Michael Dempsey (2)

"In a future where death is a thing of the past, how far would you go to solve your own murder?
Paul Donner is a NYPD detective with a drinking problem and a marriage on the rocks. Then he and his wife get dead--shot to death in a "random" crime. Fifty years later, Donner is back--revived courtesy of the Shift, a process whereby inanimate DNA is re-activated. This new "reborn" underclass is not only alive again, they're growing younger, destined for a second childhood. The freakish side-effect of a retroviral attack on New York, the Shift has turned the world upside down. Beneath the protective geodesic Blister, clocks run backwards, technology is hidden behind a noir facade, and you can see Elvis every night at Radio City Music Hall. In this unfamiliar retro-futurist world of maglev Studebakers and plasma tommy guns, Donner must search for those responsible for the destruction of his life. His quest for retribution leads him to the heart of the mystery surrounding the Shift's origin and up against those who would use it to control a terrified nation."
Very well written. The story reads a lot less like stereo instructions which is good because it makes it easier for non technologically inclined readers to follow. The characters were very well put together and developed. The storyline was also very well developed.
I enjoyed this book to a point. I thought that the concept was very much like the The Crow in the sense that a murdered husband comes back from the dead to avenge his murdered wife and himself. But the science behind it is very new age so it made for a nice mix. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who enjoyed stories like The Crow as well as dystopian, sci-fi and cops and robbers.… (altro)

First sentence: “Ten minutes before I died, I realized I was out of cigarettes.”

I’m not normally a huge fan of the science fiction/fantasy genre. I want to be, but I have so many preferences I’m too picky for most of them to satisfy me. Occasionally I’ll come across one that makes me happy and hits all my buttons. Such was the case with this book. I got this as an e-book when it was on sale and I thought it sounded pretty interesting, and it got bonus points for being a mystery as well. I’m really glad I took a chance, because I really loved this book. Everything was perfectly done here – the characters, the mystery, the world-building.

It begins in the year 2012 with NYPD detective Paul Donner and his wife Elise being killed in a quick-mart. It then jumps 50 years in the future, where the ‘Shift’ has occurred that has caused DNA in some corpses to reverse and begin aging backwards. These newly reborn people (derogatively called ‘Reebs’) are the new underclass in New York City, which has been quarantined in a bubble referred to as “the Blister”. When Paul’s body starts to regenerate his body is removed from his grave and rushed to a hospital. Upon release Paul finds a purpose in this new and confusing world by researching his death and trying to track down his killer.

I really enjoyed reading this book and will look forward to more from this author.
… (altro)

This book weaves two related mystery plots together in an artfully-constructed speculative future. The twists and turns ensure suspense, occasionally surprise, but avoid the mistake of going so far out of the realm of plausibility that it ruins the tale. The political and ethical undertones are just hefty enough to add depth, without overshadowing the excellent story-telling. Although all of the characters are well-written, the main protagonist and antagonist stand out as truly excellent examples of how a good author can breath new life into archetypes like the private eye and the femme fatale. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await Dempsey's next book. Very impressive for a debut novel!… (altro)

This novel is about a man who wakes up in a strange, neo-futuristic world, after his murder.

Paul Donner is an NYPD detective who is out for the evening with his wife. They walk in on a bodega robbery, and are killed. He wakes up, forty years later, due to something called the Shift. Said to be the side effect of a retroviral attack, it re-animates the DNA of dead people, causing them to come to life. No, they don't turn into zombies, but they do age younger (an adult becomes a teenager, who becomes a child, then an infant, and ends as a hunk of protoplasm). Such reborn people, or "reebs," are considered third-class citizens, so Donner has to investigate his murder on his own.

A protective blister, or dome, is being built over New York City to keep the Shift "virus" (for lack of a better term) from infecting the rest of America. Manhattan has reverted to the 1930's, the time of Dashiell Hammett and the Studebaker. Harlem has gone back to the time of the Harlem Renaissance, and Greenwich Village is now in the 1960's hippie era. As Donner looks into his murder, he discovers some interesting things, like the person accused of killing him was intentionally released, without being charged. The conspiracy gets bigger and bigger, with Donner and his wife at the center. It involves the existence of an actual immortality serum, and a plan to kill millions of people in a very public, and gruesome, way, to solidify social control over the Big Apple.

This book works on a number of levels. It works really well as a regular detective story. It also works for those who liked the film "Blade Runner." It's well done from start to finish, and the twists and turns will keep the reader guessing. Here is a first-rate piece of writing.… (altro)