The Vaccinator

by Michael Marshall Smith

After a chequered and violent career, Eddie Kruger now lives in the Florida Keys. It’s a nice, quiet, peaceful life. Apart from the kidnappings. And the aliens. Michael Marshall Smith is the winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, the August Delerth Award, the International Horror Guild Award, six British Fantasy Awards and the Prix Bob Morane, nominated for five World Fantasy Awards and CWA Silver Dagger — and the only author ever to win the BFS Award for Best Short Story four times. Now, for the first time, his internationally-revered short fiction is finally becoming available in ebook format...

Genres: Science Fiction, Novella

Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Michael Marshall (Smith) is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, ONLY FORWARD, won the August Derleth and Philip K. Dick awards. SPARES and ONE OF US were optioned for film by DreamWorks and Warner Brothers, and the Straw Men trilogy - THE STRAW MEN, THE LONELY DEAD and BLOOD OF ANGELS - were international bestsellers. His most recent novels are THE INTRUDERS, BAD THINGS and KILLER MOVE.

He is a four-time winner of the BFS Award for short fiction, and his stories are collected in two volumes - WHAT YOU MAKE IT and MORE TOMORROW AND OTHER STORIES (which won the International Horror Guild Award).

He lives in Santa Cruz, California with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[KP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, I love Michael Marshall Smith's writing, his descriptions are awesome. For example: "light slanted through the windows of the bar, twirling motes of dust and casting highlights around like someone was setting the room up for a photograph and wanted everything just right". It didn't take me along the line I expected at all. Nice and short, good fun - the ending was a bit abrupt, it would be fun to have a sequel.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noir with a Twist.

This was the most ridiculous, unashamedly enjoyable story I've read this year. This is the story of Eddie, who runs a bar by day, but by night, cuts deals with the underworld to protect people who are ABOUT TO BE abducted. Kind of like a vaccine.

OK, so that part is shoehorned in for marketing. I promise that the rest is good.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's protagonist is one of those insecure men who needs to be seen as tough and cool despite never actually doing anything to demonstrate toughness nor actually being cool, except in a really juvenile, performative way that might fool a child or teenager but adults will see right through. He's the guy who lets you know that he could definitely beat you in a fight and you just nod politely because you don't want him to sulk like the little baby that he is.

Is this intentional? I don't think so. I think he actually is supposed to be tough and cool, but we basically just have his word for it. Or the narrator's word. Whether that's supposed to be him or not is unclear because the book is written very oddly. It's third-person omniscient, but feels like it should be first-person. We learn things the protagonist doesn't, but we seem to get his perspective on them anyway.

The first half of the book seems like it might be going somewhere, and it was short enough that I was willing to give it the chance, but it completely falls apart in the second half and the finale is an absolute nothing moment where an ambiguously threatening villain is revealed out of nowhere and then defeated by some other characters who also appear out of nowhere. Technically they had appeared once before, but are suddenly revealed at the end to be other than they seemed. I think that's supposed to be a joke, but it reads like a child using their dolls to tell a story where suddenly Barbie was a T-Rex all along and she eats everyone the end. "OK, book's over now. There was no point to anything."

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice short book (novella?) that goes in wholly unexpected directions. The focus on crime-adjacent Floridians inevitably draws comparison with Carl Hiaasen and it sits favourably alongside his works.

[Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

Topical as the title sounds, this dates back to 1999. No idea how I've not come across it before, but it was a fairly enjoyable slice of MMS silliness. I prefer his 'Smith' moniker when he's exploring darker themes, but this was decent enough.

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and sweet SF noir novella set in Key West, Florida. It was very unexpected, but rather amusing, and it's a fun read for anyone interested.

[Thesincouch]

June 2022, 19%: he writes very well but the plot didn't interest me.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of fun... made me laugh out loud a couple of times... quite original too. Will be reading more of his work.

[Manuel P. Revuelta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe I read this a year ago and didn’t write a review. Well, maybe I was “abducted.” A special interpretation of what Key West is all about, with some characters that defy explanation, except in the Keys........
I actually laughed out loud while reading it. Kind of how I feel about the Keys; maybe Florida in general. Life’s so much better with a good sense of humor. And with aliens.👽

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick easy read. Not bad but nothing really special.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably one for the MMS completists - fun but not outstanding.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously wacky stuff... 'X-Files' meets 'Men in Black' meets Travis McGee... Short, punchy, funny -- tongue way in cheek. Smith is a good writer and this is him just having a good time.

[Lydia]

if

[Eygló Karlsdóttir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, entertaining, witty as always and quite surprising! Loved it!

[Alex Sheldon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kindle version: A page missing (between 74%-76%). How does that even happen?

Feels like there was a serious lack of editing here (typos galore). Which is surprising, considering the author, despite the story being from 1998.