but I cannot help but feel like the government's priority of cutting the deficit and austerity measures is leaving the country reeling for the effects on the job market. It makes more financial sense to promote job growth in order to reduce reliance on the state welfare system than it does to cut and cut without any indication that it has had a positive effect on us. Our double-dip recession is surely indicative that we must focus on job growth now.

What exactly is the government doing in order to help ensure graduate students like myself are able to find jobs? It seems like we are being left in the lurch as the government pushes to help "youth unemployment" but ignores people who have spent thousands of pounds to further their careers, only to discover that they don't actually have any career lined up.

Sincerely,
Ian Caithness

Lead by Example

Baroness Warsi's so-called "expenses scandal" isn't an indication of a corrupt political elite. It's an example of how disconnected politics is from the world as most people know it. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who commute on a daily basis to their workplace, typically to London from a place more than twenty or thirty miles away. Their expenses are not paid. They have to pay for their travel from their own salaries and wages because that's the price people pay in order to get a good job. It's reasonable that some of the expenses that Members of Parliament and their staff can claim are reasonable: staffing expenses, telecommunication expenses and a basic salary are all something that is part and parcel of a job that is demanding.

The problem is when we have a system that simply gives politicians an open door to bend the rules according to their will. Politicians have no need of travel expenses, not least of which with a basic salary of around £60,000, more than double the average salary of most men and £35,000 more than the average salary of most women. There is no need to claim for second homes or council tax allowances because they can readily commute from their home. If politicians have a problem with the cost of public transport, use a car or, even better than that, do something about it.

Politicians are out of touch with what most of us experience on a daily basis. We've all got stories of wanting a job but discovering it's in London. If we desperately wanted the job, we'd do everything in our power to get it even if that means contributing more than ten percent of our take-hoame salary on travel. Why is it the case that politicians get special treatment? They're meant to lead by example in the "age of austerity" but everything about their behavior so far is indicative of a bubble that surrounds them, leaving them unable to grasp what most of us are feeling or experiencing as a result of financial cutbacks, tax increases, etc.

This isn't a complaint about austerity. I agree with austerity. The problem is with politicians who take advantage of a system that is deliberately ill-defined in order to allow these abuses to fall through the cracks. It's only when the media hears of a story that we become outraged. What would have happened if the expenses scandal never happened? We'd have a ballooning problem in the United Kingdom where politicians are at arm's length from what the rest of us are doing. In order for politicians to redeem some semblance of respect, they need to take the lead and that starts by cutting their expenses heavily, cutting their basic salaries and making them more accountable in what they spend their money on.

No Time for Celebrating

With the final exam now complete and little more than a graduation ceremony to separate me between the acceptability of being both a student and having a job and becoming another statistic who can't find a job in a market so heavily inundated with graduates that it comes as something of a surprise that people aren't selling themselves on Gumtree and Craigslist as veritable prostitutes of education. As you can readily imagine, I don't feel like celebrating. A lot of people are posting statuses, celebrating their freedom and recognising that their university career, at the very least, is coming to an end and, for some, to fruition. I fear the celebrations will be short-lived. The knowledge that you are little more than another addition to a market that is impossibly difficult to succeed in - graduate jobs - should soon be a somber thought in the minds of all those who haven't secured jobs yet.

That's my situation - twenty one year old male with £24,000 of student debt seeks full-time job in anything above what can be described as diminutive and meaningless work. It sounds like a job advertisement but that's what job seeking for a graduate is like. You attempt to balance the effort between "selling yourself" as a candidate stronger than others but, at the same time, attempting to under-sell yourself in order to not make yourself look like your head is more inflated than a helium balloon without the comic vocal effects. There seems to be one option left to students who haven't managed to find a job - go into post-graduate education. It's another layer of complication, debt and needless qualifications that create a generation of students who have more education than they do experience of the real world.

All too often, you hear employers complain that students come out of university with no "real world" skills or marketable skills, the kind of things that make people want to hire you. There's never anybody in the interview who retorts "If you gave some of them jobs, maybe they'd acquire those skills". You see, employers simply assume that you have gone out of your way in your three years to pursue every reasonable avenue to get work and that, if you haven't done that, you must be an atypical student who gets drunk, celebrates into the sun rises the next morning and then scrapes through exams as if they were nothing - all to the tune of a lovely hangover.

There are quite a few people to blame in this situation but, primarily, it's the Labour government of ten years that pursued the idea that fifty percent of people should be going to university. Did nobody think to point out at the time that having more and more people graduating with degrees would saturate the market and create a situation where everyone has a degree and it's nothing special? That's why I went to university. I wanted to differentiate myself from other people in the job market by having a specialist knowledge of the subject I wanted to teach, study, etc. Now, everyone has a degree and it makes it worthless to all but the student who is loaded with debt that accumulates more and more interest.

There's an amusing pun that I recall from the Big Bang Theory in which the Chairman of the Department enters a room full of Howard, Raj, Leonard and Sheldon. The Chairman addresses each of these in turn as "Doctor [...]" until he gets to Howard when he states "Mister Wolowitz", a reference to his lack of a doctorate. Howard retorts "I have a Masters degree" and the Chairman responds quizzically with the apt statement "Who doesn't?". That's the job market of today. You put your undergraduate degree on your CV, terribly proud of what you've achieved and then you discover it's about as much use as you telling them that, when you were six, you built a bridge out of lolly sticks.

It's not all negative today. Nick Boles MP's personal assistant contacted me today and invited me to a week's work experience in September with Mr Boles at the House of Commons which should be an excellent venture into politics, a career I have long thought I've had the skills for - cynical, provocative, outspoken and altogether wrong on most issues. It's just a shame that my progress in this venture is delayed by individuals who don't seem to be doing all that much to help people get into the matter. It goes back to that old argument - politics is for the rich and the educated. Perhaps, for some, that's how they want to keep it but at least Nick is trying to do something about it.

The Dangers of "Direct Sales Marketing"

As a student who is about to graduate in July, there's a rush of anticipation, depression and outright fear as you realise that you are struggling to find a job in an economy where hundreds of people every day are being laid off. You feel disused and discarded by the education system for failing to equip you with the ability to find a job and you blame the economy, yourself or even others for its failure to provide you with a job. When that happens, when you reach your lowest point, there's a temptation to go for direct sales marketing. Hundreds of jobs are posted on recruitment websites, graduate job sites, etc. that offer hundreds of pounds a week, excellent training, career progression schemes. Think of a combination of words relating to careers and these companies will likely use it somewhere.

I applied for three of these jobs and, like a good prospective employee, I did my research on these companies. I'm not about to pretend that I have to protect my identity and I'll name them: Capital One Promotions; TC World Ltd; WIT International Ltd. When I did the research, I noticed an odd feature about all of their websites. All of them discussed a "business development scheme" using the exact same terms, language and diagram to demonstrate progression. When I delved deeper, I noticed that whole pages were copied and extrapolated onto each others' websites. I was suspicious even at this point but then a friend of a friend told me that I should avoid Capital One Promotions, that their work was commission-based and their company was of "ill repute".

When someone tells you that, alarm bells start ringing. When I typed the company's name into Google, one of the related search terms was Capital One Promotions scam. I thought this was related to a credit card company that operated under the name of Capital One but, curious, I clicked. Lo and behold, the first result is an article in the Daily Mirror (http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/08/cobra-group-makes-a-mint-while.html) about an organisation called Appco Group who were linked and affiliated with Capital One Promotions. When I read the article, I discovered that Appco Group manipulated and used graduate students and the unemployed as self-employed promoters of their business, taking half of their commission, not paying taxes on earnings and having a workplace ill-fitting for a company that talks so much about career progression.

Reading the comments gave an indication that a lot of people have suffered at the hands of this organisation but I hoped that, given it was dated from 2010, the organisation would've changed its practises but I wasn't so naive and continued reading the comments. Someone posted a link to a thread on another website from 2012, listing all the problems with the organisation. Suffice to say, the arguments were extremely convincing. I write this to warn fellow graduate students, people out of work, whoever you may be, do not be lulled into a false sense of security by the promise of high earnings if you "work hard". It is nothing more than a smokescreen for bad company practises, deception of the worst kind and outright abuse of a struggling economy.

Do not think that things will improve. Do not lower yourself to this job because you feel you have to. The accounts of people's lives speak for themselves, the fifty-hour weeks, the low wages, the "career progression". It's all a sign of a company that is using people for their own gain and giving nothing back in return. If you see the title "Media Sales Executive" or "Graduate Sales Administrator" or any title that looks like it's a mash-up of words found in every con artist's dictionary, be cautious. Do your research, find out about the company and always see if you know anyone who has worked there.

I had an interview for tomorrow with Capital One Promotions. Following the research I did, I'm not going. I won't even touch them with a ten-foot pole. I'll be calling them tomorrow to tell them about the research I did and how it illuminated an organisation that preys on the unfortunate. You might see people who claim the organisation is great, that if you work hard, you earn plenty and that people who fail and complain are just "lazy and can't sell". That's not an excuse for the pittance in earnings, the accounts of deception and fraud committed by higher authorities and a general stench of deprivation and disgrace by these companies.