This is a mystery from 2002 in the author's continuing series about Gregor Demarkian, the "Armenian-American Hercule Poirot." I got it for 12 cents at a library book sale, or I wouldn't have bought it.
I've read a few of Jane Haddam's novels over the years. They feature Gregor Demarkian, a retired FBI agent and administrator who has returned to his childhood neighborhood, an Armenian-American area of Philadelphia. Gregor is good friends with the local priest, Father Tibor, and is in a romantic relationship with his landlady, Bennis Hannaford, who writes fantasy novels but grew up in a very wealthy family. The novels used to be themed around holidays, so the first one I read was Quoth the Raven and took place around Halloween. I've read a few others over the years, but I see that she eventually ran out of holidays and dropped the theme.
Conspiracy Theory was published in 2002, and the events of September 2001 seem to have been very much in the writer's mind at the time. Someone set off a bomb in the local church, and prominent businessman Tony van Wyck Ross has been shot in the head by a sniper during a fundraiser at his home. There may be some connection between the two cases, because Tony's sister is running a home for teenage prostitutes which is getting help from Father Tibor's church. Meanwhile everyone seems preoccupied by newsletters put out by a group called America on Alert, which assert that the wealthy, or Illuminati, are actually descendants of the medieval Merovingian dynasty who mated with lizards, and they are secretly running the world. And the Armenian Church are devil-worshippers.
So we have a murder and a bombing. Throw in Father Tibor's reminiscences of his ghastly youth in Armenia, mention Timothy McVeigh every second or third page, bring up witches and witchcraft every couple of chapters, and throw in occasional mentions of Randy Weaver and the World Trade Center. Repeatedly assert that the very wealthy are completely different than anyone else, and repeat frequently that they never watch television. Have the characters try to explain the internet to each other, and give specific website addresses. Slap it all together with a nutty lady who thinks she's going to be a martyr for the cause, and you have a not very good mystery novel which has aged very, very badly.
Not recommended. It was probably a bit stale when it came out, and now it's just antiquated and quaint.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wilt in Nowhere by Tom Sharpe
Wilt in Nowhere is the fourth novel featuring Henry Wilt written by Tom Sharpe. Sharpe writes satiric novels full of improbable circumstances, profanity, and unusual sexual practices. You never know what's going to happen next in a Tom Sharpe novel, except that it will surprise you and will probably be vulgar. Sometimes they are incredibly funny. Sometimes they are not. But I read them whenever I find one, because no one else writes like him.
Henry Wilt is a lecturer in humanities at a technical college. In the first novel, he's a frustrated man trying to teach literature to youth studying to be nurses or butchers, who truly don't give a hoot about his subject. The nature of his school changes over the books and his position at work becomes slightly less miserable. The same cannot be said for his home life. His wife, Eva, is large and overpowering, and runs the home. She is also fairly stupid, and prone to getting sucked in by every cause and every weirdo and every self-help fad. They also have four evil daughters. Henry is aware that the girls are evil, but Eva usually won't admit it.
In Wilt on Nowhere, Eva and the girls fly off to America to visit Eva's wealthy aunt and uncle, who Eva hopes will leave something for the girls in their will. The trip is a disaster, as they attract the attention of the DEA and the evil Wilt children wreak havoc with the aunt and uncle. Henry, knowing that the trip will be a disaster, refuses to go, and instead decides to go on a walking holiday while his family are gone. He is having a nice time until one stormy night when things go wrong, and he wakes up a few days later in a hospital with a concussion, no memory of what happened, and a police inspector wanting to question him about arson and murder.
Wllt in Nowhere is kind of fun, though I greatly preferred the story line with Wilt over the story in America with Eva, the girls, and her aunt and uncle. It wasn't really funny, just kind of gross and irritating. This book is definitely the least of the four Wilt books, though still better than some of his others. And a Sharpe novel wouldn't be complete without the satire, of which I have quoted below a fairly gentle example. Wilt is explaining to a coworker why his daughters are enrolled in a religious school, even though the Wilts aren't religious:
"Eva goes from one extreme to another. She's not having the girls go to a state school because at the primary school they went to in Newhall the teacher had the entire class sit in cardboard boxes all morning one day - they were six at the time - because this was supposed to make them 'aware.' Yes, I know how you feel about 'awareness', it's the same as 'consciousness-raising', but they had to learn what it felt like to sleep rough in a cardboard box in the street in London. That finished Eva. She told the Headmistress her daughters weren't going to end up sleeping rough and she'd sent them to school to learn to read and write and do arithmetic, not to play silly games in cardboard boxes. She made the same point at the Parent-Teacher Association meeting and wanted to know when the school was going to issue the six-year-olds with leather miniskirts and boots so they could become 'aware' what it was like to be a teenage whore. And you know what the people in Newhall are like."
Henry Wilt is a lecturer in humanities at a technical college. In the first novel, he's a frustrated man trying to teach literature to youth studying to be nurses or butchers, who truly don't give a hoot about his subject. The nature of his school changes over the books and his position at work becomes slightly less miserable. The same cannot be said for his home life. His wife, Eva, is large and overpowering, and runs the home. She is also fairly stupid, and prone to getting sucked in by every cause and every weirdo and every self-help fad. They also have four evil daughters. Henry is aware that the girls are evil, but Eva usually won't admit it.
In Wilt on Nowhere, Eva and the girls fly off to America to visit Eva's wealthy aunt and uncle, who Eva hopes will leave something for the girls in their will. The trip is a disaster, as they attract the attention of the DEA and the evil Wilt children wreak havoc with the aunt and uncle. Henry, knowing that the trip will be a disaster, refuses to go, and instead decides to go on a walking holiday while his family are gone. He is having a nice time until one stormy night when things go wrong, and he wakes up a few days later in a hospital with a concussion, no memory of what happened, and a police inspector wanting to question him about arson and murder.
Wllt in Nowhere is kind of fun, though I greatly preferred the story line with Wilt over the story in America with Eva, the girls, and her aunt and uncle. It wasn't really funny, just kind of gross and irritating. This book is definitely the least of the four Wilt books, though still better than some of his others. And a Sharpe novel wouldn't be complete without the satire, of which I have quoted below a fairly gentle example. Wilt is explaining to a coworker why his daughters are enrolled in a religious school, even though the Wilts aren't religious:
"Eva goes from one extreme to another. She's not having the girls go to a state school because at the primary school they went to in Newhall the teacher had the entire class sit in cardboard boxes all morning one day - they were six at the time - because this was supposed to make them 'aware.' Yes, I know how you feel about 'awareness', it's the same as 'consciousness-raising', but they had to learn what it felt like to sleep rough in a cardboard box in the street in London. That finished Eva. She told the Headmistress her daughters weren't going to end up sleeping rough and she'd sent them to school to learn to read and write and do arithmetic, not to play silly games in cardboard boxes. She made the same point at the Parent-Teacher Association meeting and wanted to know when the school was going to issue the six-year-olds with leather miniskirts and boots so they could become 'aware' what it was like to be a teenage whore. And you know what the people in Newhall are like."
Monday, May 25, 2009
More knitting
I've been reading my way through a pile of scripts over the last few days, so there isn't much to report on the reading front. However, I did just finish the socks I've been knitting over the last couple of weeks. The pattern is Stroll by Berroco, and the yarn is Cascade Heritage Paints that I bought at 3 Kittens Needle Arts over Easter weekend. It's a toe-up sock, and I hate short row heels. But other than the heel it was a breeze to knit, and I am pleased with the result. I have cast on another pair to use up some Trekking XXL from a pair of socks I ripped apart because they just didn't fit right.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham
I am fairly sure I read this book before, years ago, but since I didn't remember who did it, I am counting this as a new book to me. I got it at the library book sale last week.
Caroline Graham writes mystery novels featuring Chief Inspector Barnaby. I've read a few of hers over the years, including one non-series book (Murder at Maddingly Grange) which is probably my favorite of her works. The series has been made into a TV series called Midsomer Murders, and I enjoy them. It's interesting to see how different the books are from the series, however. In general, the characters in the TV show are nicer than they are as written.
Death of a Hollow Man involves a death in an amateur stage production of Amadeus. The actor playing Salieri drags a razor blade across his throat, believing it to be dull and safe. Someone has sabotaged it, though, so that it is a very sharp blade, and the actor slits his own throat on stage in front of an audience and dies.
Most of the story focuses on the members of the theatrical company and their relations with one another. They are a very mediocre bunch, led by a very mediocre director, producing mediocre shows. There is no lack of suspects, as most everyone disliked the leading man and most everyone is glad when he dies. His ex-wife still hates him, his current wife hates him, most of the cast and crew hate him. Barnaby's wife is in the show, and he has known most of the suspects for years. Now he must wind his way through all of their lies and deceptions to figure out what really happened.
Death of a Hollow Man is a pleasant enough mystery, though Barnaby gets a bit coy toward the end once he's figure out who the killer is so that the reader can be surprised at the grand reveal. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
Caroline Graham writes mystery novels featuring Chief Inspector Barnaby. I've read a few of hers over the years, including one non-series book (Murder at Maddingly Grange) which is probably my favorite of her works. The series has been made into a TV series called Midsomer Murders, and I enjoy them. It's interesting to see how different the books are from the series, however. In general, the characters in the TV show are nicer than they are as written.
Death of a Hollow Man involves a death in an amateur stage production of Amadeus. The actor playing Salieri drags a razor blade across his throat, believing it to be dull and safe. Someone has sabotaged it, though, so that it is a very sharp blade, and the actor slits his own throat on stage in front of an audience and dies.
Most of the story focuses on the members of the theatrical company and their relations with one another. They are a very mediocre bunch, led by a very mediocre director, producing mediocre shows. There is no lack of suspects, as most everyone disliked the leading man and most everyone is glad when he dies. His ex-wife still hates him, his current wife hates him, most of the cast and crew hate him. Barnaby's wife is in the show, and he has known most of the suspects for years. Now he must wind his way through all of their lies and deceptions to figure out what really happened.
Death of a Hollow Man is a pleasant enough mystery, though Barnaby gets a bit coy toward the end once he's figure out who the killer is so that the reader can be surprised at the grand reveal. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Day Watch is the sequel to Night Watch, which I reviewed here last summer. It is translated from Russian.
Day Watch, like Night Watch, is actually three related novellas. The first takes place mostly in a youth camp, the second takes place in and around Moscow, and the third is set in Prague. It centers around the eternal struggle between the forces of light and dark. Some people are Others, more than human, with magical abilities. They may be shapeshifters or witches or magicians. Many don't even realize it, unless they are found and trained by the forces of Light or Dark. When they are initiated, they must choose between light or dark. Because this is a Russian novel, it's not a simple or obvious choice, and the answer depends as much on the person's mood at the time as on their inherent goodness or lack thereof.
The Night Watch are the legal enforcers for the Light, and the Day Watch are the enforcers for the Dark. They oppose one another, but usually exist in equilibrium, as their treaty is rigidly enforced by the Inquisition, whose job it is to keep things in balance and prevent all-out war. Day Watch shows some of their struggle as both try to gain ascendancy over the other side. There are all-powerful masterminds in charge of each organization, and their employees spend a lot of time trying to figure out what their bosses are planning, and occasionally try to figure out how to stop them from destroying the world.
I enjoyed the book, mostly for the second story. The first story was told from the point of view of a really yucky person, and so I didn't really warm to it. The second story is a lot of fun, interesting, and absorbing. The third story was slow, as it focused on mid-level Others trying to fathom their bosses' plans. There was a lot of thought and talk, but very little actually happened. Nevertheless, I think the book is worth buying just for the second story.
I really enjoyed Day Watch, and will probably seek out the third book in the near future. Recommended. But read Night Watch first.
Day Watch, like Night Watch, is actually three related novellas. The first takes place mostly in a youth camp, the second takes place in and around Moscow, and the third is set in Prague. It centers around the eternal struggle between the forces of light and dark. Some people are Others, more than human, with magical abilities. They may be shapeshifters or witches or magicians. Many don't even realize it, unless they are found and trained by the forces of Light or Dark. When they are initiated, they must choose between light or dark. Because this is a Russian novel, it's not a simple or obvious choice, and the answer depends as much on the person's mood at the time as on their inherent goodness or lack thereof.
The Night Watch are the legal enforcers for the Light, and the Day Watch are the enforcers for the Dark. They oppose one another, but usually exist in equilibrium, as their treaty is rigidly enforced by the Inquisition, whose job it is to keep things in balance and prevent all-out war. Day Watch shows some of their struggle as both try to gain ascendancy over the other side. There are all-powerful masterminds in charge of each organization, and their employees spend a lot of time trying to figure out what their bosses are planning, and occasionally try to figure out how to stop them from destroying the world.
I enjoyed the book, mostly for the second story. The first story was told from the point of view of a really yucky person, and so I didn't really warm to it. The second story is a lot of fun, interesting, and absorbing. The third story was slow, as it focused on mid-level Others trying to fathom their bosses' plans. There was a lot of thought and talk, but very little actually happened. Nevertheless, I think the book is worth buying just for the second story.
I really enjoyed Day Watch, and will probably seek out the third book in the near future. Recommended. But read Night Watch first.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Damn
One of my teeth cracked today--my dentist told me I was going to need a crown on that tooth some day. He was right. This is going to be expensive, as well as unpleasant. Sigh.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton
The Innocence of Father Brown is a story collection first published in 1911. The protagonist, Father Brown, is a small, dumpy priest who is a lot smarter than people give him credit for. Like Sherlock Holmes, he can glance at a set of odd circumstances and almost immediately know what happened, much to the amazement of those around him. In the first story of the collection, in which he outwits a master thief, he explains:"Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?" Father Brown was wise to all the tricks and cons of the criminal classes, because they were explained to him in the confessional.
But it is not actually Sherlock Holmes I thought of as I read these stories, it was Miss Marple, that seemingly harmless old lady who has learned so much of human sin and behavior through close observation of the village she lives in. Father Brown predates her by decades, and I can't help but wonder if he was an influence on her creation.
The stories don't always make sense, and are full of coincidences and misdirections that just strain credibility, but still they are entertaining, if one bears in mind that they were written at a time when fashions in stories were different. But perhaps one of the most surprising things to me was that Father Brown seemed uninterested in capturing criminals. He would figure out who the criminal was, and then either keep it to himself or try to talk them into repenting their sins. His best friend is Flambeau, a master criminal who Father Brown convinced to give up his life of crime. On the other hand, in one of the stories the killer is a policeman. Chesterton seems to have no use for the law, which is an unusual position for a crime writer to take. But the work is a century old, and as I said above, fashions were different.
But it is not actually Sherlock Holmes I thought of as I read these stories, it was Miss Marple, that seemingly harmless old lady who has learned so much of human sin and behavior through close observation of the village she lives in. Father Brown predates her by decades, and I can't help but wonder if he was an influence on her creation.
The stories don't always make sense, and are full of coincidences and misdirections that just strain credibility, but still they are entertaining, if one bears in mind that they were written at a time when fashions in stories were different. But perhaps one of the most surprising things to me was that Father Brown seemed uninterested in capturing criminals. He would figure out who the criminal was, and then either keep it to himself or try to talk them into repenting their sins. His best friend is Flambeau, a master criminal who Father Brown convinced to give up his life of crime. On the other hand, in one of the stories the killer is a policeman. Chesterton seems to have no use for the law, which is an unusual position for a crime writer to take. But the work is a century old, and as I said above, fashions were different.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I bought this one after hearing numerous positive reviews and reading a bit of it in the bookstore. I've heard many good things about McKinley over the years, but have never tried her before. I'm more of a science fiction reader than a fantasy reader, in general. I would never have tried Sunshine without hearing the good reviews, combined with a deliberate attempt to look for different things to read. It's a vampire novel. I'm not really that hot on vampires, and I'm so very, very tired of all the paranormal romance/urban fantasy/angry chicks kicking supernatural butt novels.
Sunshine is not really an urban fantasy. It's set in a mid-sized city in apparently modern times, but it's not set on our world. The world of Sunshine is populated with vampires, demons, zombies, and succubi, and the story is set ten or fifteen years after a war between humans and vampires in which humans were nominally victorious, but great swathes of humanity were destroyed. They are still at odds with each other, and humans and vampires certainly cannot peacefully coexist.
The protagonist, Rae (short for Raven), is a baker. She works at her step-father's coffee shop and bakes giant cinnamon rolls. One night she goes out to her family's old cabin at the lake where no one goes any more, and has a very unpleasant encounter with some vampires. I'm not going to be too detailed about the plot, because I don't want to spoil it. Just go buy yourself a copy and read it. You won't regret it.
I enjoyed Sunshine a lot more than I expected to. I read the whole thing in one long sitting, and then went back and re-read some of the good parts. It pushes some of the right buttons for me, which always makes for a stimulating read. I appreciate that Rae actually has a job, and has to work in her extracurricular activities around her work schedule. I appreciate that some things were left unexplained. Doubtless there is room for a sequel if McKinley wanted to write one, but it's still satisfying as a stand-alone work.
I was less enthusiastic about the expository lumps. Rae babbles too much. Not in conversation, but in her head--in the overly-long explanations of how everything works. It's very annoying to a direct, plot-driven reader like me to have a conversation interrupted in mid-stream for a four-page explanation of some aspect of the magic system. I prefer a more concise style. I also found some the characters from SOF--the supernatural police--to be pretty interchangeable. I remember that one of them turned blue. Other than that, they were all about the same. The story has action, but it's sketchy--she is injured, for instance, but McKinley never specifies which side of her body is injured. In another scene she kills a vampire, and she doesn't really remember what happens--she attacks, splat, and then a couple of minutes later someone is trying to get her to stop freaking out. I'm not, generally, a reader who needs every last action spelled out--quite the contrary, in fact--but a little more physical description of what happens would have been nice. So, though I really enjoyed the book, I would have enjoyed it even more if it were a bit more concise and anchored a bit more firmly in the physical world.
Nevertheless, it's a really good book. It's very interesting to see an author take a theme that has already been stomped to death until it decomposed into a puddle of fetid goo, and make it something fresh and worth reading again. A very pleasant surprise.
Sunshine is not really an urban fantasy. It's set in a mid-sized city in apparently modern times, but it's not set on our world. The world of Sunshine is populated with vampires, demons, zombies, and succubi, and the story is set ten or fifteen years after a war between humans and vampires in which humans were nominally victorious, but great swathes of humanity were destroyed. They are still at odds with each other, and humans and vampires certainly cannot peacefully coexist.
The protagonist, Rae (short for Raven), is a baker. She works at her step-father's coffee shop and bakes giant cinnamon rolls. One night she goes out to her family's old cabin at the lake where no one goes any more, and has a very unpleasant encounter with some vampires. I'm not going to be too detailed about the plot, because I don't want to spoil it. Just go buy yourself a copy and read it. You won't regret it.
I enjoyed Sunshine a lot more than I expected to. I read the whole thing in one long sitting, and then went back and re-read some of the good parts. It pushes some of the right buttons for me, which always makes for a stimulating read. I appreciate that Rae actually has a job, and has to work in her extracurricular activities around her work schedule. I appreciate that some things were left unexplained. Doubtless there is room for a sequel if McKinley wanted to write one, but it's still satisfying as a stand-alone work.
I was less enthusiastic about the expository lumps. Rae babbles too much. Not in conversation, but in her head--in the overly-long explanations of how everything works. It's very annoying to a direct, plot-driven reader like me to have a conversation interrupted in mid-stream for a four-page explanation of some aspect of the magic system. I prefer a more concise style. I also found some the characters from SOF--the supernatural police--to be pretty interchangeable. I remember that one of them turned blue. Other than that, they were all about the same. The story has action, but it's sketchy--she is injured, for instance, but McKinley never specifies which side of her body is injured. In another scene she kills a vampire, and she doesn't really remember what happens--she attacks, splat, and then a couple of minutes later someone is trying to get her to stop freaking out. I'm not, generally, a reader who needs every last action spelled out--quite the contrary, in fact--but a little more physical description of what happens would have been nice. So, though I really enjoyed the book, I would have enjoyed it even more if it were a bit more concise and anchored a bit more firmly in the physical world.
Nevertheless, it's a really good book. It's very interesting to see an author take a theme that has already been stomped to death until it decomposed into a puddle of fetid goo, and make it something fresh and worth reading again. A very pleasant surprise.
The Third Claw of God by Adam-Troy Castro
About a year ago I read Emissaries from the Dead, Castro's first novel about Andrea Cort, and I loved it. So when The Third Claw of God came out, naturally I bought it. It actually took me a few weeks to get around to sitting down to read it, I think in part because I was afraid it wouldn't be as good as the first, and I hate it when that happens. Over the years I have grown somewhat wary of reading sequels to books I liked. I can't exactly explain why, but I've noticed this trend. Perhaps I got burned out when I was younger on series that went too long, or perhaps I've been disappointed too often by a sequel that I didn't like as well as the first book, but I often don't pick up sequels. (Case in point: last year I loved Bone Song by John Meaney. I'm hesitant to read the sequel, because I might not like it. Yes, I'm weird.)
I am happy to report that The Third Claw of God did not disappoint me. It again features Andrea Cort, investigator for the Diplomatic Corps. Andrea is an angry woman with a past. She was involved in a massacre in her childhood, and is still considered a war criminal by an entire race of people who would like to kill her. She was raised by the Diplomatic Corps and they put to work, but her precarious legal position means that she cannot leave the protection of their service, and so she is more or less their property. She has come a long way since the beginning of Emissaries from the Dead, but she's still a brilliant, prickly woman with serious anger issues.
Andrea has been summoned to the planet Xana, the home world of a family of arms dealers who have built themselves a pleasant little kingdom with their loyal servants and employees. But they do not belong to the Confederation, so Andrea does not have any actual jurisdiction there. She does not know why she has been summoned, but almost immediately someone tries to kill her with a Claw of God, a very nasty weapon developed 16,000 years previously by a race that has since gone extinct.
She is saved by the intervention of her lover and bodyguard, the Porrinyards--Oscin and Skye, one mind in two bodies. They then climb into a luxury cable car and begin the long descent from the orbital station to the planet itself. Unfortunately they don't make it to the planet surface, and someone in the cable car is a murderer.
The Third Claw of God is sort of Murder on the Orient Express in space, and it's a lot of fun. They are trapped, and it's up to Andrea to figure out who the killer is. In the course of doing so, she learns more about the ruling family of Xana than she really wanted to know. And, given that Andrea has a very short fuse, she doesn't hesitate to tell them how much she dislikes them.
Meanwhile her true master, a giant intelligence known as the AI Source, keeps hinting darkly that momentous events are coming, and she will have to make an important decision. If this were a fantasy novel, the AI Source would be a wizard or a seer that is warning her that she's the Chosen One or something. Instead it's a hugely powerful artificial intelligence that hints darkly at things but won't give her any advice on what she's expected to do. Andrea is understandably frustrated by her dealings with it, but she is frustrated about most things in her life.
The Third Claw of God is a mystery novel in space. I like mysteries, and really enjoyed it. Those who don't like mysteries probably won't. Highly recommended.
I am happy to report that The Third Claw of God did not disappoint me. It again features Andrea Cort, investigator for the Diplomatic Corps. Andrea is an angry woman with a past. She was involved in a massacre in her childhood, and is still considered a war criminal by an entire race of people who would like to kill her. She was raised by the Diplomatic Corps and they put to work, but her precarious legal position means that she cannot leave the protection of their service, and so she is more or less their property. She has come a long way since the beginning of Emissaries from the Dead, but she's still a brilliant, prickly woman with serious anger issues.
Andrea has been summoned to the planet Xana, the home world of a family of arms dealers who have built themselves a pleasant little kingdom with their loyal servants and employees. But they do not belong to the Confederation, so Andrea does not have any actual jurisdiction there. She does not know why she has been summoned, but almost immediately someone tries to kill her with a Claw of God, a very nasty weapon developed 16,000 years previously by a race that has since gone extinct.
She is saved by the intervention of her lover and bodyguard, the Porrinyards--Oscin and Skye, one mind in two bodies. They then climb into a luxury cable car and begin the long descent from the orbital station to the planet itself. Unfortunately they don't make it to the planet surface, and someone in the cable car is a murderer.
The Third Claw of God is sort of Murder on the Orient Express in space, and it's a lot of fun. They are trapped, and it's up to Andrea to figure out who the killer is. In the course of doing so, she learns more about the ruling family of Xana than she really wanted to know. And, given that Andrea has a very short fuse, she doesn't hesitate to tell them how much she dislikes them.
Meanwhile her true master, a giant intelligence known as the AI Source, keeps hinting darkly that momentous events are coming, and she will have to make an important decision. If this were a fantasy novel, the AI Source would be a wizard or a seer that is warning her that she's the Chosen One or something. Instead it's a hugely powerful artificial intelligence that hints darkly at things but won't give her any advice on what she's expected to do. Andrea is understandably frustrated by her dealings with it, but she is frustrated about most things in her life.
The Third Claw of God is a mystery novel in space. I like mysteries, and really enjoyed it. Those who don't like mysteries probably won't. Highly recommended.
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