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Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe
One detective. Two suspects. A conspiracy big enough to kill them all.
In the 25th Century, Galactic Justice upholds the law across the Milky Way.
They use the HALO to extract confessions from the guilty. For the most heinous of crimes, the guilty are erased and a new personality is uploaded in their place.
Samuel Archer Spade is a private detective on Space Station 1964 on the far edge of the galaxy. He’s a former GalJus Inspector whose conscious couldn’t square with using the HALO.
Spade is at his usual spot, his unofficial office on Norma, when a knockout blonde in a red dress, walks into The Galaxy’s Edge, the station’s bar. She’s on the run from an unwanted admirer.
But when the man arrives on the station, he’s looking to hire Spade himself. He’s claiming she has stolen something from him, As Spade tries to sort out who is telling the truth, GalJus arrives looking for both of his clients for a murder committed on another planet.
Trying to find the truth will lead Spade to discover a dark secret. Some elements within GalJus are using the HALO to frame innocent people. Even worse, they're programming people to commit murder.
That’s a secret GalJus is willing to kill for and both Sam, and his clients, are right at the top of their list.
***************
WHAT THE REVIEWERS ARE
The action is intense. But it also has a lot of humour.
It was very hard to put the book down. It is a mystery, wrapped in a conspiracy, with a love story at the heart. In some ways this story reminds me of The Carter Files by Lori Janeski. It also reminds me or a lot of old shows I watched with my father including; Mike Hammer, Dirty Harry, and Spencer for Hire to name but a few. And Paolinelli makes homage to several detectives and the whole noir genre through out the work.
This is an excellent novel from Paolinelli’s pen. It took me by surprise. A great addition to his complete works. I can easily recommend this story for what an excellent piece of Science fiction mashed up with mystery Noir!
- Steven R. McEvoy - Book Reviews And More
**********Fedoras. Trenchcoats. Space cigarettes. Space dames. A hard-boiled detective. Fistfights. Spaceships. Honestly, you could’ve just said “space dames” and I would’ve coughed up my money.
Considering the popularity of pulp detective noir wizards (or one particular wizard, Mr. Dresden), the genre of pulp detective noir in space is tragically underserved. Fundamentally, a hard-boiled detective in space is awesome in of itself. But when multi-genre master Richard Paolinelli takes on the tropes, we end up with far more than the sum of the a pulp noir detective in all his hardboiled glory saving the galaxy in the style of the best space opera.
If you liked the Dresden Files, this tale of a private detective heroically saving the galaxy will be right up your alley. This book is for lovers of pulp detective noir, lovers of traditional space opera, and anyone who wants to see the two put together, done well.
- Brian Heming, Upstream Reviews
In the 25th Century, Galactic Justice upholds the law across the Milky Way.
They use the HALO to extract confessions from the guilty. For the most heinous of crimes, the guilty are erased and a new personality is uploaded in their place.
Samuel Archer Spade is a private detective on Space Station 1964 on the far edge of the galaxy. He’s a former GalJus Inspector whose conscious couldn’t square with using the HALO.
Spade is at his usual spot, his unofficial office on Norma, when a knockout blonde in a red dress, walks into The Galaxy’s Edge, the station’s bar. She’s on the run from an unwanted admirer.
But when the man arrives on the station, he’s looking to hire Spade himself. He’s claiming she has stolen something from him, As Spade tries to sort out who is telling the truth, GalJus arrives looking for both of his clients for a murder committed on another planet.
Trying to find the truth will lead Spade to discover a dark secret. Some elements within GalJus are using the HALO to frame innocent people. Even worse, they're programming people to commit murder.
That’s a secret GalJus is willing to kill for and both Sam, and his clients, are right at the top of their list.
***************
WHAT THE REVIEWERS ARE
The action is intense. But it also has a lot of humour.
It was very hard to put the book down. It is a mystery, wrapped in a conspiracy, with a love story at the heart. In some ways this story reminds me of The Carter Files by Lori Janeski. It also reminds me or a lot of old shows I watched with my father including; Mike Hammer, Dirty Harry, and Spencer for Hire to name but a few. And Paolinelli makes homage to several detectives and the whole noir genre through out the work.
This is an excellent novel from Paolinelli’s pen. It took me by surprise. A great addition to his complete works. I can easily recommend this story for what an excellent piece of Science fiction mashed up with mystery Noir!
- Steven R. McEvoy - Book Reviews And More
**********Fedoras. Trenchcoats. Space cigarettes. Space dames. A hard-boiled detective. Fistfights. Spaceships. Honestly, you could’ve just said “space dames” and I would’ve coughed up my money.
Considering the popularity of pulp detective noir wizards (or one particular wizard, Mr. Dresden), the genre of pulp detective noir in space is tragically underserved. Fundamentally, a hard-boiled detective in space is awesome in of itself. But when multi-genre master Richard Paolinelli takes on the tropes, we end up with far more than the sum of the a pulp noir detective in all his hardboiled glory saving the galaxy in the style of the best space opera.
If you liked the Dresden Files, this tale of a private detective heroically saving the galaxy will be right up your alley. This book is for lovers of pulp detective noir, lovers of traditional space opera, and anyone who wants to see the two put together, done well.
- Brian Heming, Upstream Reviews
219 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2025
4 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Richard Paolinelli
83 books68 followersFacebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Richard Paolinelli began his writing career as a freelance writer in 1984 in Odessa, TX and gained his first fiction credit serving as the lead writer for the first two issues of the Elite Comics sci-fi/fantasy series, Seadragon. In 1991 Richard began his sports writing career at the Gallup Independent before moving on to work for the Modesto Bee, Turlock Journal, Merced Sun-Star, Tracy Press, San Mateo County Times and the San Francisco Examiner. He also served as an editor and photographer with some of the newspapers. He won the 2001 California Newspaper Publishers Association award for Best Sports Story while at the Turlock Journal.
In 2010, Richard retired as a sportswriter and decided to return to his fiction writing roots. He released two short stories - The Invited and Legacy of Death - as well as a full-length sci-fi novel, Maelstrom. In 2015, Richard completed nearly two years of research and interviews and published, From The Fields: A History of Prep Football in Turlock, California, chronicling 95 years of high school football in his hometown. One month later, the first book of the Jack Del Rio series, Reservations, was published by Oak Tree Press.
In 2016, Richard was one of a dozen authors selected to participate in, Beyond Watson, an anthology of original Sherlock Holmes stories and was one of 20 writers involved in a second Holmes Anthology, Holmes Away From Home, released in December. Perfection's Arbiter, a biography of National League Umpire, Babe Pinelli, was released on October 8th. W & B Books acquired the Jack Del Rio series and released the second book, Betrayals, in November. The remaining two books in the Jack Del Rio series will follow in 2017 & 2018.
In January of 2017, Richard returned to his science fiction roots with the release of the novel, Escaping Infinity, and will release another sci-fi novel, When The Gods Fell, on September 4, 2018.
Richard Paolinelli began his writing career as a freelance writer in 1984 in Odessa, TX and gained his first fiction credit serving as the lead writer for the first two issues of the Elite Comics sci-fi/fantasy series, Seadragon. In 1991 Richard began his sports writing career at the Gallup Independent before moving on to work for the Modesto Bee, Turlock Journal, Merced Sun-Star, Tracy Press, San Mateo County Times and the San Francisco Examiner. He also served as an editor and photographer with some of the newspapers. He won the 2001 California Newspaper Publishers Association award for Best Sports Story while at the Turlock Journal.
In 2010, Richard retired as a sportswriter and decided to return to his fiction writing roots. He released two short stories - The Invited and Legacy of Death - as well as a full-length sci-fi novel, Maelstrom. In 2015, Richard completed nearly two years of research and interviews and published, From The Fields: A History of Prep Football in Turlock, California, chronicling 95 years of high school football in his hometown. One month later, the first book of the Jack Del Rio series, Reservations, was published by Oak Tree Press.
In 2016, Richard was one of a dozen authors selected to participate in, Beyond Watson, an anthology of original Sherlock Holmes stories and was one of 20 writers involved in a second Holmes Anthology, Holmes Away From Home, released in December. Perfection's Arbiter, a biography of National League Umpire, Babe Pinelli, was released on October 8th. W & B Books acquired the Jack Del Rio series and released the second book, Betrayals, in November. The remaining two books in the Jack Del Rio series will follow in 2017 & 2018.
In January of 2017, Richard returned to his science fiction roots with the release of the novel, Escaping Infinity, and will release another sci-fi novel, When The Gods Fell, on September 4, 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 7, 2025
Film noir in space
I love the old private eye stories and movies. This novel perfectly captures that vibe. The plot is gripping with several twists. The characters are interesting and entertaining. I loved the writing style.
I love the old private eye stories and movies. This novel perfectly captures that vibe. The plot is gripping with several twists. The characters are interesting and entertaining. I loved the writing style.
August 25, 2025
Over the last few years I have read 36 works from the pen of Richard Paolinelli, not counting his contributions to anthologies. This is the first in what I hope might be a new series. Paolinelli states in the authors note:
“First, the idea for this story has its seeds in my desire to write a 1940s-type detective noir story, but set it out in space. I hadn’t gotten around to sitting down to hammer out the story just yet though.
Until the day an author, and friend, Natasha Carter, caused the correct two brain cells to collide inside my noggin, that is. Natasha likes to drop posts on Twitter/X and then sit back and watch the reactions. And the chaos too.
One fine day she drops this gem: “I’m just here to steal your soul.”
Me, being the professional smart aleck that I am, dropped this reply: “With some women, it’s worth the price of admission.”
And just like that, the perfect way for the grizzled detective to introduce the femme fatale of this novel sprang into existence. Thinking it was likely only going to be a short story to add to my Dreams of the Storyteller collection, I sat down to plot the story out. It quickly became a series of short stories and then evolved to be long enough to just go ahead and make it a novel. And here we are.”
SO in many ways this is a fix-up novel. And as some of know fix-up novels can be masterpieces. J.F. Powers only published 2 novels both were fix-ups and both won the National Book Award. The description of this volume states:
“One detective. Two suspects. A conspiracy big enough to kill them all.
In the 25th Century, Galactic Justice upholds the law across the Milky Way.
They use the HALO to extract confessions from the guilty. For the most heinous of crimes, the guilty are erased and a new personality is uploaded in their place.
Samuel Archer Spade is a private detective on Space Station 1964 on the far edge of the galaxy. He’s a former GalJus Inspector whose conscious couldn’t square with using the HALO.
Spade is at his usual spot, his unofficial office on Norma, when a knockout blonde in a red dress, walks into The Galaxy’s Edge, the station’s bar. She’s on the run from an unwanted admirer.
But when the man arrives on the station, he’s looking to hire Spade himself. He’s claiming she has stolen something from him, As Spade tries to sort out who is telling the truth, GalJus arrives looking for both of his clients for a murder committed on another planet.
Trying to find the truth will lead Spade to discover a dark secret. Some elements within GalJus are using the HALO to frame innocent people. Even worse, they're programming people to commit murder.
That’s a secret GalJus is willing to kill for and both Sam, and his clients, are right at the top of their list.”
Sam has a conscience, one so string he left the Galactic Justice force because of a tool they were using. He became a PI, likely making his father even more proud of him. And He is set up as far from the seat of GalJus as possible. When in walks a dame in a red dress and his whole life is turned upside down. Somehow this woman has captured his heart and when she is convicted by her own voice and a truth machine called a halo. But something is not sitting right with him, and when he starts digging he finds something even worse than he ever expected.
The story is written around 4 sections and 15 chapters, which are:
Part I
1: The P.I. In The Stars
2: The Femme Fatale
3: The Plot Thickens
4: Air-Tight Alabis Abound
5: Whodunit
Part II
6: With Friends Like These
7: Hell Hath No Fury
8: No Fairytale Endings
Part III
9: Unhappy New Years
10: Partners In Crime
11: Into The Lion’s Den
Part IV
12: This Island Earth
13: A Man For All Seasons
14: Costly Victory
15: The Immortals
Epilogue
Author’s Note
The action is intense. It was very hard to put the book down. It is a mystery, wrapped in a conspiracy, with a love story at the heart. In some ways this story reminds me of The Carter Files by Lori Janeski. It also reminds me or a lot of old shows I watched with my father including, Mike Hammer, Dirty Harry, and Spencer for Hire to name but a few. And Paolinelli makes homage to several detectives and the whole noir genre through out the work.
This is an excellent novel from Paolinelli’s pen. It took me by surprise. A great addition to his complete works. I can easily recommend this story for what an excellent piece of Science fiction mashed up with mystery Noir!
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
“First, the idea for this story has its seeds in my desire to write a 1940s-type detective noir story, but set it out in space. I hadn’t gotten around to sitting down to hammer out the story just yet though.
Until the day an author, and friend, Natasha Carter, caused the correct two brain cells to collide inside my noggin, that is. Natasha likes to drop posts on Twitter/X and then sit back and watch the reactions. And the chaos too.
One fine day she drops this gem: “I’m just here to steal your soul.”
Me, being the professional smart aleck that I am, dropped this reply: “With some women, it’s worth the price of admission.”
And just like that, the perfect way for the grizzled detective to introduce the femme fatale of this novel sprang into existence. Thinking it was likely only going to be a short story to add to my Dreams of the Storyteller collection, I sat down to plot the story out. It quickly became a series of short stories and then evolved to be long enough to just go ahead and make it a novel. And here we are.”
SO in many ways this is a fix-up novel. And as some of know fix-up novels can be masterpieces. J.F. Powers only published 2 novels both were fix-ups and both won the National Book Award. The description of this volume states:
“One detective. Two suspects. A conspiracy big enough to kill them all.
In the 25th Century, Galactic Justice upholds the law across the Milky Way.
They use the HALO to extract confessions from the guilty. For the most heinous of crimes, the guilty are erased and a new personality is uploaded in their place.
Samuel Archer Spade is a private detective on Space Station 1964 on the far edge of the galaxy. He’s a former GalJus Inspector whose conscious couldn’t square with using the HALO.
Spade is at his usual spot, his unofficial office on Norma, when a knockout blonde in a red dress, walks into The Galaxy’s Edge, the station’s bar. She’s on the run from an unwanted admirer.
But when the man arrives on the station, he’s looking to hire Spade himself. He’s claiming she has stolen something from him, As Spade tries to sort out who is telling the truth, GalJus arrives looking for both of his clients for a murder committed on another planet.
Trying to find the truth will lead Spade to discover a dark secret. Some elements within GalJus are using the HALO to frame innocent people. Even worse, they're programming people to commit murder.
That’s a secret GalJus is willing to kill for and both Sam, and his clients, are right at the top of their list.”
Sam has a conscience, one so string he left the Galactic Justice force because of a tool they were using. He became a PI, likely making his father even more proud of him. And He is set up as far from the seat of GalJus as possible. When in walks a dame in a red dress and his whole life is turned upside down. Somehow this woman has captured his heart and when she is convicted by her own voice and a truth machine called a halo. But something is not sitting right with him, and when he starts digging he finds something even worse than he ever expected.
The story is written around 4 sections and 15 chapters, which are:
Part I
1: The P.I. In The Stars
2: The Femme Fatale
3: The Plot Thickens
4: Air-Tight Alabis Abound
5: Whodunit
Part II
6: With Friends Like These
7: Hell Hath No Fury
8: No Fairytale Endings
Part III
9: Unhappy New Years
10: Partners In Crime
11: Into The Lion’s Den
Part IV
12: This Island Earth
13: A Man For All Seasons
14: Costly Victory
15: The Immortals
Epilogue
Author’s Note
The action is intense. It was very hard to put the book down. It is a mystery, wrapped in a conspiracy, with a love story at the heart. In some ways this story reminds me of The Carter Files by Lori Janeski. It also reminds me or a lot of old shows I watched with my father including, Mike Hammer, Dirty Harry, and Spencer for Hire to name but a few. And Paolinelli makes homage to several detectives and the whole noir genre through out the work.
This is an excellent novel from Paolinelli’s pen. It took me by surprise. A great addition to his complete works. I can easily recommend this story for what an excellent piece of Science fiction mashed up with mystery Noir!
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
October 16, 2025
A clever merging of the detective noir and space sci-fi genres with a strong narration style
Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe is a clever merging of the detective noir and space sci-fi genres with a strong narration style. ‘Samuel Spade’ is a Private Detective on a distant space station and finds himself caught in the middle of two suspects that ultimately places him on the path to something much bigger.
There are some inventive concepts in this world put together by Richard Paolinelli who draws inspiration from multiple places including present day ideas and uses them to create an immersive future. The idea of ‘Galactic Justice’, much like the story starts out as a quiet presence in the background but is soon expanded and moves into the wider stakes of a plot that grows. Just who will police those who are in control of justice across the universe? Do their technological methods to interrogate criminals have any level of morality? ‘Total Recall’ meets ‘James Bond’ here as a mind based device known as a ‘Halo’ sits at the very centre of perceived justice in this world that ‘Spade’ will eventually try to challenge.
Twists and revelations eventually pay off in a story delivered with a narration style that keeps pages turning and intrigue turned up to the maximum. Within the writing there’s an appreciation for the genres and many references littered throughout that completes the reading experience.
“Spade, Samuel Spade. I am… I was a private investigator out on station 1964 until a few months ago. Until I got caught up in all of this.”
Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe is a clever merging of the detective noir and space sci-fi genres with a strong narration style. ‘Samuel Spade’ is a Private Detective on a distant space station and finds himself caught in the middle of two suspects that ultimately places him on the path to something much bigger.
There are some inventive concepts in this world put together by Richard Paolinelli who draws inspiration from multiple places including present day ideas and uses them to create an immersive future. The idea of ‘Galactic Justice’, much like the story starts out as a quiet presence in the background but is soon expanded and moves into the wider stakes of a plot that grows. Just who will police those who are in control of justice across the universe? Do their technological methods to interrogate criminals have any level of morality? ‘Total Recall’ meets ‘James Bond’ here as a mind based device known as a ‘Halo’ sits at the very centre of perceived justice in this world that ‘Spade’ will eventually try to challenge.
Twists and revelations eventually pay off in a story delivered with a narration style that keeps pages turning and intrigue turned up to the maximum. Within the writing there’s an appreciation for the genres and many references littered throughout that completes the reading experience.
“Spade, Samuel Spade. I am… I was a private investigator out on station 1964 until a few months ago. Until I got caught up in all of this.”
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews