In this first book in the comical 'Space Police' series, a detective wakes up 450 years after he was cryogenically frozen, returns to the police force, and is tasked with finding a missing cow.
*****
After enduring a life-threatening injury that took his leg, Detective Inspector Capstan from Portsmouth, England is cryogenically frozen, put into cold storage, and more or less forgotten.
More than four hundred years later, in the 25th century, Capstan is awakened when a cleaning lady accidently leaves his cryogenic capsule unplugged after she vacuums.
It takes a little while for Capstan to adjust to his new situation, but a prosthetic leg and the presence of Sergeant Peter Simon Dewbush - who happens to be the great great great great grandson of D.I. Capstan's 21st century subordinate Sergeant Simon Peter Dewbush - soon get him acclimated.
D.I. Capstan is reinstated in the police force, now called the Space Police, and partnered with Sgt. Dewbush.
Luckily P.S Dewbush from the 25th century is much smarter than dimwitted S.P. Dewbush from the 21st century, so Capstan has lucked out in that respect. The two detectives are assigned to find a missing cow, which is a top tier case. Milk is now the most popular beverage in the universe, and a cow is worth millions of dollars.
The search for the cow takes the cops to Saturn's moon Titan, which is inhabited by the Mammary Clans - aliens that look like giant custards.
Titan is in competition with Earth for milk production, though Titan's product - which is exclusively skimmed milk - is inferior.
Capstan and Dewbush get into all manner of hilarious situations as they go about their job, and Capstan gets to experience novel things like traveling at light speed; using an oxygen helmet and gravity blanket; owning a gun that uses armor-piercing, self-guiding cartridges with impact-exploding tips; and more.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, U.S. President Dick Müller - a fat orange guy with a dodgy wig - has taken over the world.
Müller's strategy is to invite rivals to the White House; set them up with prostitutes; film them; and blackmail them into giving up their countries.
The President plans to obtain Titan by setting up its Supreme High Councillor, the pudding-like Lord Von Splottity. This plan has unexpected ramifications....ones that inadvertently affect Capstan and Dewbush.
The book is written strictly for laughs, which it delivers. My one quibble is the over-abundance of male characters; there are only two females, and one is a sexy wife robot. To me, this harks back to 1950s science fiction films, which usually had one token gal.
Still, the book is a pleasant diversion, and could be adapted into a good graphic novel in my opinion.
Thanks to Netgalley and author David Blake for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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