Henry
Pierce has a company that is developing new technology €“ a microtechnology of
the future.  He has an invention that will change the world, and he is
about to let the world know.  He is single-minded in his involvement in
his work, and his relationship with his girlfriend just ended because of
that.  It’s a sacrifice he is willing to make.   But a stupid mix-up
with phone numbers suddenly leads to a sequence of events that makes him
consider ending his research altogether.  He comes to believe a sex-worker
may have been murdered, and he wants to find out more.  Henry enters into
a world of crime, pornography and violence as he follows a trail of
clues.  As his work as an amateur private investigator proceeds, he
discovers a complex web of intrigue. 

This
biotechnology mystery rests on Henry Pierce’s psychology €“ his motivation for
caring about a woman who he has never met, when he is ready to sacrifice other
relationships.  It turns out that Henry is driven by the memory of his
dead sister.  She too was a prostitute, killed by a serial killer, and her
death has haunted him.  Author Michael Connelly keeps the plot moving very
fast, but his main character remains a rather uninteresting protagonist, and
the parallel of the present events with his past don’t really explain his
behavior very well.  There are also too many passages that aim to explain
the excitement of the new technology he is developing but end up being clumsy
excuses for lectures.  The book works best as a lightweight mystery with
plenty of red herrings, and will appeal more to readers who are not very
concerned about plausible plot lines.  Jonathan Davis reads the unabridged
audiobook version very ably. 

© 2003 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian
Perring, Ph.D., is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long
Island, and editor of Metapsychology Online Review. His main research is
on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Fiction