Juno is a dirty cop with a difficult past and an uncertain future. When his family and thousands of others emigrated to the colony world of Lagarto, they were promised a bright future on a planet with a booming economy. But before the colonists arrived, everything changed. An opportunistic Earth-based company developed a way to produce a cheaper version of Lagarto’s main export, thus effectively paupering the planet and all its inhabitants.
The Earth Man's Burden
Reviewed on Apr 21 2012
by Dan(El Paso, TX, United States)
In this hardboiled science-fiction thriller, Juno, having been booted off the police force, is barely getting by as a low-level bagman and photographer for the scandal rags. But it gets worse: his wife is in critical condition at the hospital and Juno doesn’t have the money to pay her bills. Desperate for cash, Juno agrees to help his ex-partner, Maggie Orzo, solve a difficult case.
Juno Mozambe once had a life. That was when he was a dirty cop, married to a woman who suffered such profound abuse that she murdered her vile, drug kingpin father. Juno loved his wife and did his best to help her survive her guilt, her drug habit, and her desire to end her life on the dead-end planet of Lagarto.
Another solid noir entry in the series
This is the third in the series taking place on an impoverished, backwater world. Our anti-hero again finds himself against forces with technology ou..Show More »t of his league as rich off-worlders take advantage of the desperate population.
If anything, this is the darkest yet in the series. Some of the events are extremely brutal and our lead character is really hitting rock bottom before a somewhat satisfactory ending and the promise of more stories and a developing story line.