Limit, Part 1

Limit #1

by Frank Schätzing

Helium-3 is a rare element that promises to solve all the world's energy problems - and it's been discovered on the Moon, prompting a breathless race between the Americans and Chinese. In Shanghai, cyber-detective Owen Jericho has been hired to find a missing girl, but what started as a routine investigation soon develops into a nightmarish hunt, where he's the quarry: there's a crazed assassin hot on his heels, all because Yoyo accidentally stumbled onto a secret society called Hydra - and now their lives are at risk. Following the Hydra trail takes Jericho and Yoyo round the world and finally to the Moon, where a billionaire entrepreneur is entertaining some of the world's richest and most influential men and women in the Gaia, the planet's very first hotel. But Hydra has its own plans for the Earth - and the Moon. And nothing and no one will be allowed to stand in its way.

705 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Schätzing was born in Cologne and studied communication studies; he later ran his own company, an advertising agency named INTEVI, in Cologne. Schätzing became a writer in 1990, and penned several novellas and satires. His first published novel was the historical Tod und Teufel in 1995, and in 2000 his thriller Lautlos.

Schätzing achieved his greatest success in 2004 with the science fiction thriller The Swarm.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 really. Loaded with info-dumps and several cases of treating the reader as if they [are stupid] need everything explained. Shadows of an intriguing plot (eventually). And this is only part 1!

It's needlessly long (whether some of it down to translation, I have no idea).

That said, I will give part 2 a go. At some point.

[Mårten Ericson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extreme disappointment. One would suspect that this book spends its time on the Moon - because the copywriting says so. But no, the main plot takes place in cyber world China. The 705 pages are easy to read, much ado about nothing, and quite uneventful as far as Sci Fi goes.