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. A young girl sits on death row, accused of brutally murdering her own parents. She’s confessed to the murders, but Maggie isn’t buying it, so she sends Juno out to get some answers.
Working with Maggie, Juno comes into contact with her new partner, Ian. As dirty as they come, Ian is eager to rise in the police force no matter what the cost. Somehow Ian, a vicious serial killer, and the girl on death row are all connected. It is up to Juno and Maggie to find out how before more people die.
After getting fired, aging detective Juno of the economically depressed colony planet Lagarto has been making a scant living photographing scandals for the papers. His wife is hospitalized after what Juno only wishes were an accident, and all his money goes to her medical bills. So when his ex-partner, Maggie, offers to hire him to investigate a murder case she believes her new partner, Ian, is falsifying, he agrees, despite already knowing what bad news Ian is. While Maggie works the case of a sadistic serial killer, Juno tracks down the truth, discovering that his case and Maggie’s are linked parts of a sickening undercover operation, and that Ian is even more dangerous then he thought. Ex-Kop is even better than Kop (2007), involving as it does all the best elements of an sf crime thriller: engrossing, high-stakes case; a fascinating setting; and a downtrodden, dogged hero whose worthiness outshines his flaws. Readers can only hope Hammond gives us more stories of Juno and his jungle world. --Krista Hutley
Description:
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. A young girl sits on death row, accused of brutally murdering her own parents. She’s confessed to the murders, but Maggie isn’t buying it, so she sends Juno out to get some answers.
Working with Maggie, Juno comes into contact with her new partner, Ian. As dirty as they come, Ian is eager to rise in the police force no matter what the cost. Somehow Ian, a vicious serial killer, and the girl on death row are all connected. It is up to Juno and Maggie to find out how before more people die.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This hard-bitten follow-up to Hammond's 2007 science fiction noir debut KOP, set in the 28th century on the technologically backward world of Lagarto, offers further evidence of his considerable talents. A former member of the Koba Office of Police, Juno Mozambe has been forced into retirement by corrupt detective Diego Banks, who murdered Koba's previous police chief. Now a sleazy, broke PI, nothing but a drunken old has-been, Mozambe reluctantly lets his ex-partner Maggie Orzo hire him to exonerate Adela Juarez, a young woman about to be executed for murdering her parents. Orzo suspects her current partner and rival, Ian Davies, of framing Juarez. Mozambe struggles through a mire of corruption and violence to get the answers and protect his own loved ones. Koba is a tough town full of desperate people, and Hammond makes full use of this richly imagined society. (Oct.)
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From Booklist
After getting fired, aging detective Juno of the economically depressed colony planet Lagarto has been making a scant living photographing scandals for the papers. His wife is hospitalized after what Juno only wishes were an accident, and all his money goes to her medical bills. So when his ex-partner, Maggie, offers to hire him to investigate a murder case she believes her new partner, Ian, is falsifying, he agrees, despite already knowing what bad news Ian is. While Maggie works the case of a sadistic serial killer, Juno tracks down the truth, discovering that his case and Maggie’s are linked parts of a sickening undercover operation, and that Ian is even more dangerous then he thought. Ex-Kop is even better than Kop (2007), involving as it does all the best elements of an sf crime thriller: engrossing, high-stakes case; a fascinating setting; and a downtrodden, dogged hero whose worthiness outshines his flaws. Readers can only hope Hammond gives us more stories of Juno and his jungle world. --Krista Hutley