Spare Man

English language

Published Oct. 12, 2022 by Rebellion.

ISBN:
978-1-78618-833-5
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4 stars (3 reviews)

5 editions

Entertaining SF mystery

No rating

I liked the idea of this book, as a kind of spacefaring Golden Age murder mystery with (literally or metaphorically) champagne receptions, glittering society and so on. There were interesting themes around (ab)uses of power and influence. It was fun trying to guess everyone’s secrets.

I wasn’t quite so taken with the execution, unfortunately. I never really warmed to any of the characters. Tesla’s use of wealth and status to push for whatever she was after at the time felt like an overused bludgeon. And cute doggies are all very well, but Gimlet felt like a Magical Cute Doggie—again, repetitive in use and outcome.

Overall, an entertaining mystery if a bit light on interpersonal nuance for my tastes.

Old school detectivery updated for modern readers

5 stars

This novel and its author are new to me, but they came highly recommended by a good friend that knows The Thin Man is my favorite movie I try to watch every year around the holidays. This book is by no means a retelling of that classic, but it does draw some inspiration while updatring with touchs like characters introducing themselves with their pronouns, the protagonist having a disability that's a daily reality, and it takes place in SPACE!

Next, as I do witrh most recommendations, I looked to borrow it from the library. However, I noticed that the ebook was DRM-free, so I immediately headed to ebooks.com and grabbed a copy The surest way to get me to buy a book is to offer it without DRM.

And then I realized that this book is a two-for-one! It is both a novel and a cocktail recipe book. Each chapter …