Tuesday 25 March 2014

SCIENCE FICTION CRIME REVIEW: The Happier Dead - Ivo Stourton

Release Date: 13/03/14
Publisher:  Solaris

SYNOPSIS:

The Great Spa sits on the edge of London, a structure visible from space. The power of Britain on the world stage rests in its monopoly on "The Treatment," a medical procedure which transforms the richest and most powerful into a state of permanent physical youth. The Great Spa is the place where the newly young immortals go to revitalise their aged souls. In this most secure of facilities, a murder of one of the guests threatens to destabilise the new order, and DCI Oates of the Metropolitan police is called in to investigate. In a single day, Oates must unravel the secrets behind the Treatment and the long-ago disappearance of its creator, passing through a London riven with disorder and corruption. As a night of widespread rioting takes hold of the city, he moves towards a climax which could lead to the destruction of the Great Spa, his own ruin, and the loss of everything he holds most dear.


REVIEW:

Whilst a lot of readers can be put off a crime novel when Science Fiction is involved, you really have to give it a go as its not that far fetched giving readers the chance to see a believable world of tomorrow where the rich stay richer and the poor are downtrodden as the march of progress is slowed./halted for the rich whilst the poor are treated worse than dirt.

Its captivating, it has an almost Victorian feel and when added to a principle character who is thrust into a world he is more than uncomfortable in really keeps the reader on their toes. Back this up with great prose, some cracking author sleight of hand and a mystery that really keeps you glued as events unfurl all round opens the reader to a cracking new world for future exploits.

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