Author Ali Onia successfully blends mid-century noir with dystopian-science fiction in this exciting new mystery novel. Downtrodden, broke and friendless, Victor Stromboli is the memory man in Transient City, an increasingly decrepit, crime-ridden city owned by the Agamemnon corporation on the planet Lodan. Like every city on the planet, Transient City moves from one mineral deposit to the next on huge treads. Above the treads, the city's dark and maze-like streets are breeding grounds for murder and thievery.
Stromboli's eidetic memory means he relives his traumatic memories often, such as the death of his mother in an arson fire when he was young. His memory is used by the Security Bureau police to capture every sight, smell and sound in a crime scene. As the crime rate soars, hard boiled detective McGivern brings Stromboli under his aegis to help solve a string of puzzling murders and disappearances. One of the disappearance cases leads Stromboli to Kathy Whittaker, a woman in distress and his first love.
Bureaucracy, treachery, corruption, bribery, murder- all exist in Transient City, and all seem to be blocking Stromboli's efforts to find the mastermind behind the growing number of murders before Kathy becomes the next victim.
Transient City's "Brave New World" dystopia and Raymond Chandler-like noir-grittiness leap off the page. This is a good read; I was sorry to see it end. Five stars.
(In exchange for an honest review, I received a review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.)
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Bundoran Press Publishing (April 5, 2016)
Language: English
