The Radon File

by Denise Vitola
Ace, 1999, 294 pp

Marshall Ty Merrick and Marshall Andy LaRue are back in their fifth novel, set on a "Bladerunner"-like alternative Earth, where medicine pouches are "de rigueur" and the occult arts are sciences. The very rich govern this world from hi-tech, hi-rise palaces, while the middle class and the poor live in urban squalor. Education and employment are government-controlled commodities in a Society that squashes social climbers like bugs. Violent crime is a survival strategy and burglary is a type of shopping.

In the tradition of Scully and Mulder, Merrick and LaRue are commissioned officers sworn to investigate weird, inexplicable crimes and bring the perps to justice. Unlike Scully and Mulder, the perks of their job include getting tarot card readings and having freebie chakra adjustments.

It’s just another day on the job, when they investigate the murder-by-spinal-tap of an opera singer in a radon therapy clinic. Instead of the usual medical malpractice, the motive for this death moves into the realm of professional jealousies, political maneuvering, fraud, extortion and possibly, the capital crime of social reform!

Then, little silver men begin to appear at the clinic and the body count increases. Discounting an alien invasion, the Marshals follow-up each sighting until all the facts fall into place. It looks like the Marshals will apprehend the criminals and solve the case, but under the stress of a hot pursuit, Ty begins to turn into a werewolf....

This book was a blast and a half. I wonder if the previous four are still available?

<*> Ariann <*>


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