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Published Jan 2013
976 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
New York Times bestselling author Peter F. Hamilton's riveting new thriller combines the nail-biting suspense of a serial-killer investigation with clear-eyed scientific and social extrapolation to create a future that seems not merely plausible but inevitable.
A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family - composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone "brothers" have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.
Or maybe not so friendly. At least that's what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who'd like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he'll make enough enemies to ruin his career.
Yet Sid's case is about to take an unexpected turn: because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood. The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime.
Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.
Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world's political and economic elite ... all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.
"Starred Review. The intense whodunit plot and the sustained ambiguity about Tramelo's innocence or guilt are enhanced by plausible extrapolations of 22nd-century human cultures." - Publishers Weekly
"One of Hamilton's better outings, caveats and all." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. The author's rapidly growing legion of fans will flock to this new title, and readers unfamiliar with Hamilton's brand of SF should be steered in its direction. It's a perfect introduction to his gifts for character design, dialogue, and sheer, big-idea-driven storytelling." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Hamilton excels at telling "big" stories, and his latest novel proves no exception. A stand-alone thriller with potential for multivolume expansions set in an all-too-believable future, this should appeal to a wide audience and have crossover potential for mainstream thriller fans." - Library Journal
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland, England in 1960. He is best known for writing space opera.
He began writing in 1987, and sold his first short story to Fear magazine in 1988. He has also been published in Interzone and the In Dreamsand New Worlds anthologies, and several small press publications. His first novel was Mindstar Rising, published in 1993, and he has been steadily productive since then. His major works inlcude: A Quantum Murder (1994), The Neutronium Alchemist (1997), A Second Chance at Eden (1998), Misspent Youth (2002), Pandora's Star (2004), Judas Unchained (2005), The Temporal Void (2008), The Evolutionary Void (2010) and Great North Road (2012).
Peter lives near Rutland Water with his family.
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