Red Planet Blues

Red Planet Blues
By Robert J. Sawyer

There’s always been an exuberance to Robert J. Sawyer’s writing, and reading Red Planet Blues one can’t miss the feeling that he’s having a lot of fun. A semi-parodic space noir that uses his novella “Identity Theft” as a springboard, it takes us further into the adventures of wise-cracking gumshoe Alex Lomax on the mean streets of New Klondike, a Martian frontier town.

Since Alex is a vintage film buff you can expect a lot of in-jokes and genre tips of the hat to go along with a story featuring whiplash plot twists, lethal babes, superhuman “transfers” who have had their minds uploaded to robotic bodies, greedy prospectors, and even a writer-in-residence who doubles as a femme fatale. Partly inspired by a stay at Berton House, a writer’s retreat in the heart of Klondike Gold Rush territory, Red Planet Blues delivers a pulp buffet of strange things done ‘neath the Martian sun.