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The Kessler Effect
Sheriff Gus has a problem. Maximillian Sagan—robot owner and space entrepreneur—just informed the good officer a murderer is among the guests of his latest garden party. This poses a small problem—as far as Gus can tell, no one’s actually been murdered.
Fortified with a stiff drink, a lesson on space economics, and the world’s most boring treatise on Greek philosophy, Gus sets out to uncover the killer. Or at least find a body. The situation becomes more urgent when Sagan perishes in an apparent collision with a chunk of falling space debris.
Was Maximillian Sagan just incredibly unlucky, or was he murdered? If he wasn’t, who was—or will be—the victim? Gus has plenty of suspects among the Sagan household: an aging actor, a reality TV star, a psychic, Maximillian’s third wife, and a wannabe vampire. Gus isn’t sure which of them is the villain or which he’d like to see wind up dead.
Identity theft, a sabotaged rocket launch, singularly unhelpful FBI agents, and a crash course in philosophy might lead Gus to a killer. Or drive him to another stiff drink.
For a jaded, mostly honest sheriff, either option sounds good.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 18, 2016
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3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 8, 2016
The Kessler Effect: A Sheriff Gus Mystery, by John DeSain, is a strange and wonderful take on the standard mystery novel. Sheriff Gus is the fat, pessimistic, unlikely but ultimately likeable hero. He’s brought in by Maximillian Sagan, super-wealthy entrepreneur, to solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. However Sagan maintains that the killer is one of the people currently on his sprawling estate and that Sheriff Gus needs to find the culprit. All of the people on the estate seem both unhappy and underhanded. That leaves the good Sheriff with a daunting task.
Shortly afterwards, Maximillian Sagan is killed by a stray bit of space debris falling on him. It’s the first of a string of disasters involving the quirky group living at the manor. At one point, Gus complains to himself: “The answer had to be here, because they were running out of people to kill, almost kill, commit suicide, die accidentally, or send back and hope the warrantee was still good.”
What sets this book apart is the author’s clear delight in wordplay. When Gus happens upon an attempted rape, he tells another, “I found Timothy Ferris trying to audition one of Maximillian’s models for a role on his small part.” And later, “I helped a lady avoid a panty raid inside the pantry.”
There’s also a nice dig at philosophical arguments like Social Darwinism, which claimed that people who had a lot of money were innately superior to others. Sagan gives Gus a copy of a book about an ancient Greek philosopher named Acephalous, who extols the accumulation of wealth through a weirdly twisted argument that ends: “It is the noble act of the wealthy to remain wealthy at all costs no matter what so as to not rob the poor of your guiding presence. Without you they might not be willing to work hard in vain at all. Think how society would suffer then. Your obscene wealth is a small cost for you to bear for the good of society.”
The cast of characters includes the young vampire, the butler named Jeeves, the conniving mother, the fake lover, the Mexican warlord, the vampy daughters and various greedy hangers-on. Yet there’s nothing derivative about this book. It’s a lark. Maybe a kind of dark lark at times, but always a treat to read.
Highly recommended.
Shortly afterwards, Maximillian Sagan is killed by a stray bit of space debris falling on him. It’s the first of a string of disasters involving the quirky group living at the manor. At one point, Gus complains to himself: “The answer had to be here, because they were running out of people to kill, almost kill, commit suicide, die accidentally, or send back and hope the warrantee was still good.”
What sets this book apart is the author’s clear delight in wordplay. When Gus happens upon an attempted rape, he tells another, “I found Timothy Ferris trying to audition one of Maximillian’s models for a role on his small part.” And later, “I helped a lady avoid a panty raid inside the pantry.”
There’s also a nice dig at philosophical arguments like Social Darwinism, which claimed that people who had a lot of money were innately superior to others. Sagan gives Gus a copy of a book about an ancient Greek philosopher named Acephalous, who extols the accumulation of wealth through a weirdly twisted argument that ends: “It is the noble act of the wealthy to remain wealthy at all costs no matter what so as to not rob the poor of your guiding presence. Without you they might not be willing to work hard in vain at all. Think how society would suffer then. Your obscene wealth is a small cost for you to bear for the good of society.”
The cast of characters includes the young vampire, the butler named Jeeves, the conniving mother, the fake lover, the Mexican warlord, the vampy daughters and various greedy hangers-on. Yet there’s nothing derivative about this book. It’s a lark. Maybe a kind of dark lark at times, but always a treat to read.
Highly recommended.
July 23, 2016
Science, philosophy, humour, mystery and the lives of the rich and famous are all masterfully intertwined in the novel “The Kessler Effect”. Sheriff Gus, an ordinary, middle-aged law enforcement agent with a slightly protruding belly, is summoned by a mighty billionaire and asked to solve a murder. His quest for the truth brings him into contact with the billionaire’s strange and dysfunctional family. The interesting, well-developed characters are often used to comment on today’s reality. The story progresses smoothly as the reader keeps trying to solve the case and when the answer appears within reach, the author brings in a twist and changes the outcome. I enjoyed Sheriff Gus’s sense of humour and the unpredictability of the plot.
September 20, 2016
Sherrif Gus is back! This time around things are about to get even kookier when space debris kills an old guy. Nothing is as it seems (of course) and Gus is going to have to do a lot of digging around to find the real culprits. The zany cast of characters we expect in a story like this is still around, and even zanier now. I find this to be an addictive series and look forward to reading further into it. John has created a real winner in the Gus character, balancing the ridiculousness of the situations with the gruff demeanor of our protagonist. Looking forward to continuing deeper into the series and down the rabbit hole!
October 13, 2016
This was a really interesting read! The plot had some definite twists and turns throughout, and the characters were realistic and believable! The story itself was engaging and entertaining. Overall, a really fun read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews