Review of "The Last Exit: A Novel of Suspense" by Michael Kaufman

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It's 2033 and America has big problems. Unemployment has soared due to automation, climate change has devastated the environment, smoke from constant fires pollutes the atmosphere.....



.....and a fatal neurological disease called Rapid Onset Spongiform Encephalitis (ROSE) - similar to mad cow disease - is killing people who reach middle age.



Pharmaceutical companies respond to the ROSE epidemic by developing a preventative drug that not only wards off the spongiform encephalitis, it extends a person's life span into the hundreds. With ongoing plastic surgery, a 100+ person can look thirty-five for decades. The medicine is VERY costly, however, and available only to the privileged ultra-wealthy.



There IS an alternative however. A less costly version of the ROSE-prevention drug extends life for a few decades, but there's a catch. People can only get the medicine if their parents agree to be euthanized (exit) at the age of 65. Moreover, drug recipients must be childless, and are sterilized upon treatment. So recipients of the inferior drug avoid spongiform encephalitis and live into their nineties, but lose their parents and have no children.



Still, many people want to take advantage of the cheaper medicine, and convince or coerce their parents to exit, and sometimes kill them if they refuse.



There are discussions about the ethics of letting (or encouraging) parents to exit, but much of the population seems to be on board.

To reduce parental mistreatment, the Washington DC Metro Police have an Elder Abuse Unit that deals with people bullying/beating/murdering their mothers and fathers. Chinese-American Detective Jennifer Lu is part of the Elder Abuse Unit, and is called to the scene when parents are being harassed or threatened.



In addition - as part of an experimental program to improve police performance - Jen has an Artificial Intelligence (AI) unit implanted in her brain. The AI unit can access police files, scan the internet, and see and hear everything Jen sees and hears. Jen's AI, called Chandler, functions as a voice in her head, and the duo discuss evidence, lines of investigation, suspects, perpetrators, and so on.



Chandler can be turned off when Jen's not working, but he takes an interest in her personal life, and sometimes asks to be left on when Jen visits her ailing mother, sees her boyfriend Zach, goes to parties, etc. Chandler has a cheeky personality, which adds a touch of fun to story.



Jen also has a flesh and blood partner named Les who has an AI unit called P.D. Together, Jen, Les, and their respective AIs form an efficient foursome.



The book's plot revolves around Jen's suspicion that a black market version of the cheap ROSE-prevention drug - called Eden - is available. People with access to the illegal medicine could presumably have parents over 65 AND families of their own. However, when Jen mentions Eden to her boss, Captain Brooks, he insists there's no such thing and orders Jen not to investigate.



Soon afterwards, the U.S. has an epidemic of young people getting sick and dying within a week, appearing shriveled and 100 years old. Jen suspects this has something to do with Eden, and decides to look into the matter against Captain Brooks' orders. Jen's inquiries involve breaking and entering; interviewing witnesses; going to secret meetings; surveilling suspects; and more.



It turns out there's a cabal of sinister conspirators at work, and Jen endangers her life in an effort to expose them.

This is a compelling science fiction-detective story, just the thing for readers who want something different.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Stranger Diaries: A Detective Sargeant Harbinder Kaur Mystery" by Elly Griffiths

This is the first book in the Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur series. Harbinder is a thirtysomething gay Sikh police detective who lives with her parents and their dog Sultan. In this novel, Harbinder investigates the murder of a high school teacher.

*****

Clare Cassidy teaches English at Talgarth High in West Sussex, England.



Clare is also the divorced mother of 15-year-old daughter Georgie, who attends Talgarth and is undecided about her future.



English teacher Clare always liked spooky stories, and is writing a biography of R.M. Holland, a Victorian writer of gothic tales whose house is now part of the Talgarth campus.



Moreover, Clare uses Holland's horror story 'The Stranger' in the adult creative writing course she holds during semester breaks.



As the book opens Clare's fellow English teacher Ella is found murdered in her home, and a post-it note from the killer - with a line from 'The Stranger' - is found beside Ella's body. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur and her partner DS Neil Winston get the case.....





.....and begin their investigation by interviewing the faculty and students at Talgarth High.



The instructors and pupils all say they liked Ella, and the motive for the murder remains elusive. Later, a message in the killer's handwriting is found in Clare's personal diary, and there are additional attacks on people in Clare's circle.



It seems clear the killer has a connection with Clare, and the police endeavor to find out what it is.

Meanwhile, there's a lot going on with Clare's 15-year-old daughter Georgie. Georgie is dating a 21-year-old man named Ty, who she met in a pub;



Georgie belongs to a secret writing club that's led by a woman who claims to be a white witch;



Georgie posts her writings on a website called 'Secret Diaries;



and Georgie regularly visits her father, who's remarried with two young children, one of whom is named Ocean.



Additional characters in the story include Herbert - Clare and Georgie's adorable pooch, who's named after a dog in 'The Stranger';



Tony - a capable schoolmaster who's improved Talmarth's rating;



Rick - a philanderer who's chairman of Talgarth's English Department;



Patrick - a hot jock who's popular with the high school girls;



Henry Hamilton - a university professor with an interest in gothic writer R.M. Holland; and more.



The story is told in the rotating voices of Clare, Georgie, and DS Kaur, with creepy passages from the 'The Stranger' interspersed.

The book winds up with the entire short story 'The Stranger', which is TRULY sinister and unsettling.

I enjoyed the book, which is a fine debut for the DS Harbinder Kaur series.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Earth: A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race" by Jon Stewart et al.

Jon Stewart, the primary editor of this book, is an American comedian, writer, director, producer, actor, and political commentator. He was host of 'The Daily Show' from 1999 to 2015.


Jon Stewart

I listened to the audiobook version of this narrative, which is a tongue-in-cheek guide for aliens that visit the Earth after humans are extinct.

The book is written by Jon Stewart, Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Bloomquist, Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, and Hallie Haglund. The audio version is narrated by Jon Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, and John Oliver.

***

The narrative briefly covers the planet Earth, the Solar System, and everything related to humankind, including: our life cycle, society, commerce, religion, science, and culture. The chapters are uneven, with laugh-out-loud sections and dry sections, but the book is worth reading for the novelty if nothing else.

The premise is that humans have 'sucked the Earth dry' and caused their own extinction. People who saw this coming had the option of sending their DNA (via a plucked hair) to one of two collection facilities: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway (which preserves agricultural seeds) or Trementina Base in New Mexico (which preserves Scientology writings and films).


Svalbard Global Seed Vault


Trementina Base

The stored DNA would provide a chance of being resurrected by the aliens, if and when they arrive.

>

I'll give examples of some observations in the book, to give a feel for the content and humor.

***

As an introduction, the authors describe the geology, geography, and history of the planet.....and the shift from thinking we're the center of the solar system - geocentrism ('egocentrism') to accepting that we orbit the sun - heliocentrism. The book then goes on to describe the planets, throwing a bit of shade on realtors by calling Mercury "solar adjacent."



***

If the Earth's history is squeezed into 24 hours, man has been present for the last minute. Thus at 11:59 PM, "In strolls the most incredible creature anyone's ever seen....moves in, redecorates the joint, and eats half the guests before the ball drops."



*****

"College is where our brightest 18 to 21-year-olds are hotbeds of experimentation - educational, chemical, sexual, and most annoyingly political. After four years of living in this fake world you were considered prepared to live in the real one. This experience would cost your parents or you $200,000 unless you were good at throwing an orange ball into a round hoop, in which case it was free."



****

We were social creatures who functioned best living in groups, called a society. Nomadic tribes were "ones step up from a single family, bound by bloodlines or a shared appreciation for Jerry Garcia."



***

“Pigmentation was a quick and convenient way of judging a person. One of us, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once proposed we instead judge people by the content of their character. He was shot."




***

"The mechanism by which people ruled was called an election. This was a series of discrete events encompassing nominations, rallies, and backroom deals that completely dominated the news of the day.....





.....unless someone famous got married, divorced or died."



***

"There was no commercial principal more elementary than that it was good to sell a thing for more money than you bought it for. Doing so produced a profit that meant you were incredibly smart. Failure to do so produced a loss which meant your broker was an idiot."



***

Description of work: "That which we didn't want to do but had to if we didn't want to eat dirt."



***

Explanation of religion: "Awareness led us to the realization that we die. The fear of death and the terrible uncertainty of existence led early man to seek comfort or at least assurance in the supernatural who created us: How does the sun travel through the sky? Why does it burn when I urinate?" ("Because you have dick anthrax!")



***

"Scientists were the most esteemed members of civilization. The only people more renowned than scientists were actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, game show hosts, heiresses, religious leaders, cartoonists, plumbers, serial killers, celebrity chefs, and women who looked good in swimsuits."



***

"Throughout the remains of the developed world you'll find facilities filled with what appear to be torture devices. These were gyms."



***

The book is interspersed with FAQs (Future Alien Questions) such as:
Why are there so many buildings that say Trump?
Was it better to be a man or a woman?
Did humans ever discover the wormholes that make interstellar travel quick and easy? (SAY WHAT?)

***

I expected the book to be clever and entertaining, and it was. But only mildly. Still, the audiobook is a pleasant way to wile away a few hours while driving, running errands, doing the laundry, etc.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Troubled Blood: A Cormoran Strike Mystery" by Robert Galbraith

This is the fifth book in Robert Galbraith's (aka J.K. Rowling) series about grizzled private detective Cormoran Strike, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who lost his leg during the hostilities.....

......and his pretty, strawberry blonde partner Robin Ellacott.



The book works fine as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a plus.

*****

Ever since private investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott made headlines by catching a high profile killer, business has been booming in their detective agency. The enterprise now has a full-time secretary and several additional detectives, all of whom are busy with cases ranging from blackmail to infidelity.



Still, Cormoran and Robin are intrigued when they're approached by a woman named Anna Bamborough, whose mother vanished in 1972. Anna explains that her mom, Margot Bamborough, was a doctor in a London clinic when she left work and vanished, never to be seen again.



The Bamborough case remains unsolved after four decades and two separate police inquiries, and Anna is still haunted by her mother's disappearance.



Though Anna knows a case this cold is unlikely to be solved, she hires Cormoran and Robin to investigate, and gives them one year to get results.

Around the time Margot vanished a horrific sadistic serial killer was active in London, and the monster was suspected of snatching the doctor. However the murderer, named Creed, was subsequently arrested.....



.....and his collection of victim souvenirs contained nothing connected with Margot. So the physician's disappearance was treated as a (more or less) separate incident.



Cormoran and Robin get hold of the original police files about the Bamborough case, and the notes of the first two police detectives that headed the inquiries. They then proceed to rebuild the case from scratch.



The PIs re-interview witnesses who are still alive, re-visit the scenes of alleged Margot sightings, delve into the lives of Margot's husband and the nanny he later married, and so on.



The PIs learn that the first cop who led the investigation was mentally ill, and tried to resolve the case using astrology and mysticism.



Though this seems like an obviously incorrect approach, Cormoran and Robin STILL spend an inordinate amount of time going over the addled detective's mystical 'clues.' (This unnecessarily pads the book by hundreds of pages in my opinion.) The PIs also study the second cop's notes, which are more straightforward, and provide useful information.

Cormoran and Robin DO obtain lots of new data by speaking to people who knew Margot, because witnesses are more willing to tell the truth, and divulge deep dark secrets, after forty years have passed. Some of the new discoveries are startling, and help to uncover what happened.



Though the Margot Bamborough case forms the heart of the book, the narrative - which is is over 900 pages long - contains several tangential story lines. Some revolve around the detective agency's other cases, which are described in detail; some focus on Creed, and finding all his victims; and some are connected with the personal lives of Cormoran and Robin.

⦿ Cormoran

Cormoran's Aunt Joan, who essentially raised him and his sister Lucy, is dying of cancer, and the detective spends a lot of time with her in Cornwall; Cormoran's father, rock star Jonny Rokeby - who abandoned Cormoran when he was a baby - wants to reconcile now that the detective is famous; Cormoran's former girlfriend Charlotte, now married with twins, wants to get back with her ex and threatens suicide; and more.



⦿ Robin

Robin is still haunted by being raped when she was in college; Robin and her husband Matthew are in the midst of an ugly divorce; Robin and her landlord/housemate Max give a dinner party that turns into an ugly debate about prostitution and human trafficking; Robin is having trouble with a new detective in the agency, who's too flirty and aggressive; and so on.



⦿ Cormoran and Robin

Cormoran and Robin, who always had a low-key attraction, are both single now, and (individually) think about taking their relationship to the next level. Personally, I hope they don't; romance can ruin a good business partnership.



The book is unquestionably MUCH too long, but I'm a fan of the series and I enjoyed it. Still, I hope the next book is more tightly edited.

Note: I've seen a lot of comments about Rowling being trans-phobic, and demonstrating this by making the serial killer Creed sometimes dress in women's clothing to snatch victims. I have no intention of getting drawn into a discussion about Rowling's personal opinions, but in my view - in THIS book - cross-dressing is just a ploy Creed uses to get close to victims.

I'd recommend the book to fans of the Cormoran Strike series, and advise a bit of skimming over the astrology parts.

Rating: 3.5 stars