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John Simon #1
Simon Says
The smuggling ring is a big case…
…that got his partner killed.
How will Simon go on without her?
In 2029 Kansas City, Master Detective John Simon is a tough cop with a disdain for technology. His new movie quoting partner doesn’t make him happy. How can you trust a robot?
And what’s with the name…
…Lucas George?
Simon and Lucas don’t have time for squabbles. Something isn’t right about this case. There’s more to it than smuggling, but they don’t know what exactly.
They have one more problem.
Evidence is disappearing and people are getting killed.
Is there a conspiracy?
You’ll love this exciting mix of near future science fiction and police procedurals, because the snarky banter fits perfectly with the fantastic twists.
Get it now.
Bryan Thomas Schmidt is a national bestselling author, editor of Andy Weir’s The Martian, and a Hugo-nominee.
The gritty realism of Michael Connelly’s Bosch, the humor and action of Lethal Weapon, and the classic science fiction tradition of Isaac Asimov’s City of Steel. From the editor of the international bestselling phenomenon The Martian by Andy Weir, and the national bestselling author of tales including official entries in The X-Files, Predator, and the Joe Ledger thrillers, comes this action-packed first entry in an exciting new series.
…that got his partner killed.
How will Simon go on without her?
In 2029 Kansas City, Master Detective John Simon is a tough cop with a disdain for technology. His new movie quoting partner doesn’t make him happy. How can you trust a robot?
And what’s with the name…
…Lucas George?
Simon and Lucas don’t have time for squabbles. Something isn’t right about this case. There’s more to it than smuggling, but they don’t know what exactly.
They have one more problem.
Evidence is disappearing and people are getting killed.
Is there a conspiracy?
You’ll love this exciting mix of near future science fiction and police procedurals, because the snarky banter fits perfectly with the fantastic twists.
Get it now.
Bryan Thomas Schmidt is a national bestselling author, editor of Andy Weir’s The Martian, and a Hugo-nominee.
The gritty realism of Michael Connelly’s Bosch, the humor and action of Lethal Weapon, and the classic science fiction tradition of Isaac Asimov’s City of Steel. From the editor of the international bestselling phenomenon The Martian by Andy Weir, and the national bestselling author of tales including official entries in The X-Files, Predator, and the Joe Ledger thrillers, comes this action-packed first entry in an exciting new series.
470 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2019
27 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Thomas Schmidt
52 books172 followersBryan Thomas Schmidt is a national bestselling author and Hugo nominated editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His fourth novel, Simon Says is a page-turning near future thriller. His debut novel, The Worker Prince received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases for 2011. His children’s books, 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Books For Kids and Abraham Lincoln: Dinosaur Hunter- Land Of Legends appeared from Delabarre Publishing in 2012. His short stories have appeared in Tales of The Talisman, Straight Outta Tombstone, The X-Files: Secret Agendas, Predator: If It Bleeds, Decision Points and many more.
He edited the anthologies Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 for Flying Pen Press, Beyond The Sun for Fairwood Press, Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age for Every Day, Shattered Shields with coeditor Jennifer Brozek (Baen, 2014), Mission: Tomorrow (Baen, 2015), Galactic Games (Baen, 2016), Decision Points (WordFire, 2016), Little Green Men--Attack! with Robin Wayne Bailey (Baen, 2017), Monster Hunter Files with Larry Correia (Baen, 2017), Joe Ledger: Unstoppable with Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin, 2017), Predator: If It Bleeds and Infinite Stars And Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers both for Titan Books, 2017 and 2019.
As editor, he has edited books for Grail Quest Books, Wordfire Press, Delabarre Publishing and authors including Andy Weir's The Martian which hit number 6 on the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2014, Alan Dean Foster, Mike Resnick, Frank Herbert, Todd McCaffrey, Tracy Hickman, Angie Fox, Leon C. Metz , Ellen C. Maze, David Mark Brown, and more.
He’s also the author of the bestselling nonfiction book How To Write A Novel: The Fundamentals of Fiction.
Bryan can be found online at Facebook, on Twitter as @BryanThomasS and @sffwrtcht and via his website.
He edited the anthologies Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 for Flying Pen Press, Beyond The Sun for Fairwood Press, Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age for Every Day, Shattered Shields with coeditor Jennifer Brozek (Baen, 2014), Mission: Tomorrow (Baen, 2015), Galactic Games (Baen, 2016), Decision Points (WordFire, 2016), Little Green Men--Attack! with Robin Wayne Bailey (Baen, 2017), Monster Hunter Files with Larry Correia (Baen, 2017), Joe Ledger: Unstoppable with Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin, 2017), Predator: If It Bleeds and Infinite Stars And Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers both for Titan Books, 2017 and 2019.
As editor, he has edited books for Grail Quest Books, Wordfire Press, Delabarre Publishing and authors including Andy Weir's The Martian which hit number 6 on the New York Times Bestsellers list in 2014, Alan Dean Foster, Mike Resnick, Frank Herbert, Todd McCaffrey, Tracy Hickman, Angie Fox, Leon C. Metz , Ellen C. Maze, David Mark Brown, and more.
He’s also the author of the bestselling nonfiction book How To Write A Novel: The Fundamentals of Fiction.
Bryan can be found online at Facebook, on Twitter as @BryanThomasS and @sffwrtcht and via his website.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 10, 2019
This is a police procedural/scifi hybrid with a cop who ends up getting sort of an android partner, almost by accident. Certainly, John Simon was not looking for a witness to a crime to tag along and try and help. He did not know, at first, that the man was not human, and when he tries to get rid of the helpful android it makes itself indispensible. Still, Simon is not comfortable with his “sidekick.” And then the boss assigns them together.
Fans of Robocop or Asimov’s robots series might like this, as will those who simply like a good police drama. Schmidt did ride-alongs with the local police force, and it shows in the level of fascinating detail. It’s a great mystery that makes use of–but does not bore you with–scifi and police story tropes. A good, solid, story.
RECOMMENDED
Fans of Robocop or Asimov’s robots series might like this, as will those who simply like a good police drama. Schmidt did ride-alongs with the local police force, and it shows in the level of fascinating detail. It’s a great mystery that makes use of–but does not bore you with–scifi and police story tropes. A good, solid, story.
RECOMMENDED
October 10, 2019
A mix of nostalgia and futurism, with a gritty edge. Simon Says takes a modern police procedural approach to a classic buddy cop film — only one of the buddies is an android. Lucas, the android, isn’t content to be just evidence in the case. He insists on helping detective John Simon, and the result is a deadly mix of humor, intrigue, and action. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
October 10, 2019
Near-future science fiction mixed with a police procedural noir thriller. Plenty of action and suspense as John Simon deals with a custom-made android that has a thing for quoting famous movies. Enjoyed this and will be looking for more books in the series.
October 12, 2019
Simon Says is a fast-paced crime thriller with a great sense of humor woven throughout. Bryan Thomas Schmidt knows Kansas City inside and out, and it shows in the city descriptions, character backgrounds and especially in the high-speed carchase scenes.
But what really makes the book work is the character interactions, primarily between luddite lead cop John Simon and the android security guard, Lucas George, who may be the key to solving several crimes. Experience versus innocence, grumpy versus enthusiastic, their interactions show the promise of a great buddy-cop team in the making. The book is also packed with a diverse cast of fellow officers along with Simon's family and Lucas's creator who I look forward to seeing in subsequent books.
There's also a very engaging series of crimes to be unraveled. While the book is high on humor and near-future pip culture references, there are some dark moments as well. This is a crime novel with SFnal trappings, after all. The bad guys are bad guys, for sure.
But what really makes the book work is the character interactions, primarily between luddite lead cop John Simon and the android security guard, Lucas George, who may be the key to solving several crimes. Experience versus innocence, grumpy versus enthusiastic, their interactions show the promise of a great buddy-cop team in the making. The book is also packed with a diverse cast of fellow officers along with Simon's family and Lucas's creator who I look forward to seeing in subsequent books.
There's also a very engaging series of crimes to be unraveled. While the book is high on humor and near-future pip culture references, there are some dark moments as well. This is a crime novel with SFnal trappings, after all. The bad guys are bad guys, for sure.
October 15, 2019
Pack full of action with enough human to keep you interested from start to finish. In the vein of BOSCH with a heathy dose of science fiction. SIMON SAY is a non-stop page turner. I was not sure what to expect at first, but loved every minute and highly recommended this book.
June 16, 2020
A buddy cop story with a twist.
The year is 2029 and not much has changed in the future except for now there are androids that look and act like people. But not in a scary, take over the world way. Rather they blend in and have jobs like everyone else.
Enter John Simon. An experienced cop who follows a tip with his partner to bust a crime ring. That’s when things go south and the bullets start flying. In the middle of this, he meets a security guard named Lucas and his life will never be the same. He just doesn’t know it yet.
During the investigation, Simon suffers a terrible tragedy. He goes on a crusade to find the person responsible and Lucas comes along to assist in the investigation.
Lucas starts out as an innocent personality until Simon's daughter, Emma suggests that he watch cop shows and cop movies. From then on Lucas becomes a one-line machine with a string of movie and TV references. It's an entertaining and humorous break from the seriousness of the murder and corruption case they are following.
The story itself is straight-up cop story. Bad guy does bad stuff, cops have to track him down.
The interactions and budding friendship between Simon and Lucas is what makes this story special.
I liked Lucas and his movie quoting antics. He reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation only less innocent.
Warning, adult language. There was barely a chapter where someone wasn’t launching an f-bomb. Usually, it was Simon.
Throughout the story, the author kept eluding to a deeper, larger story but never paid off. Maybe it was a setup for the next book.
I look forward to reading the next book, 'The Sideman', once I get my 'to be read' list under control.
If you like buddy cop movies or futuristic movies like ‘I robot’ you’ll like Simon says.
The year is 2029 and not much has changed in the future except for now there are androids that look and act like people. But not in a scary, take over the world way. Rather they blend in and have jobs like everyone else.
Enter John Simon. An experienced cop who follows a tip with his partner to bust a crime ring. That’s when things go south and the bullets start flying. In the middle of this, he meets a security guard named Lucas and his life will never be the same. He just doesn’t know it yet.
During the investigation, Simon suffers a terrible tragedy. He goes on a crusade to find the person responsible and Lucas comes along to assist in the investigation.
Lucas starts out as an innocent personality until Simon's daughter, Emma suggests that he watch cop shows and cop movies. From then on Lucas becomes a one-line machine with a string of movie and TV references. It's an entertaining and humorous break from the seriousness of the murder and corruption case they are following.
The story itself is straight-up cop story. Bad guy does bad stuff, cops have to track him down.
The interactions and budding friendship between Simon and Lucas is what makes this story special.
I liked Lucas and his movie quoting antics. He reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation only less innocent.
Warning, adult language. There was barely a chapter where someone wasn’t launching an f-bomb. Usually, it was Simon.
Throughout the story, the author kept eluding to a deeper, larger story but never paid off. Maybe it was a setup for the next book.
I look forward to reading the next book, 'The Sideman', once I get my 'to be read' list under control.
If you like buddy cop movies or futuristic movies like ‘I robot’ you’ll like Simon says.
February 15, 2025
3.5/5 STARS! This is so good! Very entertaining plot, funny characters, & super fast paced & action packed. I loved the characterization of Lucas, & never thought I'd love a robot, but alas, here we are. This is a unique cop story & I highly recommend the audiobook. Can't wait to read book 2.
Want to Read
March 30, 2024Discussed by Mark 3/30/24.
January 20, 2020
A decent sci fi action thriller that was entertaining. You can tell that the author paid close attention to try and get the feel for law enforcement. While he does a decent job at this, better than most, there are definitely some things that seem off, but none of this takes away from the story. Overall a good intro book to this series and I hope the next book can be even better.
November 26, 2019
There's something fun about reading stories set in places that you know and have seen, so Bryan Thomas Schmidt's first "John Simon thriller," Simon Says, has some neat features for folks who know Kansas City and the surrounding area. Schmidt references known streets, locales and landmarks in his story of a police detective operating in KC as the 21st century's third decade bleeds into its fourth. Electric cars, some autonomously driven, and other day-after-tomorrow tech clues the reader that we are not dealing with today's world but doesn't make things so weird that we can't relate.
Simon and his partner stake out a warehouse based on a tip from a snitch -- and find themselves in a gunfight over containers of stolen tech and art. Both belong to a wealthy and well-connected gallery owner and the pressure to make the case perfect comes quickly and heavily. But before the pair can even start the investigation, Simon's partner is kidnapped and witnesses go missing as well. Because of his personal involvement, Simon is frozen out of the investigation and finds himself with only an artificial android, Julian, as help in digging where he's not supposed to.
Schmidt has edited a number of books and anthologies and his first novel, The Worker Prince, earned an honorable mention in Barnes & Noble's science fiction awards for 2011. As you'd expect from an editor, he has a good command of pacing and keeping his narrative on track. He doesn't commit too much exposition although sometimes he could have done with some more showing than telling. And he lets the sense of place he builds with the Kansas City streets, suburbs and neighborhoods give his story flavor without overwhelming it.
But the story itself and its characters are very much paint-by-numbers echoes of other work. Even the artificial person is just another interchangeable "fish out of water" partner to the gruff Simon. To some degree every crime procedural uses lots of the same elements: Harassed superiors, stifling bureaucracies, corrupt and powerful people ruthlessly covering their tracks, strained family relationships, heroes whose connection to past days and simpler ways mystifies and embarrasses their "modern world" co-workers. You could also say, though, that every painter uses the same three primary and three secondary colors and blends they create; but some produce masterpieces and others produce advertising. Both Schmidt and the Simon series could grow into something, but the former will have to work more into his potential in order for the latter to do so.
Original available here.
Simon and his partner stake out a warehouse based on a tip from a snitch -- and find themselves in a gunfight over containers of stolen tech and art. Both belong to a wealthy and well-connected gallery owner and the pressure to make the case perfect comes quickly and heavily. But before the pair can even start the investigation, Simon's partner is kidnapped and witnesses go missing as well. Because of his personal involvement, Simon is frozen out of the investigation and finds himself with only an artificial android, Julian, as help in digging where he's not supposed to.
Schmidt has edited a number of books and anthologies and his first novel, The Worker Prince, earned an honorable mention in Barnes & Noble's science fiction awards for 2011. As you'd expect from an editor, he has a good command of pacing and keeping his narrative on track. He doesn't commit too much exposition although sometimes he could have done with some more showing than telling. And he lets the sense of place he builds with the Kansas City streets, suburbs and neighborhoods give his story flavor without overwhelming it.
But the story itself and its characters are very much paint-by-numbers echoes of other work. Even the artificial person is just another interchangeable "fish out of water" partner to the gruff Simon. To some degree every crime procedural uses lots of the same elements: Harassed superiors, stifling bureaucracies, corrupt and powerful people ruthlessly covering their tracks, strained family relationships, heroes whose connection to past days and simpler ways mystifies and embarrasses their "modern world" co-workers. You could also say, though, that every painter uses the same three primary and three secondary colors and blends they create; but some produce masterpieces and others produce advertising. Both Schmidt and the Simon series could grow into something, but the former will have to work more into his potential in order for the latter to do so.
Original available here.
October 9, 2019
I hated giving three stars to a book that most odd-couple, cop-buddy-story lovers will love. I had enjoyed some of the author’s previous books and the anthologies he had edited, so I was eager to read the ARC and write a review. It turns out I was not the intended audience, which is on me rather than the author.
I had three problems with the book. First, I’m a prude, okay? I flinched my way through the book. Since most people talk that way, I suspect the majority of readers will have no idea what I’m complaining about. Oh, and that leads to some of the humorous moments where Simon is admonishing his daughter not to talk like that in the same way I was mentally yelling at the characters to clean up their language.
Second, the body count is high and sometimes graphic.
Third, I found it hard to stay in the mind of the main character because of his constant rage. His anger is justifiable, but for the first quarter of the book, the character is pissed off or on edge on every single page. Angry men frighten women. Or maybe just me. In real life, I’d be running for the door to get away from such an angry man before he blew up and shredded me with shrapnel. I was so relieved when there were finally some tender moments with the daughter and some other people.
Those tender moments and the humor with an android that liked to sing Mr. Roboto were my favorite parts of the book. Other readers will enjoy the tension, banter, movie quotes, constant action, mystery, and over-the-top car chases. The same way I enjoy stories set in Seattle and Portland, people who are familiar with Kansas City should enjoy this story. The writing is fine and appropriate for the genre. This would make a great cop movie. I can easily see the series attracting fans who will clamor for the next book.
I had three problems with the book. First, I’m a prude, okay? I flinched my way through the book. Since most people talk that way, I suspect the majority of readers will have no idea what I’m complaining about. Oh, and that leads to some of the humorous moments where Simon is admonishing his daughter not to talk like that in the same way I was mentally yelling at the characters to clean up their language.
Second, the body count is high and sometimes graphic.
Third, I found it hard to stay in the mind of the main character because of his constant rage. His anger is justifiable, but for the first quarter of the book, the character is pissed off or on edge on every single page. Angry men frighten women. Or maybe just me. In real life, I’d be running for the door to get away from such an angry man before he blew up and shredded me with shrapnel. I was so relieved when there were finally some tender moments with the daughter and some other people.
Those tender moments and the humor with an android that liked to sing Mr. Roboto were my favorite parts of the book. Other readers will enjoy the tension, banter, movie quotes, constant action, mystery, and over-the-top car chases. The same way I enjoy stories set in Seattle and Portland, people who are familiar with Kansas City should enjoy this story. The writing is fine and appropriate for the genre. This would make a great cop movie. I can easily see the series attracting fans who will clamor for the next book.
October 10, 2019
Note: I read an e-ARC version without any compensation or expectations attached. My opinions are my own.
Any story that I can read to distract me from the self-torture known as “working out at the gym” is a good story, in my estimation. This one did the trick several times on the stationary bike. It's gritty. It's engaging. Knowledge of vintage cop movies is helpful but not required. Scene I would most want to see on video: advanced AI android posing as human, distracting Japanese businessmen by singing Styx's “Mr. Roboto” in karaoke and dancing “The Robot”. If this were ever made into a movie, that scene alone would be worth the price of admission.
Any story that I can read to distract me from the self-torture known as “working out at the gym” is a good story, in my estimation. This one did the trick several times on the stationary bike. It's gritty. It's engaging. Knowledge of vintage cop movies is helpful but not required. Scene I would most want to see on video: advanced AI android posing as human, distracting Japanese businessmen by singing Styx's “Mr. Roboto” in karaoke and dancing “The Robot”. If this were ever made into a movie, that scene alone would be worth the price of admission.
October 15, 2019
A fast-paced blend of near future sci-fi and police procedural thriller filled with memorable characters, intrigue and heart-pounding action. In amongst the intrigue and action (including a masterfully written car chase) there was plenty of humor (including a ton of pop culture references to movie franchises like The Terminator and Robocop) and heart. I loved the interplay and growing camaraderie between Detective John Simon and the android Lucas George as they try to untangle a web of kidnapping and murder.
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews