Made To Kill by Adam Christopher
The Blurb On The Back:
Ray is the perfect detective - tireless, logical and efficient, with a knack for wry one-liners. He’s also the last robot on Earth - turns out people just don’t like robots, even if they like the idea of them.
As the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency - except for Ada, office gal and supercomputer, the constant voice in Ray’s inner ear - Ray prefers to stay out of sight. So when a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing actor, he’s inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she has the cold, hard gold - and Ray was programmed to make a profit. Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen - and this robot is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
It’s 10th August 1965 in an alternate world. 10 years earlier business and government attempted a mass rollout of robots to take menial jobs. The attempt failed - firstly because humans needed the menial work and secondly because humans found the robots rather creepy to deal with. As a result, most of the robots were scrapped on the day that Ray was activated by his inventor - Professor Thornton. Designed to have a more human personality and paired with Ada (a supercomputer with a personality of her own), Professor Thornton set them up as the Electromatic Detective Agency in an office in Hollywood.
When a mysterious woman turns up in his office and asks him to find Charles David, the movie star, and kill him, Ray wants to turn the job down. But the woman is offering to pay in cold, hard gold and Ada has been programmed to make a profit. As a result, Ray soon finds himself embroiled in a sinister cold war plot involving the Hollywood elite, illicit science experiments, national security and secrets from his own past, which Ada would rather he does not uncover …
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise - certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise - certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.
Ray is the perfect detective - tireless, logical and efficient, with a knack for wry one-liners. He’s also the last robot on Earth - turns out people just don’t like robots, even if they like the idea of them.
As the lone employee of the Electromatic Detective Agency - except for Ada, office gal and supercomputer, the constant voice in Ray’s inner ear - Ray prefers to stay out of sight. So when a familiar-looking woman arrives at the agency wanting to hire Ray to find a missing actor, he’s inclined to tell her to take a hike. But she has the cold, hard gold - and Ray was programmed to make a profit. Plunged into a glittering world of fame, fortune and secrecy, Ray uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen - and this robot is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
It’s 10th August 1965 in an alternate world. 10 years earlier business and government attempted a mass rollout of robots to take menial jobs. The attempt failed - firstly because humans needed the menial work and secondly because humans found the robots rather creepy to deal with. As a result, most of the robots were scrapped on the day that Ray was activated by his inventor - Professor Thornton. Designed to have a more human personality and paired with Ada (a supercomputer with a personality of her own), Professor Thornton set them up as the Electromatic Detective Agency in an office in Hollywood.
When a mysterious woman turns up in his office and asks him to find Charles David, the movie star, and kill him, Ray wants to turn the job down. But the woman is offering to pay in cold, hard gold and Ada has been programmed to make a profit. As a result, Ray soon finds himself embroiled in a sinister cold war plot involving the Hollywood elite, illicit science experiments, national security and secrets from his own past, which Ada would rather he does not uncover …
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise - certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.
The Verdict:
Adam Christopher’s novel (the first in a trilogy) combines alternate history, science fiction and hard-boiled pulp crime fiction to mixed effect. Christopher’s starting point was to imagine what would happen if Raymond Chandler wrote science fiction (a genre that Chandler did not rate). I thought the novel captured Chandler’s cynical, hard-boiled voice and I enjoyed the world building - particularly the alternate history ideas (e.g. Kennedy doing a deal with Cuba to host American missiles). I also enjoyed Ray’s relationship with Ada (which inverts the pulp fiction relationship between PI and secretary) and the incorporation of B-movie SF elements, which are a lot of fun. However, Ray isn’t as interesting as he should be. Part of the problem is that Ray is more observer and explainer than investigator, which means that he doesn’t really drive his story while the fact that his memory’s wiped every 24 hours means that there’s a certain amount of repetition to his story, which bored me after a while and all in all there’s a lot of set-up without a big enough pay off. This is a shame because the foundations are good and Ray is a character with a lot of promise - certainly enough to ensure that I will be checking out the sequel.