The Immorality Clause

Easytown Novels, Book 1

De: Brian Parker

Narrado por: Daniel Penz

Easytown's robotic pleasure clubs are a serial killer's playground.

The futuristic slum in eastern New Orleans is a violent place where any vice can be satisfied - for a price. As long as the taxes are paid and tourists continue to flock to the city, businesses are allowed to operate as they see fit. But a string of violent murders threatens to upset the delicate balance between pleasure and safety.

As homicide detective Zach Forrest tries to unravel the mystery and prevent the next murder, he embarks on a mind-bending investigation that will change his perception of reality forever.

©2016 Brian Parker (P)2016 Brian Parker

Poirot He Ain't - But Not A Bad Effort

I had mixed feelings on this.

The author has created a fairly detailed world and defines the tech of it well. But the characters fall a little flat sometimes. For a detective, Zach Forrest is not observant on a crucial social level that I'd think most detectives would need. Other characters also seem in place to mostly encourage the character and assert most of his views with a couple exceptions. A love interest portrayed also fits into an stereotypical role to the point of being almost off-putting.

The performance was also a mixed bag. I love what was done with android and phone portrayals and the effects were seamless and convincing. Less convincing was narration through pain or drunkenness. Whenever Zachary takes a hit (which is often) the narrator portrays the pain. This is okay in the dialog portions but is distracting when the narrator is describing action.

Fabulous noir fiction

Homicide Detective Zach Forrest is invited down to Easytown, a kind of Storybrook-esque slum of New Orleans, to investigate a murder in one of the sexbot establishments there. This gets him involved in a strange and dangerous mystery which involves a serial killer and a political assassination on the eve of worldwide robotic legislation. The book has a nice down-to-Earth feeling which I felt made it stronger. Zach is a Detective but even he can afford an A.I. to manage all of his affairs. New Orleans, already one of the more diverse cities in the world, now has a bunch of Arabic immigrants. The world-building is subtle rather than in your face and works better for its groundedness. It simultaneously manages to have a 1940s-esque feel in some places while also feeling like it could plausibly take place in the future.

Zach Forrest is a much nicer man than Bladerunner's Decker but he's still an individual who is deeply set in his ways and both repulsed as well as fascinated by the newest models of sexbots. Paxton is a character who exudes so much mystery the audience almost certainly thinks she's a robot herself but may well be something more complicated. The serial killer, himself, is a figure which doesn't get much in the way of development but shows himself to be clever but not quite as much as he thinks he is. The supporting cast is also interesting as we get to see New Orleans citizens from all branches of life. I also felt like the book did a good job of stretching out the investigation. As opposed to it all happening in a couple of days, the story takes place over a couple of weeks and feels more realistic. There are times when leads dry up and they just have to wait for resulted which made things feel more authentic.

In conclusion, this is an excellent work of science fiction. Brian Parker did a wonderful job of creating a seedy Noir future setting which invokes Bladerunner without copying it.

9.5/10

Noir Fiction with a Futuristic Twist

Right off the bat I thought, I really like this, and it only continued to get better. I loved the attention to the detail of adding futuristic everyday items into his world. I understand why people would want to compare this to Blade Runner, but I didn’t think this had that many similarities and thought it played out more like a standard detective adventure that just happens to be set in the future. The setting definitely has a noir feel to it, although Zach does not resemble a typical noir detective, and the world Parker creates is as impressive as this story itself. The seediness of Easytown and the type of murders occurring creates a bleak setting that really throws you into the streets of Easytown.

This reminded me a lot of Harry Nile, but with a futuristic twist. Even the narrator reminded me of Phil Harper. While Zach was a bit worn down and was far from perfect, he wasn’t jaded and was on the right side of the law. I loved his interactions with Andy, the two bickered like an old married couple and Andy’s attempt to be helpful in a world she doesn’t quite understand brought levity to the overall story. The two are a great team.

The droid aspect in this world was really great. Granted a lot of them are sex bots, so there are a few racy scenes. How Parker describes the droids and establishes them as characters works really well. Like so many science fiction movies, the line between human and droid is blurry. There is an underlying question presented as to whether the droids should be treated as equals. This question ultimately leads to the confrontation in the end.

Daniel Penz has a solid voice for narration. He has that voice that is perfect for detective novels and the similarity of his voice to other voice actors I have enjoyed definitely helped. From time to time he added sound effects for the droid voices which enhanced the overall narration.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Onto the next one!

This was a very enjoyable read, and I am excited that I already have two more in the series ready to read.

The narration was well done, and the voice was perfect for the MC. I think this is my first book read by Daniel, and look forward to hearing more by him in the future.

The story is very entertaining and well done. I love a book where you think you know what is going on, and maybe you do have a clue, but there are enough twists and turns that you'll never guess the whole story. If you were on the fence about this book, then I say hurry up and start listening.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Gritty High-Tech Crime Story That Wont Disappoint!

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary review.*

4.5 / 5

I really enjoyed this story. It was a fresh idea from my perspective, as I don't read detective/crime novels that often. The story may not be a new idea (detective in a high-tech future), but the presentation of it was quite the treat. It was gruff and had hard edges to it - not a story for the kids! I loved most of the characters that were portrayed in this story; each were unique and had their flaws; none 2-dimensional! The banter between the MC and his AI was funny at various times, MC's commentary and explanations of events also humorous. The story-line itself was pretty good; I had an easy time enjoying this all the way through (and only took me a couple days). I would definitely recommend this to other readers, and I will be coming back for more adventures with Zach.

Also - the performance by Daniel Penz was SUPERB!