Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
Reviewed By: Jeremy Zentner, Adult Services
Genre: Science Fiction/ Detective
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About? Cal Sounder is a PI who does specialty investigations for the police department. His forte is Titan crimes. Titans are the new social elites of society. They’re obscenely wealthy, medically enhanced, and larger than the average person. Most importantly, Titans are immortal. That’s thanks to a new genetic treatment known as Titanium 7. It cures all ailments, makes the user young again, and you have to be really rich to afford it. So, when one of these Titans is murdered, Cal Sounder is given the biggest case of his life. And everyone is trying to stop him.
My Review: It’s been a while since I’ve read a gritty detective book, but Titanium Noir was a great novel for the genre. It’s definitely hardboiled and not too “techie” when it comes to the science fiction. It is set in the future as immortality is possible through Titanium 7, however, it reads more like a Raymond Chandler book with a lot of witty banter and ferocious brawling. What I also liked about this book is that I felt the obsession that the protagonist felt as he dug deeper and deeper into the investigation, the criminal underground, and the duplicity of the Titan lifestyle. More and more I wanted to figure out whodunit as Cal Sounder used any and all means necessary to discover the killer. In the end, this new book defines the genre of detective noir and sci-fi cyberpunk.
Three Words that Describe this Book: sci-fi, cyberpunk, noir
Give This A Try if You Like… Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Blade Runner), Neuromancer, Altered Carbon, The Children of Men, A Philosophical Investigation
Rating: 5/5
