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Relativity
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye with Relativity from Henry Abner and JanosCorp Publishing In a world where the super rich take vacations to the future, tough-as-nails homicide detective Stockton Ames wins the trip of a lifetime and meets the girl of his dreams. But paradise soon turns ugly, in this gutsy, gritty "spacenoir" thriller, where nothing is as it seems and everyone has a secret. Humor, action, and adventure are at every turn as our hero uncovers greedy corporations, government plots, and undiscovered scientific phenomena, before ultimately coming to understand the true meaning of... Relativity. Starring Stockton Ames as the world weary detective, hell-bent on surviving the scrape with his hide intact, his belly full of cheap whiskey, and maybe a dame or two for his arm along the way. Audrine Demarco as the damsel in distress with a secret from her past and a shake in her step. Does she need a helping hand, or a patsy to take the fall? This is one broad that is much more capable than she seems! A cast of colorful characters geek-faced goons with big, big guns and the guts to use them; scantily-clad space vixens with legs that go all the way up (and back down again); drooling mutant monsters with a burning hunger for human flesh; and much, much more! Featuring ...More twists and turns than you can shoot a ray-gun at! This plot is barnburner, so try to keep up, won’tcha? ...A dazzling ride through the world of tomorrow. Take a whirlwind tour of back alley crime scenes, plush orbital resorts, icy abandoned space stations, rusty rocket junkyards, and more! ...14 full page, in-world advertisement illustrations, immersing you headfirst into the world of The Goddamned Lonely Universe (full color in the Kindle Edition). ...A handful of words that would make your mother blush, so let’s keep this one out of the kiddies' hands, huh? A Tale Nearly Lost The original manuscript for Relativity was written by pulp legend and small town police chief Henry Abner shortly before his death in 1935. However, the book remained a secret for almost 80 years, until it was discovered quite by accident in the summer of 2014 hidden inside sealed evidence files at the police station where he worked. The Janos Corporation is proud to present this newly revised and edited text, with the support of the Henry Abner estate, to the public for the very first time.
398 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 8, 2016
18 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 11, 2016
From the cover, the blurb, and the history behind the book I was expecting a bladerunner-esque hard-boiled private dick in space kind of experience, and for the first half of the book, that's what I got.
Our hero, Detective Stockton Ames, is your classic burnt-out flatfoot - world weary, jaded, half-motivated and over caffeinated - humping along daily, enduring unsolved homicides, dead partners, and a decided lack of respect from his coworkers and superiors.
That is, until he wins the prize of a lifetime - an all expenses paid trip to the super-richo Seren Luna resort - clean on the other side of the galaxy. Far enough away that by the time he gets back, time will have erased all of his troubles.
Of course it can't be that simple - there's a plot afoot on Seren Luna - and it's up to Stockton Ames and his beautiful new partner Audrine DeMarco to get to the bottom of it!
From there, you'd expect a crime story set in space - especially from Henry Abner, who was well known for his crime novels - but what you end up with is, as Ames would put it, a whole other kettle of fish.
This book's got a six speed transmission, and it shifts gears so often you'd think the flatfoots were hot on it's tail - from crime thriller, to light horror, UP into third gear, something vaguely Arthur C Clarke, strange aliens and advanced technology, then slapshifting into a short post-apocalyptic sequence - think The Road Warrior on a space station - then kicks it wide open with a time-bending, semi-whovian finale.
I honestly don't know how much of this is original manuscript, and how much "The Janos Corporation" had to fill in the blanks, but either Henry Abner had super-hidden depths, or the hired author who filled this in REALLY needs to make himself known so I can buy all his other books.
It's obviously been updated, because there are references here that just wouldn't have been availble to Abner in 1935 - the fast-food resturant of choice is called "McTasty's", and McDonald's wasn't founded until 1955. Certain words like "Digital" didn't come to mean what they mean now until after Abner's death, and are used in the book often.
What I'd imagine happened was a barebones outline was found, maybe the first chapter and copious notes for the first half of the book - beyond that, it was open season, and whoever filled in those blanks is a helluva science fiction writer.
The first half of the book, honestly, drags a bit - but I encourage you to power through it, because the second half is worth every minute, just for the twists and turns alone.
Our hero, Detective Stockton Ames, is your classic burnt-out flatfoot - world weary, jaded, half-motivated and over caffeinated - humping along daily, enduring unsolved homicides, dead partners, and a decided lack of respect from his coworkers and superiors.
That is, until he wins the prize of a lifetime - an all expenses paid trip to the super-richo Seren Luna resort - clean on the other side of the galaxy. Far enough away that by the time he gets back, time will have erased all of his troubles.
Of course it can't be that simple - there's a plot afoot on Seren Luna - and it's up to Stockton Ames and his beautiful new partner Audrine DeMarco to get to the bottom of it!
From there, you'd expect a crime story set in space - especially from Henry Abner, who was well known for his crime novels - but what you end up with is, as Ames would put it, a whole other kettle of fish.
This book's got a six speed transmission, and it shifts gears so often you'd think the flatfoots were hot on it's tail - from crime thriller, to light horror, UP into third gear, something vaguely Arthur C Clarke, strange aliens and advanced technology, then slapshifting into a short post-apocalyptic sequence - think The Road Warrior on a space station - then kicks it wide open with a time-bending, semi-whovian finale.
I honestly don't know how much of this is original manuscript, and how much "The Janos Corporation" had to fill in the blanks, but either Henry Abner had super-hidden depths, or the hired author who filled this in REALLY needs to make himself known so I can buy all his other books.
It's obviously been updated, because there are references here that just wouldn't have been availble to Abner in 1935 - the fast-food resturant of choice is called "McTasty's", and McDonald's wasn't founded until 1955. Certain words like "Digital" didn't come to mean what they mean now until after Abner's death, and are used in the book often.
What I'd imagine happened was a barebones outline was found, maybe the first chapter and copious notes for the first half of the book - beyond that, it was open season, and whoever filled in those blanks is a helluva science fiction writer.
The first half of the book, honestly, drags a bit - but I encourage you to power through it, because the second half is worth every minute, just for the twists and turns alone.
August 10, 2016
I heard this book described as "Cooler than Casablanca, more fun than the Fifth Element" and that description fits it to a tee!
A fantastic read for fans of pulpy, fast-paced sci-fi adventures and hard-boiled detective stories. "Spacenoir" is a very accurate genre description for this book, and Henry Abner delivers page-turning thrills at every bend. There's a little something for everyone here, with action, intrigue, humor, romance, and even a little suspense and horror elements mixed in.
Highly recommended for fans of Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clarke, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett
A fantastic read for fans of pulpy, fast-paced sci-fi adventures and hard-boiled detective stories. "Spacenoir" is a very accurate genre description for this book, and Henry Abner delivers page-turning thrills at every bend. There's a little something for everyone here, with action, intrigue, humor, romance, and even a little suspense and horror elements mixed in.
Highly recommended for fans of Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C Clarke, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett
August 14, 2017
Lifeless, poorly written pastiche of Raymond Chandler that tries to shoehorn in every cliche. The author seems to be some college kid adopting a persona, and it shows. The writing is disjointed and amateurish, the plot is stodgy and frequently doesn't make sense.
January 13, 2021
No resolution
The tricky bit with any good story is wrapping it all together, the magic weaving of all the threads and hints into a somewhat satisfying resolution. This book dropped that part completely. It just... ends.
The tricky bit with any good story is wrapping it all together, the magic weaving of all the threads and hints into a somewhat satisfying resolution. This book dropped that part completely. It just... ends.
January 7, 2017
One of the best books I've read in a long time. Nice to have something fresh and gritty.
April 15, 2017
Mixed bag of good, tiring, surprising, and old.
Long read with a confusing semi-ending, but interesting series of perils and surprises. The constant stream of pulp-type language got old at times.
Long read with a confusing semi-ending, but interesting series of perils and surprises. The constant stream of pulp-type language got old at times.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews