This is novel is in the style of a detective film noir film. Alex Lomax is the only private eye working on the Martian colony of New Klondike. The domed city was established almost a half century earlier by two early explorers, Weingarten and O'Reilly, who discovered ancient fossils, which are worth a fortune. In fact, it's the discovery of new fossils that keep people visiting the Red Planet, since they are worth more than anything on Earth, where anything can now be replicated. We're introduced to the concept of Transfers--people who have transferred their minds into plastic and metal android bodies--and one of the mysteries Lomax investigates involve several of these entities, including a beautiful woman who hires him to investigate the disappearance of her husband. In fact, he discovers that the legend about the two Martian explorers who discovered the mother load of fossils may not be true at all, which is very dangerous information. Of course, nothing is as it seems and there are lots of double-crosses.
I've read quite a few of Sawyers previous novels, from End of an Era to Calculating God to the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy and while I didn't quite enjoy this new novel quite as much, it's still an entertaining read. I think my problem with it is that there's only so much you can do the the "film noir" scenario. Recommended.
This is novel is in the style of a detective film noir film. Alex Lomax is the only private eye working on the Martian colony of New Klondike. The domed city was established almost a half century earlier by two early explorers, Weingarten and O'Reilly, who discovered ancient fossils, which are worth a fortune. In fact, it's the discovery of new fossils that keep people visiting the Red Planet, since they are worth more than anything on Earth, where anything can now be replicated. We're introduced to the concept of Transfers--people who have transferred their minds into plastic and metal android bodies--and one of the mysteries Lomax investigates involve several of these entities, including a beautiful woman who hires him to investigate the disappearance of her husband. In fact, he discovers that the legend about the two Martian explorers who discovered the mother load of fossils may not be true at all, which is very dangerous information. Of course, nothing is as it seems and there are lots of double-crosses.
