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Only Forward
The world has splintered into little walled neighbourhoods, one for each character trait imaginable. The hyperactive, the psychopathic, the isolationist, and many many more. Oh and the cats. Yes, a neighbourhood somehow run entirely by cats. It is this blend of bleak reality, humour, and downright strangeness that makes this book so good. What starts as a fairly straightforward P.I. searching for a missing person, turns into a strange ride through the various neighbourhoods, and then turns far stranger at the conclusion. This is a superb book with a very cyberpunk feel, untill the end which is...weird. Good but weird.
Rating: 9/10.
Excellent background, engrossing characters, and a great plot combine to make a great book.
Spares
One man's struggle to save a group of clones, grown to provide spare parts for their rich 'owners'. This main character is excellent and you find that you really care what happens to him, as his world turns from bad to worse. He's idealistic enough to try the impossible, but realistic enough to know that it is the impossible. The world this book is set in is almost text book cyberpunk: the haves and the have nots, violence always around the corner, corruption in the police force, drugs and depression. This book has them all - except of course being Michael Marshall Smith it has much much more. As in Only Forward everything turns a bit strange towards the end, and cats again get to make an important cameo appearance. This book was snapped up by Dreamworks SKG and I hope they do justice to it. The only thing that would ruin it for me is if they didn't have Bruce Willis as the main character, his wise-cracking, hard-as-nails P.I./cop routine is just perfect for this role. Remember you heard it here first :)
Rating: 10/10.
An expert blend of cyberpunk and strangeness make this my favourite book of the three.
One Of Us
There are no cats in One Of Us, which was a disappointment. Still the walking, talking alarm clock more than makes up for it :) Hap Thompson, the main character, is a REMtemp. His barely legal job is to have people's bad dreams for them. In need of more money he starts to rent his memory for short term storage of people's bad memories, which is somewhat less than legal. So when an unknown woman drops a particularly bad memory on him, then skips town without waiting to take it back, he needs to track her down and give it back. Of course it isn't a simple as all that, and he finds himself caught up in all sorts of complicated plots. Michale Marshall Smith again expertly combines cyberpunk ideas, great characters, and an excellent plot, a side order of weirdness, and a number of walking talking white goods. The only thing I have against this book is that I can't talk about my favourite line in this book (of all the books even) becuse it would spoil the plot. Suffice to say it still makes me laugh, months after I've read the book.
Rating: 9/10.
Michael Marshall Smith keeps up his excellent record with another highly recommended book.
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