Titanium Noir

April 1, 2023

Private eye Cal Sounder is a "fixer" who smooths over issues between the elite Titans and mere humans in a dystopian future. Titans are genetically engineered, mega-rich, practically immortal, and nearly indestructible, so Cal gets called in when one turns up dead. His investigation into the murder of one Titan, who could only have been killed by a fellow Titan, puts him between a rock (the elites who want it all covered up) and a hard place (the cops who need a solution--or a scapegoat--that keeps them out of the Titans' sights). If Cal can't find the murderer, then he's bound to be the goat. This SF thriller hits all the beats of a gritty noir mystery, wrapped in a near-future setting where immortality can be had for a price, and those able to pay it are willing to compromise everything, including their humanity. VERDICT Harkaway (Gnomon) combines a satisfying mystery with a thought-provoking science-fictional setting and just the right touch of heartbreak to make for a compelling read. Recommended for those who enjoy reading SF/mystery blends such as The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal, Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty, and especially Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson.--Marlene Harris

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April 1, 2023
An SF-tinged romp that blends elements of the noir thriller and the picaresque novel. Son of the late John le Carr�, Harkaway comes by his moody thriller credentials honestly. Yet here he echoes not his father so much as the Thomas Pynchon of Inherent Vice. His book stars schmo of a detective Cal Sounder, who's pulled into a tangled tale of corporate intrigue and ethnic cuisine ("the Goan-Hungarian place is called Bela's but the chef's name is Atilla....His wife, M�ri, runs the business and she's the brains"). The men blunder through, for the most part, while the women do the thinking. One topic at the top of everyone's list is why a "nerd," as Sounder describes him, should be lying dead on his apartment floor, his outfit a pastiche of high-flood pants, a clip-on tie, and orthotic shoes that "complete the anti-chic vibe." Oh, and the dead nerd with the bullet in his brain is 7 feet, 8 inches tall and 91 years old: a superman, in other words, known in Harkaway's metropolis of the near future as a Titan. And how does one get to be so old and gigantic? Therein lies a tale of genetic manipulation--familiar to fans of movies such as RoboCop and Elysium--the mastermind of which is, naturally, a Very Bad Man--or half-man, half-whatever--named Stefan Tonfamecasca. The mad science required to produce a Titan might be intellectually interesting, but it has produced a few monsters to make Sounder's life miserable. And, Tonfamecasca being the creator of a new life form, who knows how many to produce before "ruining that post-scarcity thing for the few"? There are the inevitable crooked cops and femmes fatales (some of them quite oversized) along with some fun culinary side notes ("Barbecue...is the only food apart from lobster where a grown man is permitted to wear a bib without criticism") to pepper Harkaway's tale. An entertaining shaggy dog of a futuristic whodunit.

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Starred review from June 5, 2023
Harkaway (Gnomon) pulls off an artful blend of science fiction and hard-boiled detective story in this excellent outing. In the near future, gene therapy has made a remarkable breakthrough: those able to afford an expensive procedure called Titanium 7 appear younger, gaining great height, strength, and longevity. Private eye Cal Sounder, who specializes in investigations involving these so-called “Titans,” is hired by his friend, homicide detective Giles Gratton, to consult on a tricky case. Roddy Tebbit, a 91-year-old Titan who looked half his age, has been shot execution-style in his apartment in a part of the city where a large number of the world’s 2,000 Titans live. Apart from his genetic enhancement, Tebbit led an unremarkable life, making it hard to identify a motive for his slaying. Despite their small numbers, Titans wield significant political power, so Sounder makes the case a priority. Soon, however, his investigation points to answers that may lie closer to home than he’d like. Harkaway’s superior worldbuilding makes it easy for readers to buy in to the conceit, which burnishes detective story clichés with sci-fi flair. It’s a wild ride.

December 22, 2023
In the near future, Cal Sounder, a world-weary investigator who works with the police on sensitive cases, is called to the scene of a homicide. The victim is no ordinary man; he's a Titan, one of only a few thousand genetically enhanced humans on Earth. Because Titans are thought to be nearly invincible, the murder of one is a big deal, and Cal comes under enormous pressure to solve the case, and solve it fast--no matter what dark truths he might uncover. Harkaway, who demonstrated his world building prowess in novels like The Gone-Away World (2008) and Gnomon (2018), here creates an environment that feels so real that readers become immersed in it. In this brilliant blend of sf and noir mystery, Cal is the sort of character who would be at home in the film noir of the 1940s and '50s, but the world he inhabits is fresh and exciting, full of colorful characters and technologies that are (mostly) plausible extensions of our own. A treat for fans of sf, noir, and just plain good storytelling.

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