Metered Space

Jack Meter Case Files

by M.D. Benoit

If you don’t know where you’re going...you might wind up someplace else.
Open the first Jack Meter Case File, and enter a strange world where humor and suspense mix with heartbreak…
As far as Jack Meter’s concerned, the Thrittene are a pitiful kind of aliens, and he’d rather keep his drunk than take their case—until he discovers that Annie, his dead girlfriend, was murdered because of her ties to the Thrittene. From then on, Jack has only one thing in mind: finding Annie’s killer and bringing him to justice. His justice.

232 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

M. D. has been writing for over ten years. Metered Space, from the noir SF Mystery series The Jack Meter Case Files, was her first published novel. The next one in the series, Meter Made, came out in November 2005. Another Jack Meter Case File, Meter Destiny, is scheduled to come out in 2007-08, from Zumaya Otherworlds. Her first SF Thriller, Synergy, was released in March 2007 .

In 2000, M. D. edited a children's anthology, "The Friendship Anthology", published by
the Nepean Public Library, and was the editor of a Canadian Anthology, Looking In... Portraits of the Canadian Soul, a collection of stories, essays and poetry, accompanied by pictures taken by a series of Canadian photographers from across the country. She has also been involved in numerous additional editing projects such as Now we're cooking! 43 Authors in the Kitchen.

M. D. also writes reviews of SF novels for The Eternal Night, an online SF Review site from the UK.

M. D. Benoit discovered science fiction and mystery through her father's bedtime stories, which were always full of gadgets, dark doorways, and disappearing people. She lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and her cat (who is really an alien in disguise). She has a Masters Degree in Psychology from Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she lived for eight years before moving to Ottawa, Ontario.

She is currently hard at work on her sixth manuscript, Entropy and a fourth Jack Meter Case File, Meter Parents.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard boiled PI meets the Twilight Zone, kind of. Our PI doesn't carry a gun, like Sam Spade, but when he falls for a dame, she's a tough cookie & he falls all the way, like Mike Hammer. Toss in dimensional space travel & a really smart, nasty villain & you have a fast paced, fun read.

The characters were well done. Not cliched completely, but all well drawn with logical motives, faults & idiosyncrasies. Our hero isn't superman nor is he perfect, but he's a pretty likable guy with some almost fatal flaws. The villain is almost too smart & egocentric, but he keeps the pace moving & provides plenty of twists as the story progresses.

All in all, it was a fun read & a complete book in itself, although there are additional books in the series. I look forward to reading them.

[Janet Ursel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical private eye story, a little on the noir side, complete with alcohol issues, a femme fatale, a love-hate relationship with the local cops, and aliens. Aliens who literally can't keep it together and who won't take no for an answer. Okay, so maybe it's not so typical. After all, the bombshell with street smarts is also a brilliant research scientist. Or was. She was also the lady love of Jack Meter's life, but died violently three years before the beginning of the story, which goes a long way toward explaining the alcohol issues. Jack just wants to commit suicide by bottle and go join her and is genuinely resentful when the aliens abduct him, repair his corroded liver with nanotechnology or some such magic, and expect him to gratefully pledge himself to their service. His curiosity finally overcomes his resentment and Jack is given a kind of portable teleportation device that has him merrily skipping across worlds in pursuit of an evil scientist whose nefarious schemes threaten the physical integrity of the entire universe. (There! I finally got to use the word “nefarious” in a review!) It's campy, it's ridiculous, and it's fun, in a horrible noir kind of way. We're a long way from the mean streets of Ottawa, baby! It's perhaps not Gourmet Reading, but even gourmets can enjoy a night out at a Roadhouse, can't they? They can, they do, I did. Of course, it helps that Benoit handles words with flair. I might be willing to scarf down some sweet potato fries now and again, but they better be crisp.

Complete review here

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery in a Sci Fi setting.

Private Investigator Jack Meter gets hired by aliens. First he has to learn to believe aliens exist, instead of believing he was in a drunk stupor or needing to return to therapy.

Having decided it was real, he realized that everyone was lying to him, including those that had employed his service.

The story moved pretty quickly. Although in the third person, it was always Jack Meter's storyline and thoughts. It handles the emotional aspects of his girlfriend that had died in his arms, suddenly a part of the mystery; her coworker that didn't like him; police that want to arrest him; and other entanglements.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love finding a book that has a unique twist on a recognized genre. Reading this was like watching Bogey chase down the Maltese Falcon with aliens in space. I had an inner gritty, cigarette-rough noir voiceover throughout in my brain as I read this adventure.
The Falcon in this case is a device that could destroy the universe and Jack has to work against time, all different aspects of it, to make that not happen.
Such a great story and I have more on the WWBL and Mt Git'r'Read ready to go.
Definite recommend.