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The Red Light Princess
Everything goes on the Night of the Clean Hands. There are only three rules: Old debts are forgotten. Payback is forbidden. Killing is outlawed. But rules are meant to be broken.
When a string of copycat murders disrupt the festivities of the Night of the Clean Hands, it falls to a gang informant to journey deep into the underbelly of a walled, mega slum and unravel the mystery behind the killings connection to a dead diva: the Red Light Princess.
When a string of copycat murders disrupt the festivities of the Night of the Clean Hands, it falls to a gang informant to journey deep into the underbelly of a walled, mega slum and unravel the mystery behind the killings connection to a dead diva: the Red Light Princess.
156 pages, Paperback
First published December 13, 2014
About the author
James W. Bodden
4 books26 followersJames W. Bodden is the author of the novels the Red Light Princess, and Coffin Riders. He’s down some dank Cold War bunker, helmet on, and braced for impact.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 24, 2015
I'm not one to pick up one of the random sci-fi books out there. Most seem like formulaic regurgitations of more successful series. But once in a blue moon one stumbles on some honest and original stories.
This book is a fun and different whodunnit/chase/cyberpunk/city tour, all in one.
Kai is a protagonist like no other. You will immerse yourself in this rat's incentives as he gets beat down, kicked around, and knocked about the gritty cyber-slums of the No Go Zone, as he tries to maintain the city's fragile status quo and the memory of its beloved divine celebrity; The Red Light Princess.
This book is a fun and different whodunnit/chase/cyberpunk/city tour, all in one.
Kai is a protagonist like no other. You will immerse yourself in this rat's incentives as he gets beat down, kicked around, and knocked about the gritty cyber-slums of the No Go Zone, as he tries to maintain the city's fragile status quo and the memory of its beloved divine celebrity; The Red Light Princess.
June 29, 2019
James Bodden can write, he did a good job creating a very atmospheric Dark dystopian landscape but the story itself written in a first person narrative manner in a nihilistic urban sprawl that was a futuristic hellscape so the stage of this story is the most compelling aspect of it, and it's really dark. So how bout the characters the story line itself does the action describe something of human nature. Well No not that I could tell, it describes the growth of a religious cult over a murdered prostitute I mean she had a following and she was beautiful, and I kind of thought the author was darkly hinting at a Christ-like devotion to someone who was tortured and murdered, it didn't work for me I couldn't understand the motivations or passions of this future world in any manner shape or form in otherwords I just didn't get it. Normally I would have given this book just two stars but I did think the writing at some points was above average and even though the plot is not my cup of tea, it is creative, very much like Philip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, also very Cyber punk and William Gibson'ish but for me this is more a first draft it needs more than just a dark background it needs some light not just to be following a rat through human sewers while trying to avoid being murdered or tortured, maybe if this is meant to capture something of the author's experience it might need to have some light somewhere just in order for readers to see what is going on.
March 2, 2015
The Red Light Princess
Dizzying, intensely descriptive passages of a dystopic future where the affluent exist on the other side of a barrier to which we have no access to, except by word of mouth, gives way to our mise en scene, a No GO Zone populated by have-nots, hyperbolic talk show hosts, bacterially powered versions of body modification, huge televisual screens that transmit popular mechanized beasts destroying each other in a violent circus maximus.
Bodden takes the wise-guy Noir archetype, a down on his luck and ready for some more misfortune nobody, as the anti-hero of this short novel. Kai,street-smart, snarly, cynical, born and bred in the netherworld, is reminiscent of a post modern Phillip Marlowe, part 50's L.A., part Manga action hero, part Harrison Ford in Blade Runner with an Oedipus Complex.
Other than an exhilarating,amphetamine fueled pace, there are deeper levels that mirror, whether directly or not, the impoverished, dog-eat-dog world of the ultra-violent ghettoes of Bodden's native Honduras where he has worked, among other things, as a beat reporter covering violent deaths.
As much a parable as well as a modern-day cyberpunk yarn, Bodden's violence references video games, youtube, and media obsessions with disasters, the "less fortunate" and conflict areas. No less important are religious zealots that would be ready to sacrifice their own limbs in the name of the Red Light Princess, a mysterious deity that is rumored to be the source of much dismay within the No Go Zone.
A key scene in the book is where Kai summarily describes tourists that get to view death and poverty first hand, less as a way to change things, and more as a carnival ride, or worse, a modern day version of cultural enrichment.
-Federico Rosa
Dizzying, intensely descriptive passages of a dystopic future where the affluent exist on the other side of a barrier to which we have no access to, except by word of mouth, gives way to our mise en scene, a No GO Zone populated by have-nots, hyperbolic talk show hosts, bacterially powered versions of body modification, huge televisual screens that transmit popular mechanized beasts destroying each other in a violent circus maximus.
Bodden takes the wise-guy Noir archetype, a down on his luck and ready for some more misfortune nobody, as the anti-hero of this short novel. Kai,street-smart, snarly, cynical, born and bred in the netherworld, is reminiscent of a post modern Phillip Marlowe, part 50's L.A., part Manga action hero, part Harrison Ford in Blade Runner with an Oedipus Complex.
Other than an exhilarating,amphetamine fueled pace, there are deeper levels that mirror, whether directly or not, the impoverished, dog-eat-dog world of the ultra-violent ghettoes of Bodden's native Honduras where he has worked, among other things, as a beat reporter covering violent deaths.
As much a parable as well as a modern-day cyberpunk yarn, Bodden's violence references video games, youtube, and media obsessions with disasters, the "less fortunate" and conflict areas. No less important are religious zealots that would be ready to sacrifice their own limbs in the name of the Red Light Princess, a mysterious deity that is rumored to be the source of much dismay within the No Go Zone.
A key scene in the book is where Kai summarily describes tourists that get to view death and poverty first hand, less as a way to change things, and more as a carnival ride, or worse, a modern day version of cultural enrichment.
-Federico Rosa
March 18, 2015
This story moves at breakneck speed, drawing you into a world where brutality is a fact of daily life. If so much can happen on the one day a year that is supposed to be peaceful, it makes one wonder what an average day in the No Go Zone is like.
Kai is definitely not your typical protagonist, and every twist reveals just a little more of his true nature until the shocking truth is presented. As for the princess herself, she inspires intense devotion and reverence not typically given to one of her profession.
Kai is definitely not your typical protagonist, and every twist reveals just a little more of his true nature until the shocking truth is presented. As for the princess herself, she inspires intense devotion and reverence not typically given to one of her profession.
January 12, 2016
Red Light Princess was an unexpected delight. The scenery descriptions are rich and engrossing, as well as the the storyline. I enjoyed the revelation of the past through the present chase, something that kept me wanting to turn the page and see what came next in this cyber-punk world of Bodden's imagination.
October 4, 2023
This was a quick and enjoyable read.
Kai, our protagonist, gets chased by a group of people, until they are all stopped by an unexpected sight. A woman, hanging on a rope, surrouned by many civilians, who seem to recognize her. The woman resembles the Red Light Princess, someone who passed away, yet still lingers in the minds of all people due to her being "special".
The death of the hanging woman is not taken lightly by everyone. They want a sacrifice, someone who has to pay dearly for their beloved Red Light Princess.
Kai gets one job, find whoever killed the woman. He only has one night to find the culprit, if he fails, he might be the one who gets sacrificed. This leads him into a rabbit hole, that opens a story far bigger than what he signed up for.
The book is part mystery, part detective novella. I had fun reading it, especially since it is part of the cyberpunk genre. I liked our protagonist, though I think the side characters could have been more fleshed out. Maybe fifty more pages would have done the story well.
If you like cyberpunk, detective, and mystery stories, I recommend The Red Light Princess. Just a little heads up for those who don't like graphic violence, there is a fair amount of that.
Kai, our protagonist, gets chased by a group of people, until they are all stopped by an unexpected sight. A woman, hanging on a rope, surrouned by many civilians, who seem to recognize her. The woman resembles the Red Light Princess, someone who passed away, yet still lingers in the minds of all people due to her being "special".
The death of the hanging woman is not taken lightly by everyone. They want a sacrifice, someone who has to pay dearly for their beloved Red Light Princess.
Kai gets one job, find whoever killed the woman. He only has one night to find the culprit, if he fails, he might be the one who gets sacrificed. This leads him into a rabbit hole, that opens a story far bigger than what he signed up for.
The book is part mystery, part detective novella. I had fun reading it, especially since it is part of the cyberpunk genre. I liked our protagonist, though I think the side characters could have been more fleshed out. Maybe fifty more pages would have done the story well.
If you like cyberpunk, detective, and mystery stories, I recommend The Red Light Princess. Just a little heads up for those who don't like graphic violence, there is a fair amount of that.
January 12, 2016
The Red Light Princess takes place in the No Go Zone, a high-density ghetto that has sprung up in the ruins of the old world that lie outside the separation barriers of civilization.
The story begins with the narrator, Kai, being chased across the slums of old high-rises, the skywalks above them, up and down and over buildings. Body-modification has developed beyond art to practical usage. Launchers and boosters, talons and weapons fused into muscle and bone allow free-jumps, flight, attack and defense. The ability to sense magnetic fields and metals facilitate tracking for both pursuers and pursuit. Kai’s body modifications are less technologically advanced than those of his pursuers, but he has two advantages: the first is that he’s very good at running away. The second is that it’s the Night of the Clean Hands—a holiday from killing, one night of freedom from the fear of death. Old debts are forgotten on this night, payback is forbidden, and killing is outlawed.
Ironically, many people die on this night, both accidentally and on purpose, in the violence of the festival. Still, if anyone breaks the rules and intentionally kills, they are to die in the ring with the Mecha Beasts—cyborg animals who fight, gladiator-style, for the entertainment of viewers.
Kai manages to escape his pursuers temporarily, and he witnesses the death of a girl hung from a skywalk. Her murder begins the unfolding of the mythology and the mystery of the Red Light Princess, another girl who died in exactly the same manner as this one, and, as this one, wore a mask, had her hands and tongue cut off, and was covered with tattoos of roses and vines. Something about the original Red Light Princess sparked a devotion and a following—nearly a religion—amongst the people of the No Go Zone, and the imitation of her death has an ominous significance.
Because the girl has died in the district of Kai’s gang, he is ordered by his boss to find, before dawn, the person responsible for the death. Tracking the murderer leads him to a brothel where he discovers that the girl is one of three sisters who did a Red Light Princess act. One sister is dead, with two more to go. As Kai continues as both pursuer and pursued, the interconnections between both roles are revealed, along with the reasons for Kai’s personal obsession with the Red Light Princess.
This grim, dystopian story is a fascinating read. It takes place on one night, over probably less than a 12-hour period, but is multilayered and intricate in both external plot aspects and as a commentary on aspects of being. The setting itself is like something from a dream—the way the characters free jump across a ruined city seems like it must have been born of an astral experience from the author—and yet it speaks of a vision of a different way of seeing our own world. “Cities aren’t just systems that control the way we move through space. They can be much more—free spaces that elude the formal structures of control.”
Kai is a flawed non-hero who represents an Everyman inside all of us—the disconnected, insecure part of us who has lost touch with all meaning aside from that animal spark inside us that desires life. He is an addict. He has an inferiority complex, constantly comparing himself to a dead brother whom he imitates whenever he wants to hide his own weakness. He wants his luck to change and will enter all sorts of games of chance, all the while knowing he cannot expand beyond his universe of ill luck and mistrust. He has never wanted more than his life here, never wondered what lay beyond the No Go Zone. He’s like a hamster on a wheel and knows it, but hasn’t the lucidity to desire anything different.
The disfigured Red Light Princess, her death, and her near deification offers a troubling metaphor, perhaps, for what the masses will cling to when they feel they have nothing else. I didn’t quite understand what she could mean, but that might be because I was too busy trying not to vomit whenever I read descriptions of her.
Because yes, The Red Light Princess is highly graphic and often disturbing. It is not a comfortable read. The plot is somewhat dizzying and sometimes got too surreal for me to understand. Still, the writing is effective, powerful, and rarely gets in the way of what it’s expressing. It’s hard to stop reading it even though one knows it’s probably not going to be a happy ending. It’s a story that will challenge its readers, whether they enjoy it or not, and its images will remain in their consciousness long after the read is done.
The story begins with the narrator, Kai, being chased across the slums of old high-rises, the skywalks above them, up and down and over buildings. Body-modification has developed beyond art to practical usage. Launchers and boosters, talons and weapons fused into muscle and bone allow free-jumps, flight, attack and defense. The ability to sense magnetic fields and metals facilitate tracking for both pursuers and pursuit. Kai’s body modifications are less technologically advanced than those of his pursuers, but he has two advantages: the first is that he’s very good at running away. The second is that it’s the Night of the Clean Hands—a holiday from killing, one night of freedom from the fear of death. Old debts are forgotten on this night, payback is forbidden, and killing is outlawed.
Ironically, many people die on this night, both accidentally and on purpose, in the violence of the festival. Still, if anyone breaks the rules and intentionally kills, they are to die in the ring with the Mecha Beasts—cyborg animals who fight, gladiator-style, for the entertainment of viewers.
Kai manages to escape his pursuers temporarily, and he witnesses the death of a girl hung from a skywalk. Her murder begins the unfolding of the mythology and the mystery of the Red Light Princess, another girl who died in exactly the same manner as this one, and, as this one, wore a mask, had her hands and tongue cut off, and was covered with tattoos of roses and vines. Something about the original Red Light Princess sparked a devotion and a following—nearly a religion—amongst the people of the No Go Zone, and the imitation of her death has an ominous significance.
Because the girl has died in the district of Kai’s gang, he is ordered by his boss to find, before dawn, the person responsible for the death. Tracking the murderer leads him to a brothel where he discovers that the girl is one of three sisters who did a Red Light Princess act. One sister is dead, with two more to go. As Kai continues as both pursuer and pursued, the interconnections between both roles are revealed, along with the reasons for Kai’s personal obsession with the Red Light Princess.
This grim, dystopian story is a fascinating read. It takes place on one night, over probably less than a 12-hour period, but is multilayered and intricate in both external plot aspects and as a commentary on aspects of being. The setting itself is like something from a dream—the way the characters free jump across a ruined city seems like it must have been born of an astral experience from the author—and yet it speaks of a vision of a different way of seeing our own world. “Cities aren’t just systems that control the way we move through space. They can be much more—free spaces that elude the formal structures of control.”
Kai is a flawed non-hero who represents an Everyman inside all of us—the disconnected, insecure part of us who has lost touch with all meaning aside from that animal spark inside us that desires life. He is an addict. He has an inferiority complex, constantly comparing himself to a dead brother whom he imitates whenever he wants to hide his own weakness. He wants his luck to change and will enter all sorts of games of chance, all the while knowing he cannot expand beyond his universe of ill luck and mistrust. He has never wanted more than his life here, never wondered what lay beyond the No Go Zone. He’s like a hamster on a wheel and knows it, but hasn’t the lucidity to desire anything different.
The disfigured Red Light Princess, her death, and her near deification offers a troubling metaphor, perhaps, for what the masses will cling to when they feel they have nothing else. I didn’t quite understand what she could mean, but that might be because I was too busy trying not to vomit whenever I read descriptions of her.
Because yes, The Red Light Princess is highly graphic and often disturbing. It is not a comfortable read. The plot is somewhat dizzying and sometimes got too surreal for me to understand. Still, the writing is effective, powerful, and rarely gets in the way of what it’s expressing. It’s hard to stop reading it even though one knows it’s probably not going to be a happy ending. It’s a story that will challenge its readers, whether they enjoy it or not, and its images will remain in their consciousness long after the read is done.
September 3, 2015
A young man pursues a murderer across a dystopian slum city, but he can’t escape his own past.
The setting is the star in this book, which explores a future slum city – over-crowded, chaotic and violent. The tone is unrelievedly dark, but the lead character Kai was engaging enough to keep my interest. He’s a young gang member on a mission to bring a murderer to what passes for justice round here, but his own past misdeeds are catching up with him.
The book has been formatted with a teeny font, which is hard work to read. However, the writing is good throughout, with few editing errors. I wasn’t keen on the use of present tense but YMMV.
Expect sexual references, lots of violence, blood and death.
The setting is the star in this book, which explores a future slum city – over-crowded, chaotic and violent. The tone is unrelievedly dark, but the lead character Kai was engaging enough to keep my interest. He’s a young gang member on a mission to bring a murderer to what passes for justice round here, but his own past misdeeds are catching up with him.
The book has been formatted with a teeny font, which is hard work to read. However, the writing is good throughout, with few editing errors. I wasn’t keen on the use of present tense but YMMV.
Expect sexual references, lots of violence, blood and death.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews