I can't say that I've ever read a cyberpunk thriller, but I absolutely loved this. Brannigan Carter did such a wonderful job of creating a whole world of intertwined and complex characters. There were so many layers of information and both intentional and unintentional deception.
Athon is an indestructible killing machine. Leyla is a funny, unassuming homeless girl in Cincinnati, Ohio. Del is a hilarious, caring, and so real mother figure to Leyla. Wells is a cop who has been looking for his disappeared partner on the force for almost a decade. Blackhawk is the man running a secret city of pure freedom; a utopia, hidden from the rest of the world. Ramsay is his second in command and begins to question some of his tactics and creations. And Sigil...brings them together in the chaos that will either destroy or save the universe.
Leyla is happy to live her life with Del, searching for any bit of food, shelter, and warmth they can find with their homeless community in Cincinnati. Del has been her only friend since she woke up in the abandoned subway three years ago. Her memories of before are vague, and she has absence seizures that are becoming worse each time. When they try to help Leyla remember where she came from by searching the abandoned subway, Del is taken under unbelievable circumstances, and Leyla is taken to a facility and thought crazy - to everyone except for Wells.
Watching them work together and learn unbelievable secrets wad just the tip of the iceberg. Leyla accidentally finds Blackhawk's hidden city and can't believe what she's gotten herself into. It's too good to be true. It's everything she's ever wanted - true utopia. There's gotta be something more to it, and Leyla plans to find out and find Del along the way.
With the help of Ramsay and her Android chef, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leyla begins to discover secrets about this city she's found herself in, as well as clues to who she was before three years ago. In an amazing adventure to discover herself, she finds that she is capable of more than she ever knew. Whether that's good or bad is to be discovered and determined.
Sigil was incredibly creative and masterfully woven about recognizing and fighting for the good in the world, but also about the importance of how damaging current systems are. Carter did a magnificent job of bringing this very relevant topic to life in a fictional world to drive home the importance of our potential to both create and destroy on this planet we call home.