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Slash novel recommendation
Aug. 12th, 2004 04:35 pmThe Gumshoe, The Witch and The Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman (April '99). This was given to me by Russet on my last trip up to Cloudcroft. VERY entertaining book! The gumshoe is a former cop, is gay, and is quite resourceful. The witch is a Wiccan who works for a newspaper and starts investigating a series of seemingly-ritualistic murders that could start a religious war. I have no idea yet what the virtual corpse is.
Hartman, a resident of Atlanta, develops an interesting Atlanta around the year 2025 wherein different faiths/religions have their own highschools, neighborhoods, TV entertainment. A quite grizzly corpse mutilation takes place in a graveyard that has all the trappings of a Satanist/occult activity which could bloom into a full scale war between the Christian Militia and the Wiccans as Friday the 13th is coming up (curious congruency, neh?).
The police are trying to solve the mutilation (plus two more crimes including an actual murder) before a religious war breaks out, the gumshoe is trying to find his missing partner Jen, the witch is trying to find her missing coven member Jen, while a 7th grader is trying to evade Men In Black Suits aided by the daughter of the witch.
Very interesting book. I'd recommend it just as a straight fiction/detective novel, lots of fun.
Here's the description from Amazon.com:
"The truth has always depended on your point of view.
By 2024, the great American melting pot has become the great media buffet. Step right up and take what you want! Are you a gay man? Great, you'll want to be sure and catch all the fun on the five channels of the Lambda network, now featuring the hit comedy My Three Dads, and The New Erotic Adventures of Superman. Oh, I'm sorry, you meant to say that you're a fundamentalist Baptist? No problem. Just tune in to the Baptist News Network for all your information needs, and don't miss a minute of our family-friendly sitcoms—programming with a moral and spiritual message! And don't forget; now there's BNN for the classroom, proudly beaming in to Baptist Schools across the country! A Wiccan? No problem, our news agency puts out a show that caters just to your interests -- environmental issues, psychic phenomena, and the secrets to casting love spells that really work! And I'm sure your children watch every episode of Xarena the Cheerleader Witch! Nation of Islam? Great! I know you don't miss a single…
Yes, we live in a media and information utopia, where every subculture can have the news told from their point of view, entertainment that speaks to their beliefs, and a private education system that teaches their way of thinking. Of course, this does lead to some minor communications problems between people from different subcultures. Like on the police force. There's that nice Baptist officer who was raised to believe that the witches are all devil worshipers. I wonder what will happen when he's finally sent out on a case with that Wiccan crime scene technician. You know, the one who thinks that all Baptists are patriarchal rapers of the environment.
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse: It's Sunday the 8th of September, 2024. A wiccan journalist investigates the disappearance of a member of her coven, while a black police detective races to solve a series of occult crimes, and a gay PI searches for his missing psychic partner. A Baptist teenager wonders about girls, video games, and why the CIA seems to be cloning him. A televangelist plans a run for the presidency, while a Christian Rock Star engages in Byzantine political maneuvering to block him, and a Cherokee Shaman tries to juggle the demands of the spirit fathers with the demands of the American legal system. And then there's the Artist, with his intricate, baroque plans for revenge.
Eleven points of view. Eight interwoven plot lines. Six days. One mystery.
The truth has always depended on your point of view."
This is Hartman's first fictional book, he has a sequel called Gumshoe Gorilla which I'm sure I'll be taking back to Phoenix with me.
Hartman, a resident of Atlanta, develops an interesting Atlanta around the year 2025 wherein different faiths/religions have their own highschools, neighborhoods, TV entertainment. A quite grizzly corpse mutilation takes place in a graveyard that has all the trappings of a Satanist/occult activity which could bloom into a full scale war between the Christian Militia and the Wiccans as Friday the 13th is coming up (curious congruency, neh?).
The police are trying to solve the mutilation (plus two more crimes including an actual murder) before a religious war breaks out, the gumshoe is trying to find his missing partner Jen, the witch is trying to find her missing coven member Jen, while a 7th grader is trying to evade Men In Black Suits aided by the daughter of the witch.
Very interesting book. I'd recommend it just as a straight fiction/detective novel, lots of fun.
Here's the description from Amazon.com:
"The truth has always depended on your point of view.
By 2024, the great American melting pot has become the great media buffet. Step right up and take what you want! Are you a gay man? Great, you'll want to be sure and catch all the fun on the five channels of the Lambda network, now featuring the hit comedy My Three Dads, and The New Erotic Adventures of Superman. Oh, I'm sorry, you meant to say that you're a fundamentalist Baptist? No problem. Just tune in to the Baptist News Network for all your information needs, and don't miss a minute of our family-friendly sitcoms—programming with a moral and spiritual message! And don't forget; now there's BNN for the classroom, proudly beaming in to Baptist Schools across the country! A Wiccan? No problem, our news agency puts out a show that caters just to your interests -- environmental issues, psychic phenomena, and the secrets to casting love spells that really work! And I'm sure your children watch every episode of Xarena the Cheerleader Witch! Nation of Islam? Great! I know you don't miss a single…
Yes, we live in a media and information utopia, where every subculture can have the news told from their point of view, entertainment that speaks to their beliefs, and a private education system that teaches their way of thinking. Of course, this does lead to some minor communications problems between people from different subcultures. Like on the police force. There's that nice Baptist officer who was raised to believe that the witches are all devil worshipers. I wonder what will happen when he's finally sent out on a case with that Wiccan crime scene technician. You know, the one who thinks that all Baptists are patriarchal rapers of the environment.
The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse: It's Sunday the 8th of September, 2024. A wiccan journalist investigates the disappearance of a member of her coven, while a black police detective races to solve a series of occult crimes, and a gay PI searches for his missing psychic partner. A Baptist teenager wonders about girls, video games, and why the CIA seems to be cloning him. A televangelist plans a run for the presidency, while a Christian Rock Star engages in Byzantine political maneuvering to block him, and a Cherokee Shaman tries to juggle the demands of the spirit fathers with the demands of the American legal system. And then there's the Artist, with his intricate, baroque plans for revenge.
Eleven points of view. Eight interwoven plot lines. Six days. One mystery.
The truth has always depended on your point of view."
This is Hartman's first fictional book, he has a sequel called Gumshoe Gorilla which I'm sure I'll be taking back to Phoenix with me.
