Slightly Ruby

Worlds of the Union #0.5

by Patrick Swenson

A man is found murdered and brutally impaled near the Seattle waterfront, and during the investigation, private detectives Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos come face to face with an alien drug known as RuBy. It’s a dangerous prototype that’s bound to cause problems for the eight worlds of the Union. The murder case itself would be easy enough to solve—that is, if the suspects weren’t already dead, and the Seattle Authority cop sharing the case wasn’t Crowell’s disgruntled ex-partner.

A prequel to The Ultra Thin Man, this novelette features Crowell and Brindos before their Network Intelligence Organization contract, scraping out a living in a city—and on a world—the Union is quickly forgetting.

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 9, 2016

About the author

Patrick is a writer, publisher, editor, and teacher. His first novel is entitled The Ultra Thin Man, forthcoming from Tor in 2014. He has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others.

Reviews

[Doris Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A suspenseful futuristic short story with an intriguing cast of characters.
Swenson has written a page-turner that keeps the reader hooked throughout the story.
With mystery, a bit of political corruption, the investigation of criminal behavior, and drug abuse, Swenson hits the mark with this sci-fi original.

[Joel Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic, detective noir. Very short, but worthy introduction to characters and world of The Ultra Thin Man.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I'm looking forward to reading the Ultra Big Sleep.