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99th out of 342 books
—
711 voters
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse (Gumshoe #1)
Welcome to 21st century Atlanta. During your stay, depending on your tastes, you can cruise gay midtown (I hear that the Inquisition Health Club has introduced manacles and chains to the aerobics class) or check out the Reverend-Senator Stonewall's headquarters at Freedom Plaza (watch out for the Christian Militia guarding it, though) or attend a sky-clad Wiccan sabbat (by...more
Paperback, 429 pages
Published
April 1st 1999
by Meisha Merlin Publishing
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Just how did the author keep them all straight? I bet he had a wall chart or something, with cross indexing. I'm impressed.
This book is full of interesting characters. We get first person perspectives from the Gumshoe Drew Parker, his partner, Jen late into the book, the Chosen Benji, his girlfriend Summer, her mother the Witch (whose name escapes me), the Reverend Senator Zacharia Stonewall, the Artist, the Singer, the Cherokee Shaman, the Police ... you get the picture. Each has his or her ow...more
This book is full of interesting characters. We get first person perspectives from the Gumshoe Drew Parker, his partner, Jen late into the book, the Chosen Benji, his girlfriend Summer, her mother the Witch (whose name escapes me), the Reverend Senator Zacharia Stonewall, the Artist, the Singer, the Cherokee Shaman, the Police ... you get the picture. Each has his or her ow...more
Enjoyable dialogue and convoluted, yet somewhat witty scenarios throughout the book made up for some of the clumsy writing. However, the overall *mystery* wasn't all that intriguing or engaging and at times it was hard to believe the 'Gumshoe' was some sort of seasoned and 'skilled' undercover detective.
Although the chapters in the book tell the story from the point of view of (too) many characters, it still all felt somewhat like the same voice to me. Part Sci-Fi and part mystery, it felt lack...more
Although the chapters in the book tell the story from the point of view of (too) many characters, it still all felt somewhat like the same voice to me. Part Sci-Fi and part mystery, it felt lack...more
Mystery set in a future conceived in the 90's. So far, 8 different first person narrators and counting. Possible time travelers have appeared. You wouldn't think it would work at all, but it did, all the way through. Finished in one fabulous afternoon. I totally enjoyed this. Not for anyone who takes their Moral Majority, New Age witchcraft or gay private eyes seriously, and there were no time travelers after all, just psychics. I figured out at last that it was like a comic book in prose, that'...more
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The one where America is so culturally divided that there are Wiccan schools as well as Baptist ones. Drew Parker is a gay private detective, and his partner, Jen, a witch, is missing, and someone digs up a corpse and does something very strange with it.
The future world is drawn in such broad, exaggerated strokes; it might work as an article-length parody, but at novel length, I don't believe it, and as a result, I don't believe most of the characters, either. It doesn't help that the book is m...more
The future world is drawn in such broad, exaggerated strokes; it might work as an article-length parody, but at novel length, I don't believe it, and as a result, I don't believe most of the characters, either. It doesn't help that the book is m...more
This book kept showing up on automated "recommended" lists for me. I finally gave in and really enjoyed it. It is physically large, and it takes a little work to get into. The entire novel is told in first-person perspective, but who that person is changes from chapter to chapter. The stories really do cross each other, you just have to hang in there. Among the narrators of this future-Atlanta whodunnit are a police detective, a gay private detective, a Wiccan mom with a husband and two daughter...more
A bizarre and entertaining mash-up of speculative fiction, urban fantasy, and noir mystery that takes a number of current issues to their absurd extremes, from televangelism to Native American rights to psychic detectives. Much wittier and better plotted than many of the supernatural genre-benders that have recently flooded the market.
A reasonably intriguing gay SF mystery set in the near future, in which the US is basically Baptists versus Wiccans and there are some grotesque murders going on. Not my favorite thing ever -- I think it has a few too many POV characters -- but the execution is really well done. Hey, I might even read the sequel someday.
I love this book. I'm not normally a fan of multiple POV switching like this, but this book is just so much fun that I don't mind. It's clever and interesting; definitely a must for sf and mystery fans.
Oh, I adore this book. It's such glorious fun, written with love and conviction and sharp, dorky humour. Perfect for curling up with to reread when the world outside is getting me down.
Set in a thoroughly balkanised 2024 America, it follows its much put-upon characters through a week of serial killers, riots, court cases and, of course, embarrassing crushes.
Clearly a first novel, but I find the rough edges charming; they make the earnestness that occasionally bursts through a lot easier to enjo...more
Set in a thoroughly balkanised 2024 America, it follows its much put-upon characters through a week of serial killers, riots, court cases and, of course, embarrassing crushes.
Clearly a first novel, but I find the rough edges charming; they make the earnestness that occasionally bursts through a lot easier to enjo...more
I'm re-reading this one... and appreciating it even more than I did the first time I read it. Hartman is genuinely brilliant.
One of the better books I read in this year. Keep an eye out for other Keith Hartman works!
I couldn't finish this book...it jumped around too much for my tastes. I wish the author would have stuck with one plot and set of characters, instead of so many. It was hard to follow if you didn't read it all in one sitting (I assume).
An amazing book ...
It ties together all the characters as magnificantly as 'A Confederacy of Dunces' And each character tells their story in the first person - which i see is a new trend with writers but Hartman was the first!
This was a brilliant mystery that is considered SF because it takes place in 2024.
Give it a shot you wont be disappointed!
It ties together all the characters as magnificantly as 'A Confederacy of Dunces' And each character tells their story in the first person - which i see is a new trend with writers but Hartman was the first!
This was a brilliant mystery that is considered SF because it takes place in 2024.
Give it a shot you wont be disappointed!
It was fun to read. The story was complex and you needed to pay attention to the chapter names, but over all it worked very well.
This is the oddest book I have read in a while. Part sci-fi, part mystery. Imagine a society with three main factions: the Baptists, the Gays, and the Witches. I didn’t like it after I finished reading it, but now looking back, I would recommend it.
My review here:
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
I love this book and its sequel. I really wish he'd write another one.
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
I love this book and its sequel. I really wish he'd write another one.
A bit too lengthy in my opinion, a lot of details... but overall, a decent book!
Jun 12, 2013
Roclaf Alter -Ego
marked it as to-read-look-for
Jun 01, 2013
Saša Petalinkar
marked it as to-read
May 05, 2013
Notinfrontoftheklingons
marked it as to-read
Apr 29, 2013
Shehreyar Khan
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2013
Misha
added it
Apr 09, 2013
Rosa
marked it as to-read
Apr 08, 2013
Verena
marked it as to-read
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