Yet again the Peculiar Crimes Unit is on the brink of being closed down having been moved from
their previous offices to a dilapidated building on the Caledonian Road. The highly ingenious
plot is a given with the hunt around the Underground for the killer who has escaped after being
caught in the previous book. While trying to trace and recapture him, they become involved in
searching for a missing student whose flatmates - an odd collection - fall under suspicion when his
body is found in a disused tunnel at King's Cross. While the Unit members are well delineated
and the development of the two searches more than adequately set out, I did find some of the
factual byways of esoteric Underground history a little too much at times However, this did not
really detract from yet another excellent novel - with the added bonus of a possible explanation
for the tragic fire at King's Cross in November 1987 (though only as far as it fits the novel).
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Christopher, Adam: Empire State
This is something of a hybrid - a sci-fi detective story set mainly in an alternative New York which
was created by the outcome of the fight between the two superheroes protecting the New York of
the prohibition era. This caused a bubble in which a variant New York appears. The action is set
in the nineteenth year of 'Empire State' which is 1950 in the real world. The plot, such as it is, has
a private detective, Rad, employed to find the missing female partner of a rich girl. Both of the
New York have a number of doppelgängers whose appearance is not matched by their behavious
though their occupations seem to coincide - Rad's double is Rex, another private eye. I do not
think the story hangs together completely but this might reflect the disjointed reading of it; it is
certainly pact and enjoyable and almost believable. it reminded me of the TV series 'Fringe' which
is referred to in the end-piece interview with the author. I may try other books by the author but
am in no hurry to do so.
was created by the outcome of the fight between the two superheroes protecting the New York of
the prohibition era. This caused a bubble in which a variant New York appears. The action is set
in the nineteenth year of 'Empire State' which is 1950 in the real world. The plot, such as it is, has
a private detective, Rad, employed to find the missing female partner of a rich girl. Both of the
New York have a number of doppelgängers whose appearance is not matched by their behavious
though their occupations seem to coincide - Rad's double is Rex, another private eye. I do not
think the story hangs together completely but this might reflect the disjointed reading of it; it is
certainly pact and enjoyable and almost believable. it reminded me of the TV series 'Fringe' which
is referred to in the end-piece interview with the author. I may try other books by the author but
am in no hurry to do so.
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