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Retrieval Artist #0.1
The Retrieval Artist
In a future where humans engage in galactic commerce with a multitude of unscrupulous aliens, Earth's mega-corporations are held to strict alien laws, and relatives of corporate executives are often abducted as cruel alien revenge for the slightest business infraction. The only chance for a target to hide … is to Disappear--erasure of all personal records, genetic alteration, and a new life with a new name in a new place. For an exorbitant fee under non-negotiable terms of employment, private detective Miles Flint finds the Disappeared.
Originally published in Analog, 2000.
Locus Poll Award Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee, AnLab Award Nominee
Originally published in Analog, 2000.
Locus Poll Award Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee, AnLab Award Nominee
ebook
First published July 28, 2010
15 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,367 books722 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 17, 2019
3.5
If Hammett and Chandler were to dabble in sci-fi, I think the result would look something like this novella.
Miles Flint is a retrieval artist and his job is to locate the "Disappeared," people who have gone into hiding and whose former existence has been permanently erased from all databases. Flint tracks them down for an exorbitant fee because he's good at his job and known in the business as the best money could buy, but he isn't without scruples. Sometimes certain people need to stay disappeared, like for instance, witnesses in high profile cases who want to start a new life somewhere else far from their old world. There are lots of reasons for someone to disappear permanently and most of then have to do with escaping assassinations. In those cases, Flint is fine with letting those people be. He wants nothing to do with helping assassins locate their targets.
That's the set-up to this long, multi-book series which takes place on the moon, and this novella is a short but expansive introduction to Flint and his job. The plot is about a case Flint couldn't turn turn even though he knew he should have.
A young woman from a corporate dynasty hires him to find her mother and sister. Her father is on his deathbed and once he dies, the missing sister stands to inherit his share of the empire because she, the young woman, could not because she's a clone. There are laws against clones inheriting the family fortune. Flint knows at once he should turn the job down--he has a bad feeling about it--but he just couldn't resist the mystery or the woman. So he takes the job. What follows is an interesting look into birthrights and legitimate heirs in this new age of space exploration.
Miles Flint is a throwback to the private eyes of those early hardboiled days. Brash and candid, the character has a bluntness and directness that weed out sob stories and cut right through bullshit--so maybe more of a Hammett-type character than Chandler. He assesses people in a cool apathetic manner that allows him to judge their intentions and gauge whether or not they're out to kill the Disappeared people they claim to seek. Being able to tell the difference is the point of his job, really, and something he takes pride in.
The concept of being Disappeared is a gray area. It's like being on the run, but there's no running. Your existence is wiped from all databases, you move to a new planet where no one knows who you are, and no one from your old life can find you. If the person you hired to make you disappear were any good, you stay disappeared.
Here's where it gets murky though. Disappearing allows actual criminals the same chances of survival as innocent people who have been similarly marked for death. I find this concept very interesting. It's one of the few things that's motivating me to pick up the next book because the writing, although gets the job done, is just okay. It leans more towards telling than showing, and there are quite a few long passages of explanation nestled in between the action. But that's to be expected as this novella is literally an intro, and the info-dumps are necessary to introduce the setting, story, and Miles Flint's precarious job.
All in all, a good story and solid start to what I hope will be an interesting series. I also hope it will be a new favorite series which I can fall back on as Rusch is currently at book #13 at the time of this review and she's still writing for this series.
* * * * *
Cross-posted at https://covers2covers.wordpress.com/2...
If Hammett and Chandler were to dabble in sci-fi, I think the result would look something like this novella.
Miles Flint is a retrieval artist and his job is to locate the "Disappeared," people who have gone into hiding and whose former existence has been permanently erased from all databases. Flint tracks them down for an exorbitant fee because he's good at his job and known in the business as the best money could buy, but he isn't without scruples. Sometimes certain people need to stay disappeared, like for instance, witnesses in high profile cases who want to start a new life somewhere else far from their old world. There are lots of reasons for someone to disappear permanently and most of then have to do with escaping assassinations. In those cases, Flint is fine with letting those people be. He wants nothing to do with helping assassins locate their targets.
That's the set-up to this long, multi-book series which takes place on the moon, and this novella is a short but expansive introduction to Flint and his job. The plot is about a case Flint couldn't turn turn even though he knew he should have.
A young woman from a corporate dynasty hires him to find her mother and sister. Her father is on his deathbed and once he dies, the missing sister stands to inherit his share of the empire because she, the young woman, could not because she's a clone. There are laws against clones inheriting the family fortune. Flint knows at once he should turn the job down--he has a bad feeling about it--but he just couldn't resist the mystery or the woman. So he takes the job. What follows is an interesting look into birthrights and legitimate heirs in this new age of space exploration.
Miles Flint is a throwback to the private eyes of those early hardboiled days. Brash and candid, the character has a bluntness and directness that weed out sob stories and cut right through bullshit--so maybe more of a Hammett-type character than Chandler. He assesses people in a cool apathetic manner that allows him to judge their intentions and gauge whether or not they're out to kill the Disappeared people they claim to seek. Being able to tell the difference is the point of his job, really, and something he takes pride in.
The concept of being Disappeared is a gray area. It's like being on the run, but there's no running. Your existence is wiped from all databases, you move to a new planet where no one knows who you are, and no one from your old life can find you. If the person you hired to make you disappear were any good, you stay disappeared.
Here's where it gets murky though. Disappearing allows actual criminals the same chances of survival as innocent people who have been similarly marked for death. I find this concept very interesting. It's one of the few things that's motivating me to pick up the next book because the writing, although gets the job done, is just okay. It leans more towards telling than showing, and there are quite a few long passages of explanation nestled in between the action. But that's to be expected as this novella is literally an intro, and the info-dumps are necessary to introduce the setting, story, and Miles Flint's precarious job.
All in all, a good story and solid start to what I hope will be an interesting series. I also hope it will be a new favorite series which I can fall back on as Rusch is currently at book #13 at the time of this review and she's still writing for this series.
* * * * *
Cross-posted at https://covers2covers.wordpress.com/2...
January 18, 2026
I had not read this entry in the series and very much enjoyed this. Any time spent in the Retrieval Artist universe with Miles Flint is time well spent. Flint's a case that deeply affected his future work, is the feature, and not only did I enjoy how he dealt with the case, I was really captivated by the details of the case. As with all these short stories and novels, it brings up interesting questions to ponder.
Recommended. I mean, read the whole series. It's a good one.
Recommended. I mean, read the whole series. It's a good one.
March 10, 2016
It was interesting to read this after having read the first novel in the series. (Calling it a short novel is interesting marketing. It's a seventy-seven page novella in the print copy I read. Novella can be a term for short novel, I suppose, but if you're buying an ebook and can't see it, that might imply more like one hundred and fifty pages, perhaps, something that actually approaches a novel's length but that they wanted to indicate was more substantial than a normal novella. This was a normal novella.) She said in the intro to the short story collection that it was included in that she wrote the story and then was inspired expand upon it and start the series. She said that's often her process, to start with something shorter and then move on to the longer form. From what I saw here, it was interesting to read the shorter story, but probably not necessary, even for completists. I don't think I'm going to feel like I understand Miles or the universe any better for having read this, but it was quite interesting to see her process and see how much was changed and adjusted or stayed the same between the story and the first book. It was a very good tale and the majority of the elements that made the book interesting were there, I can see why it was Hugo award nominated. She created a good main character, though he's better in the book, this was a good start for him. It has a complex interplanetary investigation complicated by various alien laws and regulations and human big business. And it's fun to read. In that regard, I'm impressed that it was award nominated, award committees usually pick such depressing stories. An enjoyable mystery is usually below their notice. If I'd read this story back in 2002, my review would definitely have included a wish for more stories about this character and in this universe. Lucky for me I'm late to the game so I already have a bunch of books to read to catch up.
February 14, 2024
Raymond Chandler in space! It's so boiled down to just the core that it almost feels like an outline rather than an actual story, best compliment I can give it is I wish it was longer
March 24, 2014
"The short novel that started the entire Retrieval Artist series".
"One of the top ten science fiction detective series ever."
High praise indeed.
Tech Noir: Once more into the breach!
This short story starts out in the crummy office a private detective who is shortly visited by an attractive femme fatale and - Oh Dear God, I'm back in noir hell!!
This is why terms like derivative and unimaginative are used by reviewers.
Our private detective narrator explains that this is for appearances only, however. He's actually fabulously rich beyond all his wildest dreams and tells us in pretty much the same language. Then, for no apparent reason I can fathom, proceeds to treat his client with the utmost disrespect and arrogance. The author aims for the wise cracking,hard-boiled, surly bitter-vet Private eye but misses, leaving us with little more than a complete jerk of a main character who barges through women. He's not roguish, he's a ****.
I'm not sure of the total word or page count of this short story (I have it on Kindle), but I was two-thirds through this story and nothing had actually happened yet. There'd been a meeting with the client, some research which involved sitting at a booth in a bar reading old newspaper articles, and then another meeting with the client. This guy is quite fond of telling his how good he is, yet so far, he's done nothing but sit on his arse.
It's almost like the author realised this too and threw this into the story: "My work is nine-tenths research and one-tenth excitement. Most of the research comes in the beginning, and it's dry to most people, although I still find the research fascinating."
So what happens is the world's self-confessed Retriever completely glosses over how he manages to track down his three main suspects from thousands of candidates and then take off to interview them.
Okay.
Now, this story is set in the future, on the moon in a galaxy of other strange alien races. This isn't really developed, and I thought the story was of sufficient length that it it should have been elaborated on more. The setting came off as feeling very shallow and thin on the ground to me. Instead, we get a complete jerk who reads the newspaper for research.
The other issues that irked me was the old show, don't tell. There's a lot of the Narrator telling us and very little showing us. This combined with his attitude made it completely impossible to be emotionally or mentally engaged with the story. Comparisons to CSI are apt - the story just slides by without ever requiring you think.
I can only assume that the author developed a more assured writing style and improved her craft since this short story first appeared in Analog SF in June 2000. Either that, or in a world were the highest rating TV shows are all based around amateurs doing amateurish attempts at highly-skilled professions, editorial standards have likewise dipped. It's not like hack authors make international best-selling stories is it? *couch*Tim Butcher*cough*
It pains me to think the best Tech Noir detective story I've read is still a Shadowrun novel *shiver*. If i was a braver soul, I'd give the author the benefit of the doubt and check out one of her more refined, polished pieces. That would, perhaps, be more fair.
"One of the top ten science fiction detective series ever."
High praise indeed.
Tech Noir: Once more into the breach!
This short story starts out in the crummy office a private detective who is shortly visited by an attractive femme fatale and - Oh Dear God, I'm back in noir hell!!
This is why terms like derivative and unimaginative are used by reviewers.
Our private detective narrator explains that this is for appearances only, however. He's actually fabulously rich beyond all his wildest dreams and tells us in pretty much the same language. Then, for no apparent reason I can fathom, proceeds to treat his client with the utmost disrespect and arrogance. The author aims for the wise cracking,hard-boiled, surly bitter-vet Private eye but misses, leaving us with little more than a complete jerk of a main character who barges through women. He's not roguish, he's a ****.
I'm not sure of the total word or page count of this short story (I have it on Kindle), but I was two-thirds through this story and nothing had actually happened yet. There'd been a meeting with the client, some research which involved sitting at a booth in a bar reading old newspaper articles, and then another meeting with the client. This guy is quite fond of telling his how good he is, yet so far, he's done nothing but sit on his arse.
It's almost like the author realised this too and threw this into the story: "My work is nine-tenths research and one-tenth excitement. Most of the research comes in the beginning, and it's dry to most people, although I still find the research fascinating."
So what happens is the world's self-confessed Retriever completely glosses over how he manages to track down his three main suspects from thousands of candidates and then take off to interview them.
Okay.
Now, this story is set in the future, on the moon in a galaxy of other strange alien races. This isn't really developed, and I thought the story was of sufficient length that it it should have been elaborated on more. The setting came off as feeling very shallow and thin on the ground to me. Instead, we get a complete jerk who reads the newspaper for research.
The other issues that irked me was the old show, don't tell. There's a lot of the Narrator telling us and very little showing us. This combined with his attitude made it completely impossible to be emotionally or mentally engaged with the story. Comparisons to CSI are apt - the story just slides by without ever requiring you think.
I can only assume that the author developed a more assured writing style and improved her craft since this short story first appeared in Analog SF in June 2000. Either that, or in a world were the highest rating TV shows are all based around amateurs doing amateurish attempts at highly-skilled professions, editorial standards have likewise dipped. It's not like hack authors make international best-selling stories is it? *couch*Tim Butcher*cough*
It pains me to think the best Tech Noir detective story I've read is still a Shadowrun novel *shiver*. If i was a braver soul, I'd give the author the benefit of the doubt and check out one of her more refined, polished pieces. That would, perhaps, be more fair.
October 30, 2019
This is a nice little “moon noir” featuring a detective who finds (human) people who have been in put into deep hiding for accidentally violating the laws, customs and mores of various alien societies, which humans don’t think is a big deal. Such as taking the firstborn child of someone who picked a flower.
Leaning fairly heavily on hardboiled detective tropes with a dash of SF, Rusch gives us a fabulously wealthy gumshoe who plays at being down-at-the-heels, who is also is a practiced asshole. Which he does because the stakes are so high. Finding a Disappeared person can lead to the deaths of entire families, so he wants to make sure people are legit. Scaring them off with his attitude is the first step.
Unlike a lot of stories in this vein, it is pretty dark, particularly the resolution. I appreciate the fact Flint is morally ambiguous, but it’s a pretty grim tale.
Leaning fairly heavily on hardboiled detective tropes with a dash of SF, Rusch gives us a fabulously wealthy gumshoe who plays at being down-at-the-heels, who is also is a practiced asshole. Which he does because the stakes are so high. Finding a Disappeared person can lead to the deaths of entire families, so he wants to make sure people are legit. Scaring them off with his attitude is the first step.
Unlike a lot of stories in this vein, it is pretty dark, particularly the resolution. I appreciate the fact Flint is morally ambiguous, but it’s a pretty grim tale.
March 1, 2021
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Retrieval Artist. Analog, 2000. Retrieval Artist No. 0.1. WMG, 2010.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch is a prolific multi-genre writer. She is probably best known for her many novelizations in the Star Trek universe. I am particularly fond of her stories about deep space salvage that began with Diving the Wreck. The Retrieval Artist is the Hugo-nominated novella that kicked off the now 15-book series of the same name. It falls chronologically somewhere in the middle of the series, but it does a good job of establishing the parameters of the Retrieval Artist universe. Set in Armstrong, the largest city on the Moon, the story centers on the ethics of multispecies commerce. To survive, sentient races have adopted a strict when-in-Rome approach to dealing with each other. When on someone else’s turf, you follow their rules, and ignorance of the local law is no excuse. Add in typical corporate and individual greed and venality, and conflict is inevitable. The draconian nature of off-planet laws has led to a quasi-legal industry in which wealthy violators of exo-species laws pay to have themselves disappear. Some of these services then market their former clients back to the aliens who want to punish them. Our hero, Miles Flint, is an ex-cop who searches for those who have disappeared and are now in danger. Rusch’s world-building is superb. Her characters are satisfyingly noir, and the plot is twisty enough to keep one engaged. A worthy Hugo nominee.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch is a prolific multi-genre writer. She is probably best known for her many novelizations in the Star Trek universe. I am particularly fond of her stories about deep space salvage that began with Diving the Wreck. The Retrieval Artist is the Hugo-nominated novella that kicked off the now 15-book series of the same name. It falls chronologically somewhere in the middle of the series, but it does a good job of establishing the parameters of the Retrieval Artist universe. Set in Armstrong, the largest city on the Moon, the story centers on the ethics of multispecies commerce. To survive, sentient races have adopted a strict when-in-Rome approach to dealing with each other. When on someone else’s turf, you follow their rules, and ignorance of the local law is no excuse. Add in typical corporate and individual greed and venality, and conflict is inevitable. The draconian nature of off-planet laws has led to a quasi-legal industry in which wealthy violators of exo-species laws pay to have themselves disappear. Some of these services then market their former clients back to the aliens who want to punish them. Our hero, Miles Flint, is an ex-cop who searches for those who have disappeared and are now in danger. Rusch’s world-building is superb. Her characters are satisfyingly noir, and the plot is twisty enough to keep one engaged. A worthy Hugo nominee.
December 20, 2021
Review of original publication in Analog:
A significant novella that establishes Rusch’s concept of human corporations sponsoring disappearances so as to circumvent the strange requirements of alien justice. Though paving the way for a successful series of books, this first story indulges in an awful lot of telling.
A significant novella that establishes Rusch’s concept of human corporations sponsoring disappearances so as to circumvent the strange requirements of alien justice. Though paving the way for a successful series of books, this first story indulges in an awful lot of telling.
November 18, 2020
I mean...this is my favorite sci-fi series right now. and it was interesting for me to see the kernel that the series sprang from. but I wouldn't consider it cannon and she certainly fleshed out Miles for the better. I don't recommend it.
January 29, 2021
An interesting detective. There's not a lot in terms of a unique method, but the voice is kinda cool.
August 3, 2021
Fascinating SF spin on noir, in which people are on the run from bonkers alien judicial systems and a femme fatale hires a private eye to locate someone who's gone missing for a very good reason.
January 12, 2021
Ok, so I could not get a good synopsis of The Retrieval Artist, so I will supply a short one.
Miles Flint is the best in his field and it has allowed him a life of luxury in the Armstrong Moon Colony. It also allows him the right to be picky about the cases he takes. He has no intention on helping the beautiful brunette find her mother but he soon finds himself searching for one more of the Disappeared.
Brief, but this is a rather short novel and I have no skills when it comes to writing synopsizes. The best I can say about The Retrieval Artist is that it made me want to pick up the rest of Rusch’s novels. Miles Flint has the attitude and conflicted conscious of a noir gumshoe that I adore and I could not put the book down! Flint is a retrieval artist who is responsible for locating people who have purposefully disappeared. Rusch takes you through the interesting aspects of his craft while whisking you through a futuristic world full of aliens and corrupt business. I like her imagery and the grittiness of the story.
I wish I could provide more info about the actual storyline, but I am afraid that I would spoil it for you. I think Rusch did outstanding with her chosen medium. I have added this series to my reading list and recommend it to anyone who enjoys noir crime and science fiction! Has anyone else read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s novels?
Lindsay
Miles Flint is the best in his field and it has allowed him a life of luxury in the Armstrong Moon Colony. It also allows him the right to be picky about the cases he takes. He has no intention on helping the beautiful brunette find her mother but he soon finds himself searching for one more of the Disappeared.
Brief, but this is a rather short novel and I have no skills when it comes to writing synopsizes. The best I can say about The Retrieval Artist is that it made me want to pick up the rest of Rusch’s novels. Miles Flint has the attitude and conflicted conscious of a noir gumshoe that I adore and I could not put the book down! Flint is a retrieval artist who is responsible for locating people who have purposefully disappeared. Rusch takes you through the interesting aspects of his craft while whisking you through a futuristic world full of aliens and corrupt business. I like her imagery and the grittiness of the story.
I wish I could provide more info about the actual storyline, but I am afraid that I would spoil it for you. I think Rusch did outstanding with her chosen medium. I have added this series to my reading list and recommend it to anyone who enjoys noir crime and science fiction! Has anyone else read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s novels?
Lindsay
July 21, 2014
SUMMARY: In the future, a lot of people want to disappear, apparently because by treaty if you violate an alien races customs you are subject to their laws. Think of it as witness protection ran by private companies.
For a lot of money, if he happens to be interested in your case and if it fits into his ethics, Miles Flint, the main character, will find the person who has disappeared for you. This short story is about a young woman who is asking Miles to find her mother and sister. Is she being honest with Miles? Will finding them let the inherit a vast intergalactic corporation? Or will it result in their death, or worse?
COMMENTS: I like the short story. Not much more to say right now.
For a lot of money, if he happens to be interested in your case and if it fits into his ethics, Miles Flint, the main character, will find the person who has disappeared for you. This short story is about a young woman who is asking Miles to find her mother and sister. Is she being honest with Miles? Will finding them let the inherit a vast intergalactic corporation? Or will it result in their death, or worse?
COMMENTS: I like the short story. Not much more to say right now.
April 24, 2010
Apparently the beginning of the Retrieval Artist series, which I've been meaning to check out for some time now. The premise on which the series is based - that humans are doing business with other races, some of which have business practices that can drive humans to need to disappear to an extent never known before - is, well, interesting. I'm not sure that any other race would be quite as cruel to humans as we are to each other, honestly, and I've seen humans give each other more than enough reason to disappear quite thoroughly. Still, the writing was good, and the characters and plot were enjoyable. I do plan to find the novels and try one or two of them.
May 19, 2014
Summary: Interesting short story set in a complicated universe with strange aliens colonised planets. Good story
Plotline: Relatively simple but lies within lies ... all good stuff
Premise: Many complex relationships with alien species.
Writing: Simple but descriptive and very engaging
Ending: Satisfying
Pace: Never a dull moment
Plotline: Relatively simple but lies within lies ... all good stuff
Premise: Many complex relationships with alien species.
Writing: Simple but descriptive and very engaging
Ending: Satisfying
Pace: Never a dull moment
May 29, 2015
This was a very good short novel and the start of Rusch's retrieval artist series. The copy I had also included short stories from Kristine Kathryn Rusch and was surprisingly good. Rusch's writings consist of both SF and fantasy. Her stories are amazingly creative and always original.
June 29, 2015
My husband is reading this series and so I am rereading some of the early books with him. I'm not sure if I actually read this novella before or not. I assume this was the first Miles Flint story? I honestly don't remember. I like this story short but kind of typical Miles Flint style.
March 5, 2011
An intriguing, but grim story.
February 2, 2013
The novel that started it all. There is quite a bit of evolution in the character of Miles Flint from this to the series we know and love, but it's still excellent and lays a great groundwork.
December 19, 2013
A cleverly written short novel, a sequel of sorts to The Disappeared. Now to the series proper...
December 7, 2014
A unique futuristic SciFi world. Have to make up my mind though of continuing with the series.
February 1, 2019
This Audible publication, narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, was release 1 August *2007* and was a free download.
June 25, 2011
A novella. It reads like classic science fiction. Great fun.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews