Titanium Noir - Nick Harkaway - Top Book Pick!

Sci-Fi/Noir

Rating: 8.5/10

Cal is a detective working with the police on certain, shall we say, sensitive cases. Think of him as a fixer.

When he’s called in to investigate a homicide, at first, he thinks it’s a mistake. That it’s just a run of the mill murder and not one that involves a Titan. Society’s richest, most powerful, medically enhanced and genetically altered elites.

A dead Titan is big news. They don’t die easily, or often. Looks like Cal will have his work cut out for him.

No one will admit knowing the dead guy, despite having more suspects than you can shake a stick at. And Cal will have to turn over a lot of rocks to find the truth.

The world the author plops us into is shadowy and visceral, the plotting impeccable and the characters gleefully immoral. You never really know where you are going to end up, but the journey sure is fun!

This book has all the hallmarks you would expect of a noir novel; complex plot, dark and edgy humour, battered moral compasses and disillusioned characters. Cal is the perfect narrator for the story and his dialogue, internal and external, is scalpel sharp. Let me share just a few of his insights…

“Life is the process of learning shit that you never ever wanted to hear.”

“If you’re an investigator, you’re obviously a connoisseur of unhappy endings.”

“Don’t look at me. Serial killer support services are way down at the bottom of my CV.”

“Better the devil you know. Better no devil at all, but that’s just crazy talk.”

Book Pairing(s): Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty, The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal, Real Bad Things by Kelly J. Ford