Wyrmhole

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, even gripping in a way, but...
Review: Jack's supposed to be supernaturally intuitive, but instead he comes off as lazy, unaware, and stupid. Part of this is bad writing; he puts it all together on one page and three pages later, he's putting the very SAME thing together. I don't think he forgot; the writer did. The world around him is full of people with the same short attention span as Jack, too. The setting itself is a lackadaisical world-view made manifest. In the end Jack wants to break out of all that, but he won't; he'll take it with him.

Rating:
Summary: FAKE LIVES IN A FAKE WORLD
Review: A bewitching read. In WYRMHOLE, Caselberg presents the reader with a human god figure, Van der Stegen, who builds a utopian city, The Locality. He bequeaths to the inhabitants of this city a controlled, fake environment, much like a computerized biosphere. Ceiling panels provide pseudo skies, moon, sun, stars, clouds and rain. The hero, Jack Stein, psychic investigator (PI), lives in the Locality. Van der S has also discovered how to transport matter through wormhole gates. His beautiful daughter, however, is trying to squeeze him out. All good stuff except the reader must spend the entire novel inside the head of PI Jack. That can be a bit of a chore.

One of the characters, an almost twelve year old girl, Billie, a super hacker, is more mature than any of the adults, and, thus, stretches one's credibility. But as screwed up as the adults are, perhaps she can be viewed as a breath of fresh air.

The ambiance is one of film noir, complete with a fake Hollywood set, PI Jack, who begins the story as a wimpy character, having lost hold of his old, violent, military training, is twice beaten to a pulp. Later, amazingly, his skills return and he can kill his opponents with a single blow. PI Jack is concurrently hired by three different parties in this convoluted story. But PI Jack's brilliant resolution of this case not only satisfies two of his three bosses but also allows him to free himself, and Billie, from the "mindless, patterned consumption" of the LocalityÑÑfrom the confines of his own tortured soul. Naturally, PI Jack will become everyman's good guy.

Rating:
Summary: at least its different
Review: I really like this book, plot was a bit lazy, but the writing style was good. Good character interaction, very good emoting of the central characters. The only thing was that even though he's suppose to be solving things on an unconscious, intuitive level, it does make it seem as if this PI doesn't really solve things so much as been given strategically placed plot movers to make the story progress. Still, this book is more about the journey rather than the end trip. Entertaining just to read and go with it. Like it much better than his 2nd novel in this series.

Rating:
Summary: strong futuristic urban noir
Review: In the distant future, humanity lives in domed areas the size of cities that are bioorganic, self-perpetuating structures. The rich live in the newest areas and the not so wealthy reside in the old section that will disintegrate in a decade or so. Jack Stein, a former black ops agent, works as a physic detective, a person with the gift of psychometry and the ability to find clues in his dreams.

Outreach Industries, a very powerful and wealthy corporation, hires Jack to learn what happened to the miners on Daril III who disappeared without a trace. A lover of one of the lost miner's works in the home office of Outreach. He gives Jack the missing Miner's hand held computer. It is password protected so he goes to someone who can crack the code. When he returns, the person is dead, the eleven-year-old child who was staying there goes home with Jack and the police pay him a visit. There is obviously more going on than some missing miners and the conspiracy of silence coaxes Jack to keep tying to solve the case.

Fans of futuristic crime thrillers like J.D. Robb's Death series will definitely enjoy WYRMHOLE. The protagonist is a complex man who wears blinders until he is forced to take them off and see the world as it really is (sort of like the Matrix but more mental than physical illusion). Once he does that, the audience sees his inner strength and moral compass emerge and appreciate the man he has become. Science fiction fans and readers who like private investigator talesm, especially those who appreciate a strong convergence, will enjoy this futuristic urban noir.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: strong futuristic urban noir
Review: In the distant future, humanity lives in domed areas the size of cities that are bioorganic, self-perpetuating structures. The rich live in the newest areas and the not so wealthy reside in the old section that will disintegrate in a decade or so. Jack Stein, a former black ops agent, works as a physic detective, a person with the gift of psychometry and the ability to find clues in his dreams.

Outreach Industries, a very powerful and wealthy corporation, hires Jack to learn what happened to the miners on Daril III who disappeared without a trace. A lover of one of the lost miner's works in the home office of Outreach. He gives Jack the missing Miner's hand held computer. It is password protected so he goes to someone who can crack the code. When he returns, the person is dead, the eleven-year-old child who was staying there goes home with Jack and the police pay him a visit. There is obviously more going on than some missing miners and the conspiracy of silence coaxes Jack to keep tying to solve the case.

Fans of futuristic crime thrillers like J.D. Robb's Death series will definitely enjoy WYRMHOLE. The protagonist is a complex man who wears blinders until he is forced to take them off and see the world as it really is (sort of like the Matrix but more mental than physical illusion). Once he does that, the audience sees his inner strength and moral compass emerge and appreciate the man he has become. Science fiction fans and readers who like private investigator talesm, especially those who appreciate a strong convergence, will enjoy this futuristic urban noir.

Harriet Klausner