Duplicate Effort [Mass Market Paperback]

_Duplicate Effort_ picks up soon after _Recovery Man_, continuing the story of Miles, his daughter Talia, and Miles' ex-employer Paloma's son. Newcomers to the series should NOT start here -- there is no "previously in" summary, although the story does fill in the major points for those who read Recovery Man and Palmoa a year or so ago.

The gist of the story follows several different characters as they grapple with an investigation into Ki Bowles murder. The characters and world are as sharply drawn as ever, but there are several unsatisfying aspects.

The blurb is inaccurate -- Talia does not actually go off on her own, at least not for very long. However, her search for her clone sisters is an important aspect of the resolution.

The audience is a bit ahead of the characters because it sees clues that that the seperate investigations don't share, but that doesn't help much in understanding a somewhat unsatisfying resolution. The motives of the responsible party are somewhat murky and revealed only at the very end of the book. More significantly, Miles, Nyquist, Romey, and Van Alen's efforts are mostly moot. Had they done nothing, DeRicci would have caught the responsible party, although with collateral damage to parties that Miles wishes to protect.

Justinian Wagner does get a long-overdue commupance, mostly as a result of stupid actions on his part. The confrontation between him, Miles, and Talia falls a bit flat after a 3 book build-up.

Glaringly, at several points the book depends on characters either delibrately not checking their links (voice mail, in effect) or being in locations where messages are delayed. This can work once or twice in a book, the repetition of it to delay progress in the parrallel investigations becomes overused.

This may also be the first book in the series with almost no alien presence, which is somewhat of a loss in a series with some interesting and alien, aliens.

The end wraps up a number of plot threads and likely could serve as an end to the series. If it continues, it will be interesting to see where the author goes with it.

Duplicate Effort (2009) is the seventh SF novel in the Retrieval Artist series, following Recovery Man. In the previous volume, Yu takes Rhonda to the moon Io to give her to the Gyonnese. The Gyonnese questioned whether Rhonda was really alive and reduced the amount that they paid Yu.

Rhonda woke in the moving crate and learned where she was. She listened to the Gyonnese conversation and decided that they were going to learn where she had hidden Emmeline. So she committed suicide to protect her daughter.

In this novel, Miles Flint is a Retrieval Artist on the Moon. He is now the parent of a teenage daughter. Talia is quite proficient with computers for her age.

Talia Shindo is the sixth clone of Emmeline, the daughter of Flint and Rhonda. She is younger that her original -- thirteen instead of sixteen -- and now lives with Flint.

Ki Bowles is a news media journalist. She had been employed by InterDome Media, but was fired over the DeRicci debacle and other problems. Now she is working with Flint to bring down the WSX law firm.

Noelle DeRicci is the Moon Security Chief for the United Domes. She is beginning to think politically. She is also very fond of Nyquist.

Bartholomew Nyquist is a detective in the Armstrong Police Department. He is a loner, never keeping a partner very long. He also doesn't like politics. Yet he does like Noelle.

Justinian Wagner is the senior partner of the Wagner, Stuart and Xendor law firm. He is very powerful within the Alliance, especially since his father and mother died {see Paloma).

In this story, Ki Bowles has just released the first of her series on WSX. She and her bodyguards are going to the Hunting Club for a celebratory dinner. Then two men kill her on the grounds of the club.

Nyquist is called in on the murder. When he arrives, the ground keeping devices are destroying evidence. He sends a uniform to request that the equipment be turned off.

The Hunting Club refuses to acquiesce to this request. When Nyquist goes himself, he also is refused. The club is very exclusive and has an influential membership, so Nyquist calls Noelle to order the devices to be inactivated.

Flint enjoys having his very enthusiastic daughter living with him. She wants to learn everything he knows about computers. Unfortunately, she has been trying to stow away on ships going to Earth.

Today he goes to visit his old friend Murray in Traffic to pick up Talia. This time she posed as a passenger and almost got away with it. On the way back home, she finally confesses that she has located two of her clone siblings and is trying to reach them.

Flint tries again to tell her that she is risking the life of Emmeline. If Talia can find her fellow clones, she could also discover her original. Once such data is found, others will start looking. The Gyonnese would still like to find Emmeline and take her away from her adopted parents.

Then Flint learns about the Bowles murder. Naturally, his first opinion is that Justinian ordered the killing. Yet he knows that Bowles has many enemies and starts investigating her past.

This tale leads Flint and Nyquist to many interesting findings about Bowles. Another murder is discovered and the case is expanded. Then Justinian intervenes.

This story has many twists and turns. But it is probably the last book in the series. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Rusch fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of police investigations, computer searches, and intriguing characters. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Disappeared.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Book seven in what I think will be the final of the Retrieval Artist series, Duplicate Effort focuses on Talia, Miles' daughter, and her 5 cloned sisters. Talia, also a clone, has decided to look for her missing sisters without her father's knowledge, and was caught trying to get off-planet in order to do so. As a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint has had to learn to view situations from multiple aspects, something he has yet to teach his young daughter - but which this situation seems to be providing the perfect, if unfortunate, example. Having brought Talia back to his office, Miles tries to find out how Talia began her search and yet she is evasive, so he has to lead her through the less pleasant aspects of his position - and present to her how her inquisitive nature may have resulted in the deaths of innocents.

Retrieving Talia puts a hitch in Miles' personal investigation of the murder of the investigative reporter he was working with to bring down a dirty law firm, but it does send up the red flag that he might be next. Ki Bowles had come out to the universe with information about Wagner, Stuart, and Xender, leaving behind a secure position with a reputable company to go back to the satisfaction investigative reporting but with the years of experience behind her now of knowing how to get the facts. Being partners chafed for both of them, but it was the end product that they were both looking for - bringing down Wagner. Miles provided security detail for her but in the swanky Hunting Club, it was all for naught. The usual security links that connected her by mind to her detail were cut off - and then it didn't matter.

Nyquist is back on the job, but things aren't the same. He's investigating the murder of the well-known journalist Ki Bowles and from the start things are all wrong - like the self-cleaning forest where it happened. The only person who can shut it down is DiRicci, she won't do it without exigent circumstances and one murder of a civilian does not qualify. So we have the dots connecting the players, we just need to be able to connect them.

This however, is not a book for the uninitiated. This isn't even a book for someone who has skipped one in the series! I would have to say that the others in the series could stand on their own, but this one will throw you for a loop if you haven't read the others. There is a lot of background about Miles' wife and daughter that is necessary to understand the entire plot of this one, not to mention who Nyquist is and his relationship with DiRicci. Rusch is an outstanding author and her work is well worth the read, but make sure you have the background before picking this one up.

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