Scott Meyer

Genre: near-future, neo-noir, espionage

The Dust Cover Copy

It is the distant future, and Baird is a loner, a part-time spy, and a notorious alleged thief. "Notorious" for the audacity of her crimes; "alleged" because nobody has been able to legally prove she committed any of them.

When the hush-hush agency known as the Toolbox recruits Baird, being a clandestine operative seems like a great way to get paid to do what she already does anyway. That is, until a mission goes wrong, and Baird is infected with a deadly virus. With only seven days to live, Baird has to complete a series of daring missions, each one designed to bring her closer to a cure.

Allegedly.

Baird suspects the Toolbox might not be telling her the whole truth. She's not sure what to believe or whom to trust.

And the clock is ticking.

The Scene

Worldbuilding

Positing the very real idea that humanity may one day spread through our solar system, this book does a fine job of jet-setting us from the underground vineyards of Mars to the futuristic fish and chip stands of Europa, where they cook and serve the only exospecies that humanity has found to date: the taterfish. In this universe, folks go into several weeks of stasis to shoot between planets. The rich live on the homeworld, which has been rewilded in accord with the half-earth plan. The rest of us work colony jobs. The dirt poor are stuck way out on Titan. It’s a universe full of character, with some neat insights into the possibilities the future holds.

The Crowd

Characterization

Unfortunately, the characters aren’t nearly as full of personality as the colony settings. There is some solid work put into making the characters distinct and memorable through personal affectations—one character kills people with his toes—and yet…

Let me put it this way. In winter, I happily snuggle down in a sweater and listen to Agatha Christie and other cozy mystery series. Why? Because it keeps me generally engaged and intellectually amused while I do quiet tasks, but the emotional stakes are very low. I don’t get knocked out of my flow by disturbing emotions when I listen to these works; it’s all ‘oh dear, there seems to be a body in the library. We should tidy that up.’ Procedural cozy mysteries, for me, are essentially company in the background that I don’t really have to care about.

With this very heist-oriented book, I found myself sliding into a similar state. The character circumstances and affectations were amusing; wait until you get to the head Sherriff and the Arch Criminal. Some work was put in to dryly comment on what people expect, stereotypes we create as a society, and how expectations can be subverted or exploited. That was fun. But it didn’t make the characters into people. In this work, the emotions weren’t really felt; rather, they were explained so that the plot could be forwarded. We stay on the plane of the intellect and the procedure. Now, I enjoy a story like that now and again. It has a certain charm. But I followed up on emails, balanced my checkbook, and did a bunch of fiddly business-related details while listening to this book. I didn’t take it with me to garden or clean the house. It wouldn’t have held my interest for those chores.

The Lingo

Writing Style

With plenty of amusing ideas and clever quips, the story is pleasant for fans of the neo-noir (or heist) genre. It was definitely worth at least one listen, and some of the situations and ideas created gave me a smile. The jokes about tool code-names alone are worth a grin, and the commentary on what people see and how that can be exploited are a lot of fun. While it’s a bit workmanlike, it's well-done work.

The Moves

Plot

I have to say, the greatest failure of this work is the sense of dogged procedure being carried out that permeates the plot. Heist One in the story was fun. By Heist Two, I was getting a little bored of the long, careful descriptions. By Heist Three, I was going through bank records during the action scenes. And there are five heists in the story. Maybe six? They kind of blended in my head. What you get from the main character is a sense of being so over the situation, and that flavors the work. As the heists move on, creeping ennui sets in. Without any emotion to ground them beyond exasperation, annoyance or occasional smug satisfaction, I just…didn’t have anything to connect to. The focus stays on procedure and technique to the very end, and then the author attempts to inject a deep emotional reason for the characters’ actions. Sadly, it falls completely flat. There are some fun twists and turns, don’t get me wrong. But as a reader, the investment just wasn’t there.
For folks who enjoy their literature on a cerebral level, this book is clever. But I’m afraid that’s mainly what it is: clever. Cute. And not a lot else.

Overall Rating

An amusing, low stakes book that will leave you saying ‘well, that was nice…what’s next?’