Look Out for These - Techno Trio - #2 Skinjob by Bruce McCabe: murder and conspiracy in a believable future that is not so far away

#2 in the Techno Thriller series comes from Australia, where Bruce McCabe’s first novel was a self-publishing phenomenon.  The title can come across as slightly odd, but the novel is a solid futuristic techno thriller, where the police have all CCTV on live stream, people can be tracked real time using face recognition software and handheld lie detectors are used at crime scenes and interviews to identify suspects.

The novel starts with a bombing that completely destroys a “dollhouse”, a brothel of the future, where “clients” have sex with incredibly realistic robot dolls, hence “Skinjob”.  Daniel Madsen is a federal agent brought in to support the local police, angry that one of their own officers was killed in the blast but resentful of outside help.  Their resentment is not just because of Madsen, but his handheld lie detector, HAMDA, used to identify and dismiss police colleagues for minor infringements of regulations.  The police feel they are treated like criminals now.

There are few clues, but some obvious leads to who could be behind the bombing.  NeChristo, New Christian Organisation of America, is a powerful religious group, exploiting modern technology, marketing and communications to build a vast network of opposition to Dreamcom and their Dollhouses.  Dreamcom’s founder Tom Fillinger is on the verge of opening a huge casino/dollhouse complex, Ten Worlds, designed to be a money-spinner by bringing together legal sex and gambling in a vast complex that will cater to anyone’s desires.  There has to be a link to both organisations, but proof is harder to come by, even with a HAMDA.  To keep up the reader’s interest, there is the usual medley of corrupt politicians, degenerate clergy and police crossing the line.

There’s plenty of suspense and Madsen is a bit of an action hero in fast moving scenes that build to a climax with more than one surprise for the reader.  Although futuristic, the way the technology is used is plausible and at times leaves you wondering how far we actually are from mass communication and technology being used in the way that’s shown in the book.   This is a perfect novel if you like a mix of technology in a dystopian future with an action/thriller plot.

Romancrimeblogger