Duplicate Effort

A Retrieval Artist Novel

By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Retrieval Artist Miles Flint is on a personal mission - to bring down the corrupt law firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xender. Then a journalist working with him is murdered, and Miles may be next. But before he can begin to investigate, he has a more personal crisis to deal with - his daughter Talia is missing.

Talia - one of six clones of Miles' long-dead child - has gone off to find the other five. As Miles pursues her, he begins to fear that her search for her "sisters" and his for the killer are on a collision course...

©2009 Kristine Kathryn Rusch (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Top 10 Greatest Science Fiction Detective Novels of all Time." (io9.com)

"Some of the best science fiction ever written." (Orson Scott Card)

Very Good

As has been the case with the past books this is still a pretty great story. I would say on the plus side the story moves very quickly even compared to past books. Flint's daughter continues to develops as a character and the rest of the returning cast stays interesting. More and more Nyquist seems to take a bigger and bigger focus, which seems to work.

On the negative side, and the reason I cut a star is the dramatic turn of events for two pivital characters. Both seem to be wasted particularly in regards to their development from previous books.

The narrator continues to perform excellently. I am listening to him right now in another story and am amazed at how it is a completely unique performance. He really adds to the entertainment value of the book.

Overall a great and enjoyable story, if you liked the others you will like this one as much or more.

Different from Other Retrieval Artist Novels

This is another exciting novel in the Retrieval Artist series, and I was definite in my 5-star rating. This novel is, however, quite different from the others. First, this one reads much more like a typical detective/thriller novel than a sci-fi novel. Advanced technology definitely plays a role, but I did enjoy Rusch's characterization of alien races in the other books. That is absent in this one. Of course, that this book is even more character-driven than the others can certainly not be considered a fault. But there are no aliens, and Miles does not take a single case as a Retrieval Artist; in fact the concept of the retrieval artist is almost absent from this book.

This book focuses entirely on Miles and Talia and WSX. You really need to have read Recovery Man to have any idea of what is going on in this book. I'd even recommend that you make sure you've read Paloma as well. This is almost just a continuation of the previous book. At the end of the 6th novel, it was clear that some loose ends would have to be tied up, and this novel does that-- and very well.

Jay Snyder again does a fantastic job of characterizing the voices and creating just the right mood for each scene. I started out reading these books to myself, but after I heard Snyder read one, I have only wanted the Audiobook version. His narration heightens the excitement in this already very exciting book.

My only concern is that the ending left me wondering if Rusch is planning on this being the last book in the Retrieval Artist series. I certainly hope not!

Oops! Sifi not my cup of tea but

it was not a bad story and fairly interesting. Surprised me that I enjoyed it, felt okay to finish completely.

Great continuation

Enjoy narrator and characters. I would like to read more of the

same characters and setting.

4 stars is misleading, 3.5 should be it

These are detective stories in space. No great strain on the brain matter and some gaping holes in the plot. I felt that I made a mistake buying the entire set after the first one thinking that the author was going to build on that story. She didn't really, The characters continue on with a series of detective stories that are not especially thrilling. I listened to them all and cannot say that I was inspired, but I enjoyed them for what they were, fairly bland. I wish we had 1/2 stars, these books only deserve three and half, the four is misleading but three would have been too low.