Product Description

Gumshoe Conrad Metcalf has problems-there's a rabbit in his waiting room and a trigger-happy kangaroo on his tail. Near-future Oakland is a brave new world where evolved animals are members of society, the police monitor citizens by their karma levels, and mind-numbing drugs such as Forgettol and Acceptol are all the rage. Metcalf has been shadowing Celeste, the wife of an affluent doctor. Perhaps he's falling a little in love with her at the same time. When the doctor turns up dead, our amiable investigator finds himself caught in a crossfire between the boys from the Inquisitor's Office and gangsters who operate out of the back room of a bar called the Fickle Muse. Mixing elements of sci-fi, noir, and mystery, this clever first novel from the author of Motherless Brooklyn is a wry, funny, and satiric look at all that the future may hold.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171846 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-15
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .74" h x 6.38" w x 7.96" l, .60 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Chandleresque, hard-boiled detective narrative finds a quirky new milieu in this SF/mystery/farce of murder and mass mind control set in a near-future Oakland, Calif. Conrad Metcalf is a private dick, but in his era that profession is even more ignominious than in the past. Due to some extreme governmental measures aimed at maintaining public docility, asking questions is taboo, leaving memory as Metcalf's sole resource. Government-distributed "Make," a cocaine-like blend of synthetic, mind-altering drugs, is now de rigeur . So is the magnetic card each citizen carries to keep track of his or her karma points. These points are awarded or docked by "the Office" for good or bad behavior and if the balance hits zero, a cryogenic prison term may ensue. Most of the menial work is done by genetically engineered English-speaking, bipedal "evolved" animals--sheep, apes, rabbits and kangaroos--and one of the latter is gunning for Metcalf. In this confusing age, the murder of Dr. Maynard Stanhunt, Metcalf's former client, leads the detective to a convoluted conspiracy, unimaginable in our own time. Lethem's invocation of Chandler often wears a bit thin--the prose here is a good deal clumsier than the real thing, and this sort of imitation has already been done too often. Still this colorful first novel is a fast and lively read, full of humorous visions and outlandish predicaments.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Private detective Conrad Metcalf finds himself the victim of an official inquisition when the murder of a former client and an obvious cover-up attempt lead him into dangerous political territory. Set in a near-future where only police and detectives are licensed to ask questions and where drugs to suppress memory are commonplace, this first novel imparts a new meaning to the word mystery . Spare prose and tight plotting create a taut sf thriller that should appeal to both sf and mystery fans.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In a near-future Oakland, both animals and infants routinely speak and behave like adult humans thanks to "evolution therapy," and Conrad Metcalf is a jaded private investigator whose latest case pits him against police and gangsters alike when his most recent client, a wealthy urologist, is found murdered. After the prime suspect, already condemned and scheduled for long-term hibernation, convinces Metcalf he's innocent, the case gives Metcalf's gumshoe instincts a workout, leading him down a meandering trail upon which he meets the victim's widow and an evolved baby who may or may not be hers and discovers a sinister blueprint for a backroom barracks designed to house other evolved babies. Lethem's first novel is a sparkling pastiche of Chandleresque detective fiction displaced to an almost comical postmodern landscape. Amid its smartly delivered first-person narration and crackling dialogue, even a tough-talking kangaroo that intermittently tangles with Metcalf seems plausible. An outstanding debut for a welcome new voice in both sf and mysteries. Carl Hays