The Vetting

by Michael Cassutt

A suspenseful near-future story from Michael Cassutt about what happens during the vetting process of a researcher from the Middle East, who is trying to enter the US to continue his studies, and the immigration lawyer assigned to his case, who is dying of cancer.

A Tor.com Original

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Thriller, Science Fiction

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 18, 2019

Reviews

[Fiona Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, though it was a small dabble into some very hefty subjects - death, terrorism, immigration policies and so forth - which never quite found its way to a resolution. It's not enough to remove the interesting ideas, but it's enough to feel just slightly cheated when it ends.

Read it here: https://www.tor.com/2019/09/18/the-ve...

[Peter Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, unclassifiable story about a visiting researcher from Syria, who works for an institute doing scientific investigations of the human soul, and his, um, *tense* experience with US Customs at LAX. It's pretty good, grotesquely violent (mostly offscreen) and definitely odd. Certainly well-written, as you would expect of a Cassutt story. Cautiously recommended. Not much at stake: it's short. Story link: https://www.tor.com/2019/09/18/the-ve...

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A suspenseful near-future story about what happens during the vetting process of a researcher from the Middle East, who is trying to enter the US to continue his studies, and the immigration lawyer assigned to his case, who is dying of cancer.

The Vetting by author Michael Cassutt is a short story you can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2019/09/18/the-ve...

Interesting short with a twist.

Themes: a good death

4 Stars

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The elephant in the room was that Bruno and Ruteb were both atheists.

[Chris Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts of with an intriguing premise that it ends up doing absolutely nothing with.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vetting
by Michael Cassutt
The remarkable nature of immigration. A Lawyer was brought to the airport because of a number of immigrants that were restrained as their vetting was done. His client, an immigrant is coming form an area that is at war. But he has not come to flee the battles but the people that questioned his research. The book shows the nature of legal system, and the political struggle of immigrants, and lawyers to find places of safety. With a large implosion of destruction at the airport we are given insight in how difficult the process was.

[Cheryl A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd love a full-length exploration of the ideas here. Let's get to know the characters better so we have a better idea of their thoughts on the afterlife as they learned of it growing up, and what they learn from Ruteb's team's research. Just don't make it too long by filling it up with gratuitous adventure and suspense, rather, keep the focus on the What If and the Sense of Wonder that I glimpse in this sample.

I've never heard of the author (iirc) but I will investigate his other works.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-vetting-by-michael-cassutt/

A short story from the 2020 Hugo packet, about a Syrian scientist trying to enter the USA with his ideas about the empirically demonstrable connection between the soul and the body. Short but clear.

[Katrina Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting way to think of death and the afterlife

[Marti Dolata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept, well presented.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. I thought the talk about what happens at death and what that knowledge could mean to people was interesting.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent story about the existence of an afterlife and the implications thereof. It covers a vast array of ideas and only loses a star because it ends too soon with so many threads in the air. There is definitely a novel in there waiting to be written!

[Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thriller in short-story form! There's a lot of philosophy and physics crammed in here, but it's not a heavy read.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have read this before, because it seemed really familiar. Story is kind of all over the place, and I feel like it was meant to be an idea to be worked into a film script.