Gumshoes of the Galaxy: Cops and Private Eyes in Science Fiction
"In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or 'sleeve') making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen. Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . ."
Somewhere between "L.A. Confidential" and "Jurassic Park," readers can find this comic noir mystery about a private investigator (who happens to be a dinosaur) in contemporary New York.
His name : Miles Flint. His occupation: Retrieval Artist. His job : Hunt down the Disappeared-outlaws on the run, wanted for crimes against alien cultures. The catch : Flint isn't working on the side of the law.
Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems-not the least of which are the rabbit in his waiting room and the trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is an ominous place where evolved animals function as members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage. In this brave new world, Metcalf has been shadowing the wife of an affluent doctor, perhaps falling a little in love with her at the same time. But when the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in the crossfire in a futuristic world that is both funny-and not so funny.
Also available on audio.
The Boston of a century from the present serves as the gateway to Earth for aliens and has become a technological marvel where humans and aliens mix, struggling to create a new society while coping with greed, immense wealth, and murder.
In the not so distant future, the U.S. government has been privatized and huge American corporations rule the world. Wisecracking dectective Jennifer Government is hot on the trail of wrong-doers at Nike. Her search for justice leads her on an adventurous journey through the United States Economic Bloc and culminates in a world war.
In a perilous future, disposable duplicate bodies fulfill every citizen's legal and illicit whim. Life as a 24-hour "ditto" is cheap, as Albert Morris knows. A brash investigator with a knack for trouble, he's sent plenty of clay duplicates into deadly peril, then "inloaded" memories from copies that were shot, crushed, drowned . . . all part of a day's work. But when Morris tackles a ring of crooks making bootleg copies of a famous actress, he trips into a secret so explosive it incites open warfare on the streets of Dittotown.
When crop circles begin appearing in her little town, Police Chief Arly Hanks finds herself more than occupied with tabloid reporters, officers for UFORIA (Unidentified Flying Objects Reported in Arkansas), cattle mutilations, and the murder of a young ufo-ologist.
Lt. Eve Dallas of the NYPD, circa 2059, investigates murder at a futuristic cosmetic surgery clinic, assisted by "her drop-dead gorgeous, fabulously wealthy, staggeringly brilliant husband, Roarke." Action packed thrills tinged with science fiction conundrums.
In the heart of Los Angeles, the "smart" building nicknamed "the Grid" can talk to its occupants, forecast the weather, and tell if any inhabitant has been taking drugs. On the eve of its opening, the key players gather to put the finishing touches on their masterpiece of architecture and computer science. Then something goes terribly wrong, and people begin to die. Now the creators must stop their creation--before it kils them all, one by one.
"In the near future, the world has become home to certain people with amazing genetic structures-giving them powers that make them frighteningly superior to normal humans. The Night Watchman was the first. Somewhere in San Francisco, he was out there-stopping a bank robbery, saving a kid from a runaway truck, whatever was needed. More 'superheroes' followed, though nobody called them that-but then came the bad ones, those who took pleasure in using their powers for ill. In response came the M-Tac squads: cops specially trained to fight these super-lethal enemies. Not a typical comic book superhero novel, John Ridley introduces a brave new world of heroes and villains, and shows that there's no such thing as a Good Guy or a Bad Guy."
Also available to download as an audiobook.
