I breezed through this fast little novel in two days, and it was a nice palate cleanser after my last read.

Good things: I really love how they explain that Ray, our robot protagonist, can pick up sensory details, how he relates to Ada and applies afterimages that may or may not be connected to whoever her personality imprint is based off of. The templating is good, and the afterimages are excellent -- he explains Ada's control of him, but he doesn't seem to rankle at the idea that she broke into him at some point and reprogrammed him to get from the semi-profitable PI business to the killer-for-hire business. At no time do we know what Ray was originally programmed for, but that's easily explained by knowing that he was broken down and rebuilt...

...but not perfectly. Between his creator's template and his own 'after image' memories, he is able to have some idea of what it is to smile, frown, laugh. He sometimes remembers details he shouldn't, after images on his tapes. He remembers a humanity that he's been gifted, and it makes him more sympathetic even if he can throw sparks from his fingertips and has an internal Geiger counter.

The prose is short and sharp, and has a nice pulpy feel to it. I didn't quite like how the dialogue was handled because it seemed a touch choppy, but beyond that it was good.

Bad things: I could have done with some fleshing of the plot, and more on Ada's involvement expounded on -- especially since it's clear that she has Ray on a leash and without him she has no hands or eyes or legs, but with her he's a puppet and less free than he seems. That relationship needed more meat. However, the ending brings up great questions about how their relationship will evolve in regards to his upgrades, and I definitely want to get the next book because it opens up a lot of character possibility, so hopefully in the next book we'll learn a lot more.

In short: good noir read, needs a little meatier plot but the character of Ray and his attempts to sort of human through his robot life is engaging and makes the thinner plot worth the read. Will get the next book. ( )

Robot noir in the cold war era, interesting take! ( )

This is a very enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to more books with this character if more ever get made. The story is easy to follow. The book is easy to read. The writer kept the pace at a good rate. The setting of the story actually works when you accept it as an alternate timeline. Its so good that I found myself reading it so quickly that I had to slow down. I wanted to stay in the world that these characters lived in for a little longer. I want to read more books from this author now. I will recommend this to anyone who just wants to read a well crafted story.

I read this book through NetGalley. I thank them for this book. #NetGalley ( )

Definitely, a fun read, but I can't quite tell if this is going to be more fun for you straight mystery lovers or for those of you who just like a great rampaging robot private eye/assassin running about the streets of Hollywood.

Me, I like both. It's very Chandler. And as I read it, I was reminded VERY pleasantly of A Lee Martinez's Automatic Detective which has a lot of the same elements.

Still, let's be honest here. The Noir mystery field has a million imitators and what really makes each stand out from the others is just the quality of the writing and the best quirkiness of the main characters.

I think this town is big enough for both books. :)

Especially since its relatively sparse with the SF element unlike the UF element with all that Fantasy Mystery mixes. I believe we need a lot more of this mashup.

Quirky robots are FUN! :)

And this Noir was just as fun as any other mystery I've enjoyed, so double fun! :)


Now on to read the sequel that just came out! :) ( )

The cover art is A , the plot is decent (in an over-the-top diabolical Red Scare SciFi way), and the noir vibe is spot-on...but I feel the robot conceit needed some work, along with a little more worldbuilding. ( )