Killing Is My Business by Adam Christopher (book review).

It was a quiet afternoon in my office when the parcel landed on my desk with a thud. Brown cardboard, clear sticky tape and address handwritten in black ink. I knew exactly what it was and where it came from. A review copy of ‘Killing Is My Business’ by Adam Christopher. The day had suddenly taken a turn for the better. Last year’s ‘Made To Kill’ had made a real impression and I’d been waiting for the sequel with the kind of eager anticipation you normally only see on a personal injuries lawyer who’s got himself a prime spot in A&E. As soon as the clock ticked over to 4:30, I quit the office and raced home to start reading.

I soon reacquainted myself with the main character, Ray Electromatic, a robot detective turned assassin in 1960s Los Angeles. The set-up was given some detail in the first book, but I didn’t need all the background to enjoy this book from the outset. Ray was an engaging and charismatic character and the prose was as smooth as the twenty year-old bourbon I sipped as I read. He was methodical and thoughtful, describing scenes in detail that gave me time to absorb the ambiance yet somehow without slowing down the action. Ray’s big handicap is that his memory tape only lasted twenty-four hours, which meant that each morning he needed a catch-up session from Ada the supercomputer/secretary/boss. His detecting skills were part of his permanent memory, but everything else was new every day.

This time Ray was hired on three separate hit jobs, which I could guess straight away were going to be somehow linked. The marvellously intricate plot that only gradually pulled all the threads together was a thing of unbounded joy to follow. There were fast cars, the Mafia, sunglasses, trench-coats and lots of hats as Ray worked his way through the cases and slowly put two and two together, coming up with a number that, on a scale of one to ten, he did not like one bit.

I loved the first book. I loved ‘Killing Is My Business’ possibly even more. It was almost dark by the time I finished reading, a soft glow fading behind the row of nearby houses. I closed the book with both satisfaction and regret. It was going to be a long wait till the next volume.

Gareth D Jones

August 2017

(pub: TOR/Forge. 282 page small hardback. Price: $25.99 (US), $36.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-7653-7920-7)

check out websites: www.tor-forge.com and www.adamchristopher.ac