Places in the Darkness
By Chris Brookmyre
The space station Ciudad del Cielo (known as CdC or “Seedee” to the locals) is literally an entire city in the sky, complete with a high-rent luxury district, crime-infested ghettoes, and everything in between. What it doesn’t have is any homicide, at least until bodies mysteriously start piling up when new CdC director Dr. Alice Blake arrives. Is the sudden murder spree a coincidence? Probably not, but Alice will have to team up with tough Seedee cop Nicola Freeman (who has the street name Nikki Fixx) in order to find out what’s going on.
Christopher Brookmyre (shortened to Chris Brookmyre for this novel) is a pro at spinning these tales of futuristic intrigue, which helps a lot here because the plot is incredibly complicated, involving various criminal gangs, a megaproject to colonize deep space, and a “neurosophical” organization doing some questionable experiments into brain tech. It’s enough to make your wetware buzz, with a pace that never flags and pages that keep turning.
Alex on SF 