What do you think?
Rate this book
Ray Electromatic Mysteries #1
Made to Kill
When a familiar-looking woman arrives at the Los Angeles offices of Raymond Electromatic - PI turned hit man and the world's last robot - he takes on the case of a missing movie star, and is soon plunged into a glittering world of 1960s fame, fortune, and secrecy. But when he uncovers a sinister plot that goes much deeper than the silver screen, this robot is in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2015
75 people are currently reading
3032 people want to read
About the author
Adam Christopher
48 books717 followersAdam Christopher is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith and Master of Evil, Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town. He has also written official tie-in novels for the hit CBS television show Elementary and the award-winning Dishonored video game franchise.
Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic.
Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.
Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic.
Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 358 reviews
June 9, 2018
Ray Electromatic is the last existing robot who works as a private detective and assassin. When he is hired to find and kill a missing actor, he soon becomes entangled in a web of communists and mind control. Will Ray get his man and get his money?
Way back in the fall of 2016, I visited Goodreads headquarters and this book was in the goodie bag they gave me. Now, almost two years later, I have finally read it.
Taking place in an alternate version of the 1960s, one where robots were created and all but one, Ray Electormatic, were deactivated, Made to Kill is a Chandleresque tale of murder, lies, death, and dirty communists. Ray Electromatic operates as a detective and an assassin with the added caveat that he has to recharge every day and have his memory uploaded and erased. A supercomputer named Ava is his secretary/boss. Sound good yet?
Born out of imagining what a Raymond Chandler science fiction tale would be like, Made to Kill hits a lot of the Raymond Chandler beats. There are femme fatales, shady actors and government types, and Adam Christopher's Hollywood is just as filled with phonies and psychopaths as Chandlers. Ray's internal dialogue is peppered with dark humor and he approaches detection with the same grace, or lack thereof, of Philip Marlowe.
The story folds back in on itself a few times like some kind of tesseract. It was an engaging read but I wasn't ass over tea kettle over it. For a bad ass robot, Ray Electromatic didn't actually do a whole helluva lot besides drive around and he was tied up for a lot of the final portion of the book.
Made to Kill was an entertaining read for a rainy Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure I'll be sticking around for future installments, though. Three out of five stars.
Way back in the fall of 2016, I visited Goodreads headquarters and this book was in the goodie bag they gave me. Now, almost two years later, I have finally read it.
Taking place in an alternate version of the 1960s, one where robots were created and all but one, Ray Electormatic, were deactivated, Made to Kill is a Chandleresque tale of murder, lies, death, and dirty communists. Ray Electromatic operates as a detective and an assassin with the added caveat that he has to recharge every day and have his memory uploaded and erased. A supercomputer named Ava is his secretary/boss. Sound good yet?
Born out of imagining what a Raymond Chandler science fiction tale would be like, Made to Kill hits a lot of the Raymond Chandler beats. There are femme fatales, shady actors and government types, and Adam Christopher's Hollywood is just as filled with phonies and psychopaths as Chandlers. Ray's internal dialogue is peppered with dark humor and he approaches detection with the same grace, or lack thereof, of Philip Marlowe.
The story folds back in on itself a few times like some kind of tesseract. It was an engaging read but I wasn't ass over tea kettle over it. For a bad ass robot, Ray Electromatic didn't actually do a whole helluva lot besides drive around and he was tied up for a lot of the final portion of the book.
Made to Kill was an entertaining read for a rainy Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure I'll be sticking around for future installments, though. Three out of five stars.
July 26, 2017
Definitely, a fun read, but I can't quite tell if this is going to be more fun for you straight mystery lovers or for those of you who just like a great rampaging robot private eye/assassin running about the streets of Hollywood.
Me, I like both. It's very Chandler. And as I read it, I was reminded VERY pleasantly of A Lee Martinez's Automatic Detective which has a lot of the same elements.
Still, let's be honest here. The Noir mystery field has a million imitators and what really makes each stand out from the others is just the quality of the writing and the best quirkiness of the main characters.
I think this town is big enough for both books. :)
Especially since its relatively sparse with the SF element unlike the UF element with all that Fantasy Mystery mixes. I believe we need a lot more of this mashup.
Quirky robots are FUN! :)
And this Noir was just as fun as any other mystery I've enjoyed, so double fun! :)
Now on to read the sequel that just came out! :)
Me, I like both. It's very Chandler. And as I read it, I was reminded VERY pleasantly of A Lee Martinez's Automatic Detective which has a lot of the same elements.
Still, let's be honest here. The Noir mystery field has a million imitators and what really makes each stand out from the others is just the quality of the writing and the best quirkiness of the main characters.
I think this town is big enough for both books. :)
Especially since its relatively sparse with the SF element unlike the UF element with all that Fantasy Mystery mixes. I believe we need a lot more of this mashup.
Quirky robots are FUN! :)
And this Noir was just as fun as any other mystery I've enjoyed, so double fun! :)
Now on to read the sequel that just came out! :)
January 8, 2016
Adam Christopher spends a bit of time thanking Raymond Chandler for inspiration in creating this book and strives for it to be the missing "Science Fiction" novel that has never been unearthed that Chandler may or may not have written. It is well documented that Chandler was not particularly fond of Science Fiction.
IMHO I would liken it more to a Ron Goulart inspired venture though of course Chandler is a bigger name.
Given Mr. Christopher's ambition my view is that he has done a pretty good job especially the feeling of place in the Hollywood California setting of the novel. He has inserted just enough humor into his main characters personality to make the novel quite enjoyable, yet overusing the same gags a bit over repeatedly.
The writing style is quite readable and the pacing is well done. The POV character of Raymond Electromatic the wise talking robot, who loses his memory every midnight is a likable machine.
Since this is supposed to be the first book in a trilogy, it will be interesting to see where the author takes the series in future installments.
This was a nice blend of mystery and Science Fictional elements.
IMHO I would liken it more to a Ron Goulart inspired venture though of course Chandler is a bigger name.
Given Mr. Christopher's ambition my view is that he has done a pretty good job especially the feeling of place in the Hollywood California setting of the novel. He has inserted just enough humor into his main characters personality to make the novel quite enjoyable, yet overusing the same gags a bit over repeatedly.
The writing style is quite readable and the pacing is well done. The POV character of Raymond Electromatic the wise talking robot, who loses his memory every midnight is a likable machine.
Since this is supposed to be the first book in a trilogy, it will be interesting to see where the author takes the series in future installments.
This was a nice blend of mystery and Science Fictional elements.
August 30, 2018
Ray is a robot detective and assassin, who, along with his computer-based AI handler, Ada, may have played a part of removing their maker from the picture to pursue independence and wealth. Forming the key cogs in the Electromatic Detective Agency, the robot and super computer switched to murder for hire to boost their revenue stream. However, MADE TO KILL doesn’t really touch on this element all that much, rather, the pulp detective noir homage is in full flight with a Spillane-like story full of dames, murder, mystery and a touch of un-Spillane-like sci-fi.
Set in the 1960’s and smack-bang in the middle of Hollywood, Ray finds himself in search of a missing celebrity. Yet there’s something about the case doesn't feel right to the robot. Que a strange celeb cult, memory loss, and a Russian-led scheme involving transferring personalities from one physical body to another and MADE TO KILL hits the right popcorn pulp notes in all its buttery goodness.
My rating: 4/5 stars. This was a re-read (in 2016 I rated the book 2.5 stars) and I really enjoyed it the second time round. The Phillip K Dick-inspired narration complimented the Chandler-like hardboiled tone resulting in an enjoyable genre mash-up.
Set in the 1960’s and smack-bang in the middle of Hollywood, Ray finds himself in search of a missing celebrity. Yet there’s something about the case doesn't feel right to the robot. Que a strange celeb cult, memory loss, and a Russian-led scheme involving transferring personalities from one physical body to another and MADE TO KILL hits the right popcorn pulp notes in all its buttery goodness.
My rating: 4/5 stars. This was a re-read (in 2016 I rated the book 2.5 stars) and I really enjoyed it the second time round. The Phillip K Dick-inspired narration complimented the Chandler-like hardboiled tone resulting in an enjoyable genre mash-up.
September 5, 2019
It's not every day a beautiful brunette drops off a duffel bag of pure gold as payment in advance for a hit. But what's your average robotic PI-turned-hitman with a heart cold as steel and a 24-hour maximum memory capacity to do? Turn down a job?
The cover caught my eye at a local library pop-up display and, as a huge fan of The Automatic Detective , I snapped it up. It sounded like that book's inverse: a robot built for good turned bad, instead of a robot built for bad turned good. I found that appealing.
In the early pages I feared I was in for a bad time. It seemed repetitive and the personalities are very flat and one-dimensional. But while Christopher's delivery is inconsistent his premise is outstanding and does all the heavy lifting. Once the case gets going an undeniable energy moves things along quickly and it becomes much more fun.
The setting, Kennedy-era Hollywood in the midst of the Cold War, is a charming anachronism and the clash between technology advanced enough to create a functioning robot but still dependent on phones with cords is funny in and of itself. The science isn't very scientific but that's OK. Picturing a hulking metal man with spools of magnetic tape running through his chest tiptoe through alleyways in a trenchcoat and fedora makes for some fun scenes. Fans of "The Amazing Screw-On Head" will take to this like ducks to water.
3.5 stars out of 5. My edition had noticeable typos that distracted occasionally.
The cover caught my eye at a local library pop-up display and, as a huge fan of The Automatic Detective , I snapped it up. It sounded like that book's inverse: a robot built for good turned bad, instead of a robot built for bad turned good. I found that appealing.
In the early pages I feared I was in for a bad time. It seemed repetitive and the personalities are very flat and one-dimensional. But while Christopher's delivery is inconsistent his premise is outstanding and does all the heavy lifting. Once the case gets going an undeniable energy moves things along quickly and it becomes much more fun.
The setting, Kennedy-era Hollywood in the midst of the Cold War, is a charming anachronism and the clash between technology advanced enough to create a functioning robot but still dependent on phones with cords is funny in and of itself. The science isn't very scientific but that's OK. Picturing a hulking metal man with spools of magnetic tape running through his chest tiptoe through alleyways in a trenchcoat and fedora makes for some fun scenes. Fans of "The Amazing Screw-On Head" will take to this like ducks to water.
3.5 stars out of 5. My edition had noticeable typos that distracted occasionally.
October 5, 2015
Following a failed government-funded program that involved rolling out a fleet of robots to do dangerous jobs, Raymond Electronica is the last metal man standing. Fronting as a private detective, Raymond keeps himself busy working as a hitman. Up to now, all of his jobs have come through his companion computer Ada, a large boxy machine that takes up residence in his office. However, when a young woman approaches Ray with a request to track down and take out a Hollywood actor, his interest is piqued when she dumps several solid gold bars on his desk. Can Ray track down and eliminate his new target?
I received a free copy from the publisher via Net Galley for review.
Adam Christopher’s Made to Kill is a truly original bit of writing – a robot detective sleuthing in the 1960s? Sign me up! And if the amazing cover doesn’t hook you, the fact that it’s described as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe meets Lawrence Block’s hit-man for hire Keller should.
Despite the fact that Made to Kill features a giant robot working a case, Christopher’s story doesn’t allow itself to get bogged down in the gimmick of the “robot detective”. At its core, it’s a smart and funny thriller that knows when it should take itself seriously and when to play it up for laughs. Whether Raymond is synthesizing laughter that he says sounds like an old Buick backfiring or declaring that he has the world’s best poker face as he’s literally without features, the absurdity of the plot kept me reading along with few breaks.
Raymond has a built-in memory regarding basic functions and knowledge but he relies on magnetic tape to store information learned within a twenty-four hour period. Once the day ends, the tape is removed and stored and he turns to his computer companion Ada to fill him in. It gives him a timeline for how long he can stay on a case per day; this way he isn’t working constantly without breaks, in a way humanizing him. There’s also the fact that he’s designed to look somewhat like a man but Christopher reminds the reader that he weighs about a ton and stands at least seven feet tall, so there’s only so much he can do to blend in.
As the story moves on, it switches from a simple missing person’s case to something altogether different; something that I did not see coming. I think that if you’re a big fan of the period in which Christopher is playing, you’ll like the twist and enjoy where things go.
Adam Christopher is proving to be an incredibly versatile writer. The man is all over the place with novels ranging from superhero stories to space-opera epics to straight up noir mysteries – he does it all, and he does it all well.
Release date: November 3rd, 2015
Read my interview with Adam from March 2013!
I received a free copy from the publisher via Net Galley for review.
Adam Christopher’s Made to Kill is a truly original bit of writing – a robot detective sleuthing in the 1960s? Sign me up! And if the amazing cover doesn’t hook you, the fact that it’s described as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe meets Lawrence Block’s hit-man for hire Keller should.
Despite the fact that Made to Kill features a giant robot working a case, Christopher’s story doesn’t allow itself to get bogged down in the gimmick of the “robot detective”. At its core, it’s a smart and funny thriller that knows when it should take itself seriously and when to play it up for laughs. Whether Raymond is synthesizing laughter that he says sounds like an old Buick backfiring or declaring that he has the world’s best poker face as he’s literally without features, the absurdity of the plot kept me reading along with few breaks.
Raymond has a built-in memory regarding basic functions and knowledge but he relies on magnetic tape to store information learned within a twenty-four hour period. Once the day ends, the tape is removed and stored and he turns to his computer companion Ada to fill him in. It gives him a timeline for how long he can stay on a case per day; this way he isn’t working constantly without breaks, in a way humanizing him. There’s also the fact that he’s designed to look somewhat like a man but Christopher reminds the reader that he weighs about a ton and stands at least seven feet tall, so there’s only so much he can do to blend in.
As the story moves on, it switches from a simple missing person’s case to something altogether different; something that I did not see coming. I think that if you’re a big fan of the period in which Christopher is playing, you’ll like the twist and enjoy where things go.
Adam Christopher is proving to be an incredibly versatile writer. The man is all over the place with novels ranging from superhero stories to space-opera epics to straight up noir mysteries – he does it all, and he does it all well.
Release date: November 3rd, 2015
Read my interview with Adam from March 2013!
November 6, 2015
Received to review via Netgalley
You might know from my reviews of another Angry Robot alumnus, Chris Holm, that I kind of love the hardboiled pulp mystery fiction by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. This is basically exactly that… except you add a robot and his equally electronic handler, Ada; the robot has a limited 24-hour memory because his memory’s on tapes; and the electronic handler has a prime directive of “profit” and nothing to keep her on the straight and narrow.
There’s an interesting story in the background, too: Ray discovering what he does during what are essentially blackouts; the whole background with Ada and Ray’s creator; the manipulations of Ray’s memory by Ada; Ray’s discovery that he’s being used as a murder weapon… Wisely, I think, this fascinating stuff is kept as background. It keeps you wondering what exactly Ada’s up to, it means you know about Ray’s limited memory and how he can be manipulated, but it focuses on an immediate mystery and leaves all that background to keep you wondering and coming up with your own red herrings.
Adam Christopher doesn’t quite have the style and originality of Chandler (there’s no phrases like “shop-worn Galahad” to delight the senses), but the writing is slick and functional in the best way. I read the whole thing in just over an hour, without stopping, without ever catching up on a snag that made me want to stop. He uses the robot nature of his protagonist in great ways to add detail, uses the limitations of the character to convey expressions and emotions. The robot technology is also kept at just the right level: sure, Ray can take pictures using his eyes, but they’re stored on film and he only has four rolls of film at a time. Ada runs on tapes. The technology is clunky, old-fashioned.
The plot itself is classic and I’m not gonna spoil it by giving you any clues. There’s some staples of pulp fiction here, though, and it’s good for a knowing smile, makes you want to wear a trenchcoat and a natty hat.
Originally posted here.
You might know from my reviews of another Angry Robot alumnus, Chris Holm, that I kind of love the hardboiled pulp mystery fiction by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. This is basically exactly that… except you add a robot and his equally electronic handler, Ada; the robot has a limited 24-hour memory because his memory’s on tapes; and the electronic handler has a prime directive of “profit” and nothing to keep her on the straight and narrow.
There’s an interesting story in the background, too: Ray discovering what he does during what are essentially blackouts; the whole background with Ada and Ray’s creator; the manipulations of Ray’s memory by Ada; Ray’s discovery that he’s being used as a murder weapon… Wisely, I think, this fascinating stuff is kept as background. It keeps you wondering what exactly Ada’s up to, it means you know about Ray’s limited memory and how he can be manipulated, but it focuses on an immediate mystery and leaves all that background to keep you wondering and coming up with your own red herrings.
Adam Christopher doesn’t quite have the style and originality of Chandler (there’s no phrases like “shop-worn Galahad” to delight the senses), but the writing is slick and functional in the best way. I read the whole thing in just over an hour, without stopping, without ever catching up on a snag that made me want to stop. He uses the robot nature of his protagonist in great ways to add detail, uses the limitations of the character to convey expressions and emotions. The robot technology is also kept at just the right level: sure, Ray can take pictures using his eyes, but they’re stored on film and he only has four rolls of film at a time. Ada runs on tapes. The technology is clunky, old-fashioned.
The plot itself is classic and I’m not gonna spoil it by giving you any clues. There’s some staples of pulp fiction here, though, and it’s good for a knowing smile, makes you want to wear a trenchcoat and a natty hat.
Originally posted here.
October 7, 2020
I like the hardboiled detective noir stories, not sure why, but I do. And I like robot stories. Put them together, and I'm happy. I read the novella/short about Ray Electromatic, Brisk Money, earlier this month, and though it's not critical for enjoying this book, it certainly helps explain certain constraints Ray operates under, and the relationship between Ray and Ada, his 'secretary'. I like Ray and Ada's relationship. Ada is an AI who manages Ray's assignments. (By the way, thank you Lady Lovelace for inspiring the name for the AI in this story, and for one of the main protagonists in The Unseen World.)
The story opens with a new client walking into Ray's office and requesting Ray find someone for her. This isn't the way Ray and Ada generally work. Ada deals with the clients, Ray does the footwork, and other work.
As Ray investigates, he determines there's some weird stuff happening with a bunch of Hollywood stars, and there's a big movie premiere happening later that week, where these stars will be walking the red carpet. There are disappearances and strange, elliptical conversations between Ray and others. The initial case morphs into something quite a bit bigger.
This story has kind of a goofy 1950s/1960s feel, from the weird gadgetry and science, while still being a noir detective story. Ray's observations of situations are often funny and dry. I did find the resolution to the case didn't really work for me, as I kept thinking Natasha and Boris. But I did like one of the outcomes, that moves Ray's situation a little forward.
Though this wasn't a stellar book, I'll be checking out the next two Ray and Ada stories when the come out because, well, robots and AI.
The story opens with a new client walking into Ray's office and requesting Ray find someone for her. This isn't the way Ray and Ada generally work. Ada deals with the clients, Ray does the footwork, and other work.
As Ray investigates, he determines there's some weird stuff happening with a bunch of Hollywood stars, and there's a big movie premiere happening later that week, where these stars will be walking the red carpet. There are disappearances and strange, elliptical conversations between Ray and others. The initial case morphs into something quite a bit bigger.
This story has kind of a goofy 1950s/1960s feel, from the weird gadgetry and science, while still being a noir detective story. Ray's observations of situations are often funny and dry. I did find the resolution to the case didn't really work for me, as I kept thinking Natasha and Boris. But I did like one of the outcomes, that moves Ray's situation a little forward.
Though this wasn't a stellar book, I'll be checking out the next two Ray and Ada stories when the come out because, well, robots and AI.
August 3, 2015
********************************************
Reviewed for Science Fiction Book Club.
Reprinted with permission of Bookspan LLC.
********************************************
Adam Christopher has a hit with this new book, combining 1940s-50s technology, early 1960s patriotism, all wrapped up in a noir-style mystery that had me laughing and wishing for high-capacity data storage. I will explain.
Raymond Electromatic is the last robot remaining in the world. His creator has set Ray and his partner Ada up in a detective agency. Ray does all the legwork and Ada runs the office. Ray is brawn and Ada is the brains, literally. Ada is a super-computer, the first of it's kind and Ray is powerful robot with one small defect. Every night at midnight Ray has to be back at the office to get his data tapes transferred and to recharge his power. The data tapes are all the memory he has so when he is "awakened" every morning, he has no recollection of the events of the previous day. Quite a handicap for a guy who's supposed to be finding clues and solving mysteries!
Unbeknownst to Ray, the agency has another more nefarious service. While Ray's data tapes are being transferred, Ada has programmed him to moonlight as an assassin, a much more lucrative business which satisfies Ada's primary objective, to make more money. Oftentimes, both fields overlap and this is one of those cases. Ray and Ada are approached by a mysterious beauty with a case of gold bars. Her request is to find a famous actor and kill him. No explanations are given, no other information is provided. It's on Ray to find the guy and take him out. Finding him is what Ray does but in doing so Ray uncovers a strange society of Hollywood elite who seem to be involved in a plot to do some harm, but what and how are not at all clear. As Ray continues to investigate, more seemingly unconnected events begin to come together and they all point to an outrageous and unbelievable scheme by the Russians to take over America!
From beautiful Hollywood actresses, dashing leading men, and dastardly Russian spies, not to mention a robot and his super-computing partner, this book has it all. If you enjoy old Philip Marlowe stories, like to stay up late watching the old noir-style movies, this is one you shouldn't miss.
Reviewed for Science Fiction Book Club.
Reprinted with permission of Bookspan LLC.
********************************************
Adam Christopher has a hit with this new book, combining 1940s-50s technology, early 1960s patriotism, all wrapped up in a noir-style mystery that had me laughing and wishing for high-capacity data storage. I will explain.
Raymond Electromatic is the last robot remaining in the world. His creator has set Ray and his partner Ada up in a detective agency. Ray does all the legwork and Ada runs the office. Ray is brawn and Ada is the brains, literally. Ada is a super-computer, the first of it's kind and Ray is powerful robot with one small defect. Every night at midnight Ray has to be back at the office to get his data tapes transferred and to recharge his power. The data tapes are all the memory he has so when he is "awakened" every morning, he has no recollection of the events of the previous day. Quite a handicap for a guy who's supposed to be finding clues and solving mysteries!
Unbeknownst to Ray, the agency has another more nefarious service. While Ray's data tapes are being transferred, Ada has programmed him to moonlight as an assassin, a much more lucrative business which satisfies Ada's primary objective, to make more money. Oftentimes, both fields overlap and this is one of those cases. Ray and Ada are approached by a mysterious beauty with a case of gold bars. Her request is to find a famous actor and kill him. No explanations are given, no other information is provided. It's on Ray to find the guy and take him out. Finding him is what Ray does but in doing so Ray uncovers a strange society of Hollywood elite who seem to be involved in a plot to do some harm, but what and how are not at all clear. As Ray continues to investigate, more seemingly unconnected events begin to come together and they all point to an outrageous and unbelievable scheme by the Russians to take over America!
From beautiful Hollywood actresses, dashing leading men, and dastardly Russian spies, not to mention a robot and his super-computing partner, this book has it all. If you enjoy old Philip Marlowe stories, like to stay up late watching the old noir-style movies, this is one you shouldn't miss.
March 30, 2017
I am such a sucker for neo-noir detective stories with a robotic protagonist. Such a damned SUCKER.
And you might not think there could be many books with such an awesome description. But I've been having some good luck finding them. (See: The Automatic Detective, Machines of Easy Virtue.)
And this one is great. The last robot in the world moonlights (behind his own magnetic memory's back) as a hitman, and gets hired by a beautiful Hollywood starlet to kill her co-star. And that's just the tip of the hard-boiled iceberg!
So many twists and turns. To be honest, it was almost too many for me to follow, and around the mid-point of the book I started to get a tad confused, but eeeeeeeverything gets made all clear-like in the end.
So slip a totally unnecessary but stylish fedora onto your bronze-and-titanium head, a trenchcoat over your unbreakable chassis, and join Raymond Electromatic and his long-suffering receptionist/operating system Ada for the ride of your mechanical life!
(Batteries not included, but does come with numerous perfectly-composed noir similes.)
And you might not think there could be many books with such an awesome description. But I've been having some good luck finding them. (See: The Automatic Detective, Machines of Easy Virtue.)
And this one is great. The last robot in the world moonlights (behind his own magnetic memory's back) as a hitman, and gets hired by a beautiful Hollywood starlet to kill her co-star. And that's just the tip of the hard-boiled iceberg!
So many twists and turns. To be honest, it was almost too many for me to follow, and around the mid-point of the book I started to get a tad confused, but eeeeeeeverything gets made all clear-like in the end.
So slip a totally unnecessary but stylish fedora onto your bronze-and-titanium head, a trenchcoat over your unbreakable chassis, and join Raymond Electromatic and his long-suffering receptionist/operating system Ada for the ride of your mechanical life!
(Batteries not included, but does come with numerous perfectly-composed noir similes.)
November 12, 2015
This review originally appeared on Pop Verse.
From the blurb, Made to Kill sounded like it was 100% made for me. A science fiction noir with robots? Sign me up! My love affair of the noir genre began in childhood after discovering Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and it has only grown since then. Perhaps Made to Kill would work better for tourists to the genre, readers who won’t be disappointed with the superficial nods to tropes. Ultimately, Made to Kill is let down by the prose as well as several undercooked premises.
The premise is standard noir fare up to a point. A beautiful girl walks into a P.I. office with a bag of untraceable gold bars and asks the detective to find someone – and kill him. But our investigator is not the usual noir Private Dick. He is Raymond Electromatic (no doubt a nod to Mr. Chandler), the last robot left after a failed government experiment years earlier. The case leads Ray to the very heart of Hollywood with some of the biggest screen stars of the time and a hell of a lot of radiation. Can Ray solve the case before he becomes to the tool of a sinister conspiracy?
On the surface, I love the idea of a robot detective. But it does come with certain drawbacks, the most obvious being the lack of a ‘dark past’, something almost every noir does contain. There is a slight hint at this with Ray’s relationship with his creator, but given his lack of emotional resonance (he’s a robot, he has no emotion) it means little. The lack of emotion makes characterization difficult, as does the lack of threat – he does care about his own safety but so little in his world could do him damage that there is rarely a moment where the reader feels concerned for his wellbeing.
‘Eva McLuckie, looking a hell of a lot like the Mystery Girl who had walked into the office with a bag full of gold and an offer I couldn’t refuse.’
The mechanics of the robotics also pose a problem for the narrative. Ray works off magnetic tape memory, only able to remember the past day (like a scifi version of 50 First Dates). The work around the author uses for this is the supercomputer Ada, who runs Ray’s life. But this removes a lot of Ray’s agency and even much of the deducing work. He becomes an even emptier shell. Then of course there are moments of memories that Ray couldn’t possibly have if his memory is wiped every day (like his last moments with his creator, for instance). Adam Christopher relies on two things to get past this: 1) that Ray’s brain is based on a template of his creator (giving him a basic understanding of the world, presumably allowing him to know things like kids watch cartoons, Hollywood is the center of US filmmaking) and 2) that magnetic tape erasure isn’t 100%. These feel like quick fixes (that certainly don’t remove the issue) to a much bigger problem the author created for himself with Ray’s memory.
‘I walked across the computer room and reached for the door to the office and opened it and stepped through and then closed the door after me.’
Having a robot as the narrator is problematic in other ways as well. Christopher adopts a reporting style for Ray’s narrative voice. While this makes sense for a robot character it makes for dull, dry, and extraordinarily tedious reading. It’s plain bad writing, I don’t care what the intention behind it was. To write about events with ‘and then this happened and then this and then this…’ is an affront to readers everywhere. Perhaps I’m being harsh, but it really did not work for me. It felt like I was reading a novel written by an absolute beginner, something Adam Christopher is not. He should know better. To make matters worse, Christopher also adds in the odd metaphor that a dry robot like Ray shouldn’t be able to come up with if the rest of his language is so dry (for instance, ‘I crunched numbers like a kid crunching cornflakes in front of Saturday morning cartoons.’).
‘I frowned, or at least it felt like I did on the inside.’
If the repetition in the dry reporting narrative voice weren’t enough, Ray has a character tick that is beyond irritating. We get it – he is a robot but he has the mind template of a real person. But the author should have come up with other ways to illustrate his emotional response than frowning or smiling on the inside. Facial responses are certainly not the only way to illustrate ordinary human character’s emotional reactions so why should it be the default way to do so with a robot? Even if you liked this character tick you might think it was a bit much, it is repeated so often throughout the novel I started to wonder if it wasn’t added in later just to get the word count up.
‘It made me sick to my stomach to think there was someone else in charge. If I had a stomach, of course.’
There are other issues. The mystery is not terribly compelling or mysterious and the absolutely bloody obvious is reported back to the reader (multiple times) in case they are total dullards. But for me, these problems are entirely secondary to the prose and problematic construction of Ray.
Verdict: Made to Kill is a half baked attempt to emulate noir greats with little to recommend it. The prose is atrocious, the plot full of holes, and it never manages to be compelling. Do yourself a favour and pick up a Raymond Chandler novel instead.
From the blurb, Made to Kill sounded like it was 100% made for me. A science fiction noir with robots? Sign me up! My love affair of the noir genre began in childhood after discovering Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and it has only grown since then. Perhaps Made to Kill would work better for tourists to the genre, readers who won’t be disappointed with the superficial nods to tropes. Ultimately, Made to Kill is let down by the prose as well as several undercooked premises.
The premise is standard noir fare up to a point. A beautiful girl walks into a P.I. office with a bag of untraceable gold bars and asks the detective to find someone – and kill him. But our investigator is not the usual noir Private Dick. He is Raymond Electromatic (no doubt a nod to Mr. Chandler), the last robot left after a failed government experiment years earlier. The case leads Ray to the very heart of Hollywood with some of the biggest screen stars of the time and a hell of a lot of radiation. Can Ray solve the case before he becomes to the tool of a sinister conspiracy?
On the surface, I love the idea of a robot detective. But it does come with certain drawbacks, the most obvious being the lack of a ‘dark past’, something almost every noir does contain. There is a slight hint at this with Ray’s relationship with his creator, but given his lack of emotional resonance (he’s a robot, he has no emotion) it means little. The lack of emotion makes characterization difficult, as does the lack of threat – he does care about his own safety but so little in his world could do him damage that there is rarely a moment where the reader feels concerned for his wellbeing.
‘Eva McLuckie, looking a hell of a lot like the Mystery Girl who had walked into the office with a bag full of gold and an offer I couldn’t refuse.’
The mechanics of the robotics also pose a problem for the narrative. Ray works off magnetic tape memory, only able to remember the past day (like a scifi version of 50 First Dates). The work around the author uses for this is the supercomputer Ada, who runs Ray’s life. But this removes a lot of Ray’s agency and even much of the deducing work. He becomes an even emptier shell. Then of course there are moments of memories that Ray couldn’t possibly have if his memory is wiped every day (like his last moments with his creator, for instance). Adam Christopher relies on two things to get past this: 1) that Ray’s brain is based on a template of his creator (giving him a basic understanding of the world, presumably allowing him to know things like kids watch cartoons, Hollywood is the center of US filmmaking) and 2) that magnetic tape erasure isn’t 100%. These feel like quick fixes (that certainly don’t remove the issue) to a much bigger problem the author created for himself with Ray’s memory.
‘I walked across the computer room and reached for the door to the office and opened it and stepped through and then closed the door after me.’
Having a robot as the narrator is problematic in other ways as well. Christopher adopts a reporting style for Ray’s narrative voice. While this makes sense for a robot character it makes for dull, dry, and extraordinarily tedious reading. It’s plain bad writing, I don’t care what the intention behind it was. To write about events with ‘and then this happened and then this and then this…’ is an affront to readers everywhere. Perhaps I’m being harsh, but it really did not work for me. It felt like I was reading a novel written by an absolute beginner, something Adam Christopher is not. He should know better. To make matters worse, Christopher also adds in the odd metaphor that a dry robot like Ray shouldn’t be able to come up with if the rest of his language is so dry (for instance, ‘I crunched numbers like a kid crunching cornflakes in front of Saturday morning cartoons.’).
‘I frowned, or at least it felt like I did on the inside.’
If the repetition in the dry reporting narrative voice weren’t enough, Ray has a character tick that is beyond irritating. We get it – he is a robot but he has the mind template of a real person. But the author should have come up with other ways to illustrate his emotional response than frowning or smiling on the inside. Facial responses are certainly not the only way to illustrate ordinary human character’s emotional reactions so why should it be the default way to do so with a robot? Even if you liked this character tick you might think it was a bit much, it is repeated so often throughout the novel I started to wonder if it wasn’t added in later just to get the word count up.
‘It made me sick to my stomach to think there was someone else in charge. If I had a stomach, of course.’
There are other issues. The mystery is not terribly compelling or mysterious and the absolutely bloody obvious is reported back to the reader (multiple times) in case they are total dullards. But for me, these problems are entirely secondary to the prose and problematic construction of Ray.
Verdict: Made to Kill is a half baked attempt to emulate noir greats with little to recommend it. The prose is atrocious, the plot full of holes, and it never manages to be compelling. Do yourself a favour and pick up a Raymond Chandler novel instead.
November 7, 2016
Unfortunately, Made to Kill is another book that I have to file as one I wanted to like way more than I actually did. It's not a bad book, per se, and the premise is great, but it did fail to live up to my expectations.
It's the 1960s, and PI Raymond Electromatic is the last robot. I'm all for an alt-history trip about a robot detective, and Adam Christopher has the hard-boiled noir patois down solid in this ode to Raymond Chandler. There's enough retro sci-fi to satisfy and a Red Scare menace that shines brightly, but Christopher doesn't take his ideas far enough to really work for me.
Take our centerpiece of this story, Raymond Electromatic himself. He's limited by 1960s computer-era technology, which means he has a limited battery-life and his memory is short-term, stored on tape that has to be backed-up nightly and wiped for fresh recording. Aside from his operating system, Raymond is basically a blank shell, a robotic man without a history, and since he is a robot, without any feelings and a quaint acceptance of his programmatic limitations, his existential crises are cleanly averted. This feels like a cop-out, and Raymond's lack of long-term memory really has very little repercussions on his investigative capabilities. He doesn't remember meeting people that he just saw the day before, but this has no impact on his proceedings in the case or in his relations to them, which makes the story progression artificially neat and tidy when it should be way more complicated and erratic.
As a character, Raymond is also about as interesting as the invulnerable steel he is made out. An unfeeling dude without a past doesn't make for an electrifying read, and the situations Raymond finds himself in are far more interesting than the character itself. He's a window into Christopher's sci-fi noir world, but little else. There's not enough crags and edges to hold onto, and, frankly, he's a dull narrator. Which is a shame, particularly since there's plenty of built-in conflict, or should be, between he and his AI handler, Ada...but again, this comes down to information that the reader is more privy to (particularly if you've read the prequel story, Brisk Money than the character. But Raymond's approach to this conflict is too blasé to care, and if it doesn't matter to him, maybe it shouldn't matter to me.
I still sense a missed opportunity, and that's my basic reaction to this book as a whole. It's rife with potential and intriguing concepts and ideas, but the execution is not nearly as exciting as the possibilities it presents.
[Note: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]
It's the 1960s, and PI Raymond Electromatic is the last robot. I'm all for an alt-history trip about a robot detective, and Adam Christopher has the hard-boiled noir patois down solid in this ode to Raymond Chandler. There's enough retro sci-fi to satisfy and a Red Scare menace that shines brightly, but Christopher doesn't take his ideas far enough to really work for me.
Take our centerpiece of this story, Raymond Electromatic himself. He's limited by 1960s computer-era technology, which means he has a limited battery-life and his memory is short-term, stored on tape that has to be backed-up nightly and wiped for fresh recording. Aside from his operating system, Raymond is basically a blank shell, a robotic man without a history, and since he is a robot, without any feelings and a quaint acceptance of his programmatic limitations, his existential crises are cleanly averted. This feels like a cop-out, and Raymond's lack of long-term memory really has very little repercussions on his investigative capabilities. He doesn't remember meeting people that he just saw the day before, but this has no impact on his proceedings in the case or in his relations to them, which makes the story progression artificially neat and tidy when it should be way more complicated and erratic.
As a character, Raymond is also about as interesting as the invulnerable steel he is made out. An unfeeling dude without a past doesn't make for an electrifying read, and the situations Raymond finds himself in are far more interesting than the character itself. He's a window into Christopher's sci-fi noir world, but little else. There's not enough crags and edges to hold onto, and, frankly, he's a dull narrator. Which is a shame, particularly since there's plenty of built-in conflict, or should be, between he and his AI handler, Ada...but again, this comes down to information that the reader is more privy to (particularly if you've read the prequel story, Brisk Money than the character. But Raymond's approach to this conflict is too blasé to care, and if it doesn't matter to him, maybe it shouldn't matter to me.
I still sense a missed opportunity, and that's my basic reaction to this book as a whole. It's rife with potential and intriguing concepts and ideas, but the execution is not nearly as exciting as the possibilities it presents.
[Note: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]
January 15, 2016
THE REVIEW CAN ALSO BE FOUND HERE!
“What if Raymond Chandler wrote science-fiction?” That’s the Elevator Pitch for Made to Kill, a sci-fi period noir thriller set in an alternate version of Los Angeles, where Raymond Electromatic is a robot, P.I. who works in the Electrometric Detective Agency. He finds himself handed an assignment to find a missing movie star by a mysterious woman, but money talks and Raymond takes up the case, not expecting to be plunged in a greater conspiracy that goes deeper than just the booming Hollywood Industry at the time.
Adam Christopher is always a really reliable author for me, I’ve never been disappointed by his work once and have read all of his currently released novels. My favourites so far probably have to be either his debut Empire State or the superhero fare Seven Wonders, but Made To Kill offers another consistent, quick and fun read from the author that presents a fascinating blend of two genres, using sci-fi and noir as a backdrop to tell a compelling storyline in the shadows of Hollywood.
Raymond Electromatic is the lead protagonist and through his first person perspective we meet the rest of the world. He’s not your typical protagonist, with a worldview that is different from that of your average human and it’s interesting to see how Christopher uses that to suit the narration. He’s a good, solid character and he needs to be as reader’s enjoyment of novels told through a first person perspective tend to hinge on how well they get on with the character. Raymond is made more interesting by a crucial problem he suffers from, he loses his memory after every 24 hours and has to rely on his assistant, Ada, to fill him in each day on the relevant information. It also helps a lot that Raymond has a sense of humour as well, allowing for some nice gags throughout the novel’s pages.
The setting, in the 1960s, also really pays off in the novel as Hollywood is really fleshed out in Made to Kill, as Raymond gives us a guided tour of the area during his time as we uncover its dark, dirty secrets. It’s interesting for him as there are no other robots like Raymond left, he’s essentially the last of his kind following the failure of a Government-funded program that saw the robots launched with an intention of doing high-risk jobs.
Made To Kill is perfect for those who like the old noir movies (I have recently started watching more in the genre myself, The Maltese Falcon last year followed by Rear Window this year, as well as a few others), or loved reading the likes of Raymond Chandler and other pulp fiction writers. Adam Christopher’s latest novel is a fun, quick read that is really entertaining, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table in the next LA Trilogy novel.
“What if Raymond Chandler wrote science-fiction?” That’s the Elevator Pitch for Made to Kill, a sci-fi period noir thriller set in an alternate version of Los Angeles, where Raymond Electromatic is a robot, P.I. who works in the Electrometric Detective Agency. He finds himself handed an assignment to find a missing movie star by a mysterious woman, but money talks and Raymond takes up the case, not expecting to be plunged in a greater conspiracy that goes deeper than just the booming Hollywood Industry at the time.
Adam Christopher is always a really reliable author for me, I’ve never been disappointed by his work once and have read all of his currently released novels. My favourites so far probably have to be either his debut Empire State or the superhero fare Seven Wonders, but Made To Kill offers another consistent, quick and fun read from the author that presents a fascinating blend of two genres, using sci-fi and noir as a backdrop to tell a compelling storyline in the shadows of Hollywood.
Raymond Electromatic is the lead protagonist and through his first person perspective we meet the rest of the world. He’s not your typical protagonist, with a worldview that is different from that of your average human and it’s interesting to see how Christopher uses that to suit the narration. He’s a good, solid character and he needs to be as reader’s enjoyment of novels told through a first person perspective tend to hinge on how well they get on with the character. Raymond is made more interesting by a crucial problem he suffers from, he loses his memory after every 24 hours and has to rely on his assistant, Ada, to fill him in each day on the relevant information. It also helps a lot that Raymond has a sense of humour as well, allowing for some nice gags throughout the novel’s pages.
The setting, in the 1960s, also really pays off in the novel as Hollywood is really fleshed out in Made to Kill, as Raymond gives us a guided tour of the area during his time as we uncover its dark, dirty secrets. It’s interesting for him as there are no other robots like Raymond left, he’s essentially the last of his kind following the failure of a Government-funded program that saw the robots launched with an intention of doing high-risk jobs.
Made To Kill is perfect for those who like the old noir movies (I have recently started watching more in the genre myself, The Maltese Falcon last year followed by Rear Window this year, as well as a few others), or loved reading the likes of Raymond Chandler and other pulp fiction writers. Adam Christopher’s latest novel is a fun, quick read that is really entertaining, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table in the next LA Trilogy novel.
November 18, 2015
Review copy
Adam Christopher is a novelist and comic writer, and award-winning editor. He's the author of The Burning Dark, The Machine Awakes, and Made to Kill, and Adam has also written novels based on the hit CBS television show Elementary. His debut novel, Empire State, was SciFiNow's Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year for 2012.
Born in New Zealand, Adam has lived in Great Britain since 2006.
I spend much of my spare time reading and reviewing Horror. I can't seem to get enough, but every once in a while I like to step outside of the genre for something a little different. I stumbled upon Made To Kill over at NetGalley and I just couldn't resist the concept. Robot noir, set in the 60's, with the last robot on earth, once a P.I. and now an assassin. How could I not read this.
Raymond Electromatic is a Licenced Private Detective. It says so right on the door to his office. Only thing is, he's no longer a private detective. He's now a hitman. What about Azimov's "Laws of Robotics"? Seems those laws don't apply in this alternate timeline of Los Angeles in 1965.
Once you're able to wrap your head around the idea that everything you know about robots is wrong, it's kind of fun to relax and get lost in this crazy story of a Russian plot to take control of the minds of innocent Americans.
The story is conceptually strong, but did seem to be a bit forced at times. Even taking that into consideration, I found myself enjoying this wild ride.
Made To Kill is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and through Audible from Tor/Forge, a division of Macmillan Publishing.
Recommended.
Adam Christopher is a novelist and comic writer, and award-winning editor. He's the author of The Burning Dark, The Machine Awakes, and Made to Kill, and Adam has also written novels based on the hit CBS television show Elementary. His debut novel, Empire State, was SciFiNow's Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year for 2012.
Born in New Zealand, Adam has lived in Great Britain since 2006.
I spend much of my spare time reading and reviewing Horror. I can't seem to get enough, but every once in a while I like to step outside of the genre for something a little different. I stumbled upon Made To Kill over at NetGalley and I just couldn't resist the concept. Robot noir, set in the 60's, with the last robot on earth, once a P.I. and now an assassin. How could I not read this.
Raymond Electromatic is a Licenced Private Detective. It says so right on the door to his office. Only thing is, he's no longer a private detective. He's now a hitman. What about Azimov's "Laws of Robotics"? Seems those laws don't apply in this alternate timeline of Los Angeles in 1965.
Once you're able to wrap your head around the idea that everything you know about robots is wrong, it's kind of fun to relax and get lost in this crazy story of a Russian plot to take control of the minds of innocent Americans.
The story is conceptually strong, but did seem to be a bit forced at times. Even taking that into consideration, I found myself enjoying this wild ride.
Made To Kill is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and through Audible from Tor/Forge, a division of Macmillan Publishing.
Recommended.
September 25, 2017
When you mix robots with hardboiled detectives and set it in 1960’s Hollywood what you get is really a whole lot of fun. Adam Christopher, fascinated by Raymond Chandler’s dislike of science fiction, pays homage to Chandler by writing what could loosely be called Chandler-esque sci-fi. Narrated by the world’s last living (?) robot, who has such limited memory capacity that his memory deck is wiped out each night, we are treated to a fun, kitschy adventure. Raymond Electromatic, of course, runs a one-robot detective agency with his trusty sidekick, Ada, the computer. But, in reality, they are running a hit-man agency and the new head-turning client they get takes Ray for a ride into the Hollywood Hills and to Grumann’s Chinese. Mad scientists, secret gatherings, ultra-hip movie stars and Ray himself fill out the scorecard here. Don’t look for anything really hardboiled, just the general feel, but enjoy the crazy ride.
This is book one of a planned trilogy and book two, Killing Is My Business, was released in July 2017. It’s on my list.
This is book one of a planned trilogy and book two, Killing Is My Business, was released in July 2017. It’s on my list.
December 22, 2015
Made to Kill (2015) by Adam Christopher is a highly entertaining detective book about a robot detective and his computer handler set in a 1950s Hollywood. Ray, the robot detective has the personality of his creator and works around LA. The book really works and is loads of fun and it has a new sort of world to imagine. It's well written, crisp and definitely worth a read for anyone who likes a bit of a clever Chandler inspired alternate world.
January 18, 2016
Ray is the last robot on Earth, following a period when robots were briefly en vogue & used to perform menial tasks , formerly carried out by humans. Problem was, by performing menial jobs, many unskilled humans soon found themselves unemployed. Resentment toward robots mounted & the government succumbed to public resentment & scrapped all but Ray.
Ray's creator instilled many of his own personality traits in Ray's OS, but at the end of 24 hours, Ada, his computer overseer, wipes his memories & 'he' starts each day with a 'clean slate', retaining only the information required to function. Thornton, Ray & Ada's creator, set them up as a Private Detective agency, with Ray as the investigator & muscle & Ada, a computer, as the brains. Trouble is, Thornton designed Ada too well, with the directive that the agency should turn a profit. For Ada, taking this instruction to it's 'logical' conclusion, decides that 'killer-for-hire' would be more lucrative than investigating. This new business initiative seems to be successful.
Clearly the author is a fan of Raymond Chandler & the Hard-Boiled genre of crime fiction. Whilst this story is a nod in that direction & entertaining in it's own right, it is this reviewers opinion that one must not focus too much on this influence, but rather just enjoy it as a completely separate entity. Adam Christopher would otherwise not compare favorably with his muse. While there are glimpses of the masters craft here, they are muted. It lacks the wry, dry humour, wit & charm of Chandler.
I wouldn't want to put anyone off reading this book or any of Christopher's other books. This is, after all, my first reading of Adam Christopher's work. I'm certainly sufficiently interested to want to read more.
I've given this book 3 stars. Possibly it deserves 3 1/2, but no more.
Ray's creator instilled many of his own personality traits in Ray's OS, but at the end of 24 hours, Ada, his computer overseer, wipes his memories & 'he' starts each day with a 'clean slate', retaining only the information required to function. Thornton, Ray & Ada's creator, set them up as a Private Detective agency, with Ray as the investigator & muscle & Ada, a computer, as the brains. Trouble is, Thornton designed Ada too well, with the directive that the agency should turn a profit. For Ada, taking this instruction to it's 'logical' conclusion, decides that 'killer-for-hire' would be more lucrative than investigating. This new business initiative seems to be successful.
Clearly the author is a fan of Raymond Chandler & the Hard-Boiled genre of crime fiction. Whilst this story is a nod in that direction & entertaining in it's own right, it is this reviewers opinion that one must not focus too much on this influence, but rather just enjoy it as a completely separate entity. Adam Christopher would otherwise not compare favorably with his muse. While there are glimpses of the masters craft here, they are muted. It lacks the wry, dry humour, wit & charm of Chandler.
I wouldn't want to put anyone off reading this book or any of Christopher's other books. This is, after all, my first reading of Adam Christopher's work. I'm certainly sufficiently interested to want to read more.
I've given this book 3 stars. Possibly it deserves 3 1/2, but no more.
June 24, 2018
Entertaining if occasionally confusing science-fiction take-off on Raymond Chandler's "Philip Marlowe" stories.
While I enjoyed this novel one device I found frustrating is that of the robot detective only having a memory bank (or tape in this case) of 6-8 hours. He requires the assistance of the larger computer he works with or for - "Ada"- to maintain and retrieve his memories.
But that's a minor quibble.
I also had trouble following the rather convoluted plot involving Russian agents attempting to inflitrate America via a motion picture world premiere being simultaneously broadcast from Grauman's Chinese Theater to dozens of movie theaters across the country.
Trust me - it's complicated.
What I most enjoyed about this book was the main character, Ray Electromatic - private investigator with his "Philip Marlowe" delivery.
While I enjoyed this novel one device I found frustrating is that of the robot detective only having a memory bank (or tape in this case) of 6-8 hours. He requires the assistance of the larger computer he works with or for - "Ada"- to maintain and retrieve his memories.
But that's a minor quibble.
I also had trouble following the rather convoluted plot involving Russian agents attempting to inflitrate America via a motion picture world premiere being simultaneously broadcast from Grauman's Chinese Theater to dozens of movie theaters across the country.
Trust me - it's complicated.
What I most enjoyed about this book was the main character, Ray Electromatic - private investigator with his "Philip Marlowe" delivery.
October 22, 2018
3.5 stars
I read this to fill the Modern Noir square of my 2018 Halloween Bingo card.
I became kinda fond of Raymond Electromatic by the end of this novel. He’s a robot with a heart for gold and limited short term memory. The author made it clear that he was a great admirer of Raymond Chandler and the noir detective genre, but that he was trying to write “Raymond Chandler’s lost science fiction novel.” Unfortunately for Mr. Christopher, it is extremely difficult to write as beautifully as Raymond Chandler. However, I can tell that he had a good time trying.
Things get a bit complex and confusing about 2/3 of the way through, but everything sorts itself out in the end. There are more books in the series if you’re a fan, but I think I know Mr. Electromatic well enough at this juncture. A fun Halloween read.
I read this to fill the Modern Noir square of my 2018 Halloween Bingo card.
I became kinda fond of Raymond Electromatic by the end of this novel. He’s a robot with a heart for gold and limited short term memory. The author made it clear that he was a great admirer of Raymond Chandler and the noir detective genre, but that he was trying to write “Raymond Chandler’s lost science fiction novel.” Unfortunately for Mr. Christopher, it is extremely difficult to write as beautifully as Raymond Chandler. However, I can tell that he had a good time trying.
Things get a bit complex and confusing about 2/3 of the way through, but everything sorts itself out in the end. There are more books in the series if you’re a fan, but I think I know Mr. Electromatic well enough at this juncture. A fun Halloween read.
March 18, 2016
Loved this. It's not Chandler but Adam Christopher is a damn good writer. He builds suspense wonderfully, and there's an abiding sense of paranoia throughout that wouldn't be out of place in a Philip K. Dick novel. Plus, the main character is great. Raymond Electromatic would be a classic noir protagonist, if not for how creepy the whole robot thing can be at times. Which was a lot more enjoyable than I expected it to be! Really interesting twist on the genre. Looking forward to the next one.
January 11, 2021
I have say that I did rather enjoy this book - so much so that I have gone looking for others in the series.
The whole premise came about from an idea off the back of the Raymond Chandler quote dismissing all of science fiction on one go. The concept of this book was - what if Raymond Chandler in fact wrote a secret science fiction series - and so was born Ray Electromatic!
So if you can imagine a story about the only working robot PI in some alternate 60s LA and the situations he (it?) finds itself embroiled it then you are not that far off what to expect when reading this book.
The story is entertaining and well paced - the ideas creative and the dialogue suitably pitched without descending in to cliche or parody. However if you are expecting a true homage to Raymond Chandler I will admit it has neither the feel or the character. However I will be the first one to admit that I do not think that was the aim of the exercise here.
So if you are looking for something a little different this book should certainly be considered. The question is will this be kept up through the other volumes in the series.
The whole premise came about from an idea off the back of the Raymond Chandler quote dismissing all of science fiction on one go. The concept of this book was - what if Raymond Chandler in fact wrote a secret science fiction series - and so was born Ray Electromatic!
So if you can imagine a story about the only working robot PI in some alternate 60s LA and the situations he (it?) finds itself embroiled it then you are not that far off what to expect when reading this book.
The story is entertaining and well paced - the ideas creative and the dialogue suitably pitched without descending in to cliche or parody. However if you are expecting a true homage to Raymond Chandler I will admit it has neither the feel or the character. However I will be the first one to admit that I do not think that was the aim of the exercise here.
So if you are looking for something a little different this book should certainly be considered. The question is will this be kept up through the other volumes in the series.
March 1, 2018
Okay, so I wanted to like this, I thought the concept was right up my alley, but to be honest, it was just meh. It felt like and read like your standard old-school detective book. A woman walks into Raymond Electromatic's detective office and hires him to find a missing Hollywood actor. And what Ray stumbles up upon is something he and his partner Ada weren't expecting. Radiation, Russians, body swapping? It has some crazy additions that I wasn't ready for, but the execution of the whole things is where it fell flat for me.
December 21, 2015
Mon avis en Français
My English review
I’m not a big fan of robots and usually it’s true that I avoid most of the books incorporating them. But this time, I admit that I was intrigued by the synopsis. It must be said that this is not necessarily something hard science fiction, but rather a story that could just as well have staged a very different character. Moreover, the fact that it is a robot brings a big twist here. Yes, it is a strong point of the story with a different atmosphere, Hollywood stars, a survey, a hitman, many elements that intrigue us and keep us in suspense throughout the story .
Ray is the last remaining robot on the planet, one that was designed to be as close to humans but he is also controlled by a super computer that handles the program and recover his memory every night. This is also that super computer that has decided that their private detective company would be more successful if they turned into a hit man business. Besides for that, she altered the general behavior of the robot so he does not develop a conscience. But then, a strange new case comes their way, a young woman looking like Cleopatra hires him to track down and eliminate a movie star. At stake: Many gold bars … strange thing. But money entices particular, especially for such a sum and this is how Ray will end up plunging into a more complex story. Yes, it is a novel combining movie stars, CIA, double agents, Russian agents, nuclear, and a much more intense plot than we would have suspected.
It was a very interesting novel, based on the investigation, although we have a little light science fiction aspect to the rear of the story, I think it is fairly well handled. I must say that I did not expect at all to such a disclosure at the end of history. It was interesting to have different aspects that are not usually found in books, and it is true that we are curious to understand what exactly is going on between all the events.
I found that the author had some really original ideas with this story and, we find ourselves embedded in a global amplitude history. I’m still trying to decide on the supercomputer and her impact on Ray, especially when we know that she gives him his memories every day and can alter everything she wants to.
In short you will understand, I had a good time with the story and I’m curious to find out what the author will present now.
My English review
I’m not a big fan of robots and usually it’s true that I avoid most of the books incorporating them. But this time, I admit that I was intrigued by the synopsis. It must be said that this is not necessarily something hard science fiction, but rather a story that could just as well have staged a very different character. Moreover, the fact that it is a robot brings a big twist here. Yes, it is a strong point of the story with a different atmosphere, Hollywood stars, a survey, a hitman, many elements that intrigue us and keep us in suspense throughout the story .
Ray is the last remaining robot on the planet, one that was designed to be as close to humans but he is also controlled by a super computer that handles the program and recover his memory every night. This is also that super computer that has decided that their private detective company would be more successful if they turned into a hit man business. Besides for that, she altered the general behavior of the robot so he does not develop a conscience. But then, a strange new case comes their way, a young woman looking like Cleopatra hires him to track down and eliminate a movie star. At stake: Many gold bars … strange thing. But money entices particular, especially for such a sum and this is how Ray will end up plunging into a more complex story. Yes, it is a novel combining movie stars, CIA, double agents, Russian agents, nuclear, and a much more intense plot than we would have suspected.
It was a very interesting novel, based on the investigation, although we have a little light science fiction aspect to the rear of the story, I think it is fairly well handled. I must say that I did not expect at all to such a disclosure at the end of history. It was interesting to have different aspects that are not usually found in books, and it is true that we are curious to understand what exactly is going on between all the events.
I found that the author had some really original ideas with this story and, we find ourselves embedded in a global amplitude history. I’m still trying to decide on the supercomputer and her impact on Ray, especially when we know that she gives him his memories every day and can alter everything she wants to.
In short you will understand, I had a good time with the story and I’m curious to find out what the author will present now.
November 7, 2015
"I like a dead guy with ambition."
On the other hand I don't like a dead book with ambition.
The plot is ridiculous, not even trying to make it believable, at some point I thought it was a parody.
What you get from this book is the overused cold war pill and crime theme "all inclusive" (street smart language, inside jokes, slow and boring urban scenes, trail sniffing, you name it), this is the decent part of it.
There is no mystery, not once I felt the need to discover who is behind some crime, there was no anticipation or suspense. Characters were like ghosts, all had the same white bed sheets over their heads (only one had an extravagant coat).
Regarding the sci-fi aspect, you could switch in your head the robot character with a man with an elephant trunk instead of his nose and the story would make as much sense as now.
Dead books should be buried deep.
On the other hand I don't like a dead book with ambition.
The plot is ridiculous, not even trying to make it believable, at some point I thought it was a parody.
What you get from this book is the overused cold war pill and crime theme "all inclusive" (street smart language, inside jokes, slow and boring urban scenes, trail sniffing, you name it), this is the decent part of it.
There is no mystery, not once I felt the need to discover who is behind some crime, there was no anticipation or suspense. Characters were like ghosts, all had the same white bed sheets over their heads (only one had an extravagant coat).
Regarding the sci-fi aspect, you could switch in your head the robot character with a man with an elephant trunk instead of his nose and the story would make as much sense as now.
Dead books should be buried deep.
April 12, 2018
Oh Christ, it's another high school English project that somehow found its way to a publisher and then, just as inexplicably, to a printer. A mystery novel with vague and superficial trappings of SF, Made to Kill is the story of Raymond Electromatic, the last robot alive, who was once a detective but now operates as an assassin. One day a femme fatale hires him to find a missing actor. That's about all I can tell you about the plot because it is so dull that I can barely remember it already. Ray is the least interesting or likeable protagonist I have ever read. The only concessions to any kind of personality are 1) colorful, strained metaphors, and 2) regular references to body parts he doesn't have (e.g. "I'd have raised an eyebrow, if I had any.") There seems to be no reason, for as far as I read (about 100 pages or a little less than half the book), for him to even be a robot. It's just a gratuitous twist, because that's what writing fiction is largely about these days. Sincere storytelling is out; post-modern, self-conscious pastiches of other people's work are in. "I shall write a noir mystery," Adam probably said, "but wait, wait, get this, the main character is a robot. Because!" (There is even a character named Spillane.)
This novel twist doesn't even make sense in the story. Ray is a robot, but not one of those modern, sleek robots that's indistinguishable from humans. He's a prototype, clunky, 2-ton robot that never seems to leave any evidence behind. No footprints, or marks on the people he strangles. Nothing. Like so many new authors today, Christopher didn't take five seconds to think his premise through.
Finally, here is an example of the kind of writing in the book:
I walked across the computer room and reached for the door to the office and opened it and stepped through and then closed the door after me.
*dies*
This novel twist doesn't even make sense in the story. Ray is a robot, but not one of those modern, sleek robots that's indistinguishable from humans. He's a prototype, clunky, 2-ton robot that never seems to leave any evidence behind. No footprints, or marks on the people he strangles. Nothing. Like so many new authors today, Christopher didn't take five seconds to think his premise through.
Finally, here is an example of the kind of writing in the book:
I walked across the computer room and reached for the door to the office and opened it and stepped through and then closed the door after me.
*dies*
April 21, 2023
Ray Electromatic is a private detective; he is also the last remaining robot in this alternate history 1965. President John Kennedy is still alive and Russia still plans for world domination. The detective agency's secretary and procurer of jobs is Ada, an AI computer. Although the agency began solely as a detective agency, Ada discovered that the firm would be more profitable if Ray was hired as an hit man. Shortly after the film actress Eva McLuckie enters the office door, Ray discovers that this is exactly the service that the seductively-beautiful Hollywood starlet is looking for. She wants him to find and kill the missing actor Charles David. As he begins his investigation, he encounters a number of film industy actors and film moguls at a local night club with one unusual characteristic in common; all are emit low levels of radiation as detected by Ray's internal Geiger counter.
This novel is as if the noir master and author Raymond Chandler wrote a novel in the style of one of the authors from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Adam Christopher blended well the characteristics of both genres. The post-WWII characters and setting were well developed. Although it started out slow, the plot moves quickly by mid-novel. If you are a fan of noir fiction or the Golden Age of Science Fiction, you will enjoy this novel.
This novel is as if the noir master and author Raymond Chandler wrote a novel in the style of one of the authors from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Adam Christopher blended well the characteristics of both genres. The post-WWII characters and setting were well developed. Although it started out slow, the plot moves quickly by mid-novel. If you are a fan of noir fiction or the Golden Age of Science Fiction, you will enjoy this novel.
October 20, 2015
I liked this book. The concept of it and Raymond. Raymond may have some human like aspects about him but it is his quirky robotic mannerisms that really make him fun, personable, unique, and Raymond. Oh and I can't forget Ada. She is the perfect girl Friday. Together they make a good working match. So why do you say then did I only give this book four stars? Well it is because of the rest of the story itself. If this book had just been about Raymond then my rating might have been different but the story itself while it had the glitch and glam of old Hollywood was "safe". There was not a lot of action and what little I did experience did not jump off the pages in my face. Plus, the characters were a tad boring. So I can remember the beginning some of the middle and then the ending. Yet, I did enjoy reading this book enough to check out the next one.
January 20, 2017
Made to Kill is a pulpy detective novel with magnetic-tape-memory, communist spies, radiation, and Hollywood. There are moments where you wish it would let you out from under all of the similes to breathe and other moments where it's amazing for sticking to it. If the idea of human-template computers constantly simulating frowns and making the sounds of taking a drag on a cigarette bother you, this book won't be for you. Personally, I liked that even in a robot body, Raymond and Ada can't stop being human.
July 7, 2015
Everything I wanted (and didn't get) from The Automatic Detective is here in spades (Sam Spades?). It's lovely when a book totally lives up to its concept and cover.
April 7, 2018
The beginning was rather cool and intriguing, the narration so well done that I could easily imagine myself enjoying the story. However, the plot development was a complete let down. If I see the bad Russian as a plot device again one more time... Boy, insta quit. The plot 'twist' I had hoped for - something to do with the robots limited memory capability - sadly didn't come. As a whole, really disappointing.
The audio book was great, though. If you want to enjoy being annoyed, that's the way to go.
The audio book was great, though. If you want to enjoy being annoyed, that's the way to go.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 358 reviews