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Made To Kill by Adam Christopher
Sep. 19th, 2016 12:09 amThe Blurb On The Back:
Ray is the perfect detective – tireless, logical and efficient, with a knack for wry one-liners. He’s also the last robot on Earth – turns out people just don’t like robots, even if they like the idea of them.
As the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency – except for Ada, office gal and supercomputer, the constant voice in Ray’s inner ear – Ray prefers to stay out of sight. So when a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing actor, he’s inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she has the cold, hard gold – and Ray was programmed to make a profit. Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen – and this robot is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise – certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.
Ray is the perfect detective – tireless, logical and efficient, with a knack for wry one-liners. He’s also the last robot on Earth – turns out people just don’t like robots, even if they like the idea of them.
As the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency – except for Ada, office gal and supercomputer, the constant voice in Ray’s inner ear – Ray prefers to stay out of sight. So when a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing actor, he’s inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she has the cold, hard gold – and Ray was programmed to make a profit. Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen – and this robot is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise – certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.
