The Missing Links

Readers of science fiction dystopia comedy books will (hopefully) enjoy the dry sarcastic humour and satire of this series. Despite the dystopian setting, and the odd bit of gallows humour, it's a light sci fi novel. 

Since The Pan of Hamgee became a delivery man for Ning Dang Po’s premier gangster, Big Merv, he has learned a lot about when to run, where to hide and when to keep his head down. What with his very existence being treason, and the Grongle invaders tightening their grip on K’Barth, he counts surviving each day as a win.

Marcella the Pirate, a small-time gangster, has started a racket selling replicas of K’Barth’s most prized and expensive food: Goojan spiced sausage. When her plan becomes an overnight success, she sets her sights on toppling Big Merv as the Boss of Ning Dang Po, and The Pan’s world is upended into chaos. If Marcella succeeds in her bid for city-wide domination, it will be curtains for The Pan. But there’s more to her sudden rise than hooky sausages – she’s playing a high-stakes game, with blackmail, kidnapping, and a treasonous pact with the Grongles themselves.

Between Marcella, the security forces, and an illegal satirical comedy drag duo who need a stand-in, The Pan is pulled into a web of crime and intrigue that no amount of speed can outrun. As he navigates his way through the mayhem, he must learn lessons fast about power, loyalty and what it means to be true to yourself, even when the world wants you to be something else.

The Missing Links is the fifth and penultimate book in the Hamgeean Misfit series of K'Barthan Extras. It is urban fantasy, set in a dystopian parallel universe with sci-fi elements (laser guns and flying cars). The anti-hero is a misfit outlaw who is scared of everything and, therefore, very good at running away. It's as British as a cup of tea and mostly humorous in the tradition of other British writers like Pratchett, Adams and Forde. If you are at all socially lumpy, feel a bit of an outsider or ever feel that you don't fit in, M T McGuire's books are written for you.

The Missing Links is written/narrated in British English and is the fifth in the Hamgeean Misfit series of comedy sci fi fantasy dystopian stories. It can be read without the first three books in the series and works as a stand alone. However, it's worth reading the fourth book in the series first (Too Good To Be True) for the ultimate reading experience.

Estimated UK film/game rating of this book is: 12A or PEGI12. That means anyone who is alright with the darker bits of the Harry Potter books, concepts like the Hunger Games and the kind of light swearing found in Terry Pratchett's books should be able to read this story without offence.