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Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand |
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Harmonica And Gig by R J Astruc Dragonfall Press Supplied for review by Dragonfall Press |
Reviewed By: Simon Litten |
| Harmonica & Gig is, to my
knowledge, R J Astruc’s second published novel, and such a wide departure in style
and content from her first A Festival of Skeletons that
comparisons are of little worth. Harmonica & Gig is one part murder mystery, action thriller and another part cyber-space techno vision of a possible future. The story concerns a competitively structured, privately financed investigation into the death of a cyber-space (qverse in the book) developer, the interpersonal relationships of the three investigators especially the eponymous Harmonica and Gig, and the machinations of the three corporate owners of the qverse. Although there are three investigators the action centres on Harmonica and Gig. Harmonica is the qverse name of Regina Carter, a self-absorbed middle-aged woman, who has a penchant for young men and a fine line in hypocritical double standards. Gig is the qverse pseudonym of Felix McGuiggen, a twenty-something year old naïf. Neither of the two central characters is truly likable: one because beyond her self-absorption she has a very short temper and is liable to mood swings at the drop of a moment’s frustration; and the other because he is a spineless, feckless individual who allows himself to be bullied into doing all manner of things beyond his better judgment. Despite these limitations I cared about the characters and what happened to them. In fact my hat is off to Ms Astruc for writing a novel with such unlikable characters and yet making the story so that I wanted these people to succeed. This is a fast paced novel that moves with assurance between action in the real world and the qverse. The book did not out stay its welcome and reached its ending neither too soon nor too late. This is an author to watch and read. |
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