- Hardcover: 268 pages
- Publisher: Five Star (ME); large type edition edition (April 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1594141444
- ISBN-13: 978-1594141447
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 626 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
On the far-off planet of Tashista, a serial killer is at work, preying on residents of an underprivileged district in the rigidly class-structured city of Soshambe. When the killer (who is known as Scarab) murders the son of a city official who was apparently slumming in the seedy neighborhood, investigators call in Sandor Dyle, an off-world amateur sleuth known for his ability to solve crimes by analyzing the patterns of their perpetrators. There are many excellent things about this novel. The author has created a highly detailed, internally consistent world. (And he's done it while mostly avoiding the clumsy techno-jargon that mars so much contemporary sf.) He has also pulled off an entertaining take on a traditional mystery format (Dyle, who makes seemingly inexplicable deductions based on minimal evidence, is similar to another famous detective, one created by a writer name Doyle). But there are problems, too, the main one being that, early on in the novel, D'Ammassa virtually hands us the name of the killer on a silver platter. Readers who like their mysteries to be mysterious will be hugely disappointed. On the other hand, those who focus on the sf/fantasy elements--a world, its people, its society and technology--will be amply rewarded. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic,
By
This review is from: Scarab (Hardcover)
Ever wonder where the creatures of myth and legends went when humanity became too aggressive and technologically advanced. They used a portal to take them to another realm and built the great city of Necropolis which is formed in the shape of a pentagram. Each point on the Pentagram is ruled by a Dark Lord who has dominion of the creatures in his holding. Vampires, lycanthropes, witches, shades and zombies co-exist in an uneasy peace policed by the Sentinels, eight foot Golems. While working on a serial killer case, Detective Matt Adrian follows the murderer into Necropolis where he metes out justice before he is killed and becomes a self-willed intelligent zombie. Preservative spells to keep him from rotting away fail and Matt has two days left to find a way to restore his body. Devona, the daughter of Master Vampire Lord Galm, hires him to find the Dawn that was stolen from her father's collection. It could destroy Necropolis by bringing light into a world that knows only darkness. Matt hopes that Galm would be so grateful that he would find a way for the ex-policeman to keep on existing. Of course there are various people and creatures that would rather see them dead than succeed. NECROPOLIS as a dark fantasy book that doesn't take its plot too seriously so it will appeal to fans of Piers Anthony's Xanth series with its witty puns, satiric humor and eccentric characters. It is an interesting world to visit and the hero of Tim Waggoner's work is a very likeable being (for a zombie that is), one that readers will want to read about in future novels centered at the magical city of NECROPOLIS. Harriet Klausner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting sci-fi polic procedural,
By
This review is from: Scarab (Hardcover)
In the far distant future earth is just a memory as humanity has colonized countless worlds in numerous galaxies. One aspect of civilization remains the same: when there is people there is crime. The planet Tashista with its strict class system has bred a whole underground of millions of people engaging in some form of criminal activity. Crime and poverty abound in the Nashamata, the lowest class of society in the city of Soshambe.A serial killer known as the Scarab has killed twenty seven people over a two year period but since the victims were Nashamata, authorities didn't use all the resources at their disposal to catch the killer. In his third year of killing, The Scarab's first victim is the Prefect of Kishamkur's son and he uses all his considerable power to bear to make the catching of the killer a number one priority. Helping them is a pattern analyst and private detective Sandor Dyle who gets pulled into the investigation because the case interests him and almost becomes the killer's last victim. This science fiction police procedural is action packed, exciting and will appeal to readers of both genres. The only way to rise above one's present class is through credit and the Nashamata have very few venues to earn a living forcing them to turn to crime to eke out a subsistence existence. Tashista is a fascinating if bleak place, a society that has isolated itself from the rest of the civilized universe because it doesn't want to be contaminated by outside ideas. SCARAB is a fascinating mystery with many unexpected red herrings to divert the reader away from the true killer. Harriet Klausner
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellently matched sci-fi crime solving pair.,
By Christopher Miller - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Scarab (Hardcover)
First book of a series of two (c'mon write some more!) Older Sandor Dyle and younger police detective woman make an unlikely pair forced by circumstances to work together to find a grisly serial murderer. The development of their relationship is the story, the mystery itself is pretty straightforward and almost secondary. I picked this book at random and was pleasantly surprised. chris-m
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting sci-fi polic procedural,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Scarab (Hardcover)
In the far distant future earth is just a memory as humanity has colonized countless worlds in numerous galaxies. One aspect of civilization remains the same: when there is people there is crime. The planet Tashista with its strict class system has bred a whole underground of millions of people engaging in some form of criminal activity. Crime and poverty abound in the Nashamata, the lowest class of society in the city of Soshambe.A serial killer known as the Scarab has killed twenty seven people over a two year period but since the victims were Nashamata, authorities didn't use all the resources at their disposal to catch the killer. In his third year of killing, The Scarab's first victim is the Prefect of Kishamkur's son and he uses all his considerable power to bear to make the catching of the killer a number one priority. Helping them is a pattern analyst and private detective Sandor Dyle who gets pulled into the investigation because the case interests him and almost becomes the killer's last victim. This science fiction police procedural is action packed, exciting and will appeal to readers of both genres. The only way to rise above one's present class is through credit and the Nashamata have very few venues to earn a living forcing them to turn to crime to eke out a subsistence existence. Tashista is a fascinating if bleak place, a society that has isolated itself from the rest of the civilized universe because it doesn't want to be contaminated by outside ideas. SCARAB is a fascinating mystery with many unexpected red herrings to divert the reader away from the true killer. Harriet Klausner |
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