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Projections
How do you solve a murder committed with a weapon that doesn’t exist? Megacorporation Xiong Holonautics’ top executive is dead, murdered with the company’s revolutionary solid hologram projector, and this dangerous new technology has been stolen. To catch the killer, retrieve the prototype, and save both his company and his job, desperate and dutiful Chief of Security Green Greene must navigate the deceptive world of holograms, where illusion can be indistinguishable from reality and where visually, at least, anything is possible. The metropolis of Portsmith is unforgiving, but Greene has an ace up his his former partner, Juha Karjalainen, who has a unique eye for holograms. But Juha is eccentric and unpredictable—and he may also be a murderer. As Greene struggles to determine not only what is real but also who he can trust, he finds himself embroiled in a deep and deadly conspiracy—one that will test his loyalties and endanger those he loves most.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 13, 2020
1 person want to read
About the author
Joshua Danker-Dake
8 books11 followersJoshua Danker-Dake lives in Tulsa with his longsuffering wife, their three irrepressible children, and a tank full of cannibal guppies. Things he gets rather excited about include bombastic European power metal, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, and conversations about science-based health and fitness. Visit him at www.dankerdake.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 16, 2020
Projections is a sci-fi action mystery novel that gripped me with its fun, its intrigue, its deep world building, its electric energy, and its humor from the moment I read the first page. The focalizing character is a recently hired security chief for a very powerful corporation named Green Greene, but much of the movement of the plot is at least as much centered around another character named Juha Karjalainen, who, we learn in the very first sentence, “may or may not have murdered his wife”. These two characters work together to solve the murder of a high-ranking executive at Green’s company, Xiong Holonautics. Xiong is the top dog in the holographics industry, which Danker-Dake convincingly imagines to have become a pivotal (perhaps THE pivotal) industry in a world that seems to be essentially our world in 100 years or so (the exact year is never mentioned, that I recall, but the world building would require at least this much time to have passed, it seems to me). Everything involves holographic technology, and now Xiong is pioneering a new solid hologram projector that combines ultra-realistic holograms with force-fields. The initial mystery and all subsequent developments center around this new technology.
Green and Juha, who were years ago partners in the police force but have since gone their separate ways, have a relational dynamic at the same time reminiscent of a buddy cop movie but also suggestive of Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Green is the focalizing (not narrating, since the story employs a third-person perspective) Watson character: straight-laced, moral to a fault, and extremely competent. Juha is the Holmes character: mysterious, uniquely talented, morally ambiguous, manically driven and emotionally turbulent but hidden behind a façade of biting humor and nonchalance. Their past and their current relationship certainly has enough substance to support further explorations (meaning sequels – more on that later).
In fact, Green and Juha are not the only interesting or fleshed out characters. As I reflect on this book more and more, I realize how much distinct and pronounced personality most of the minor characters have. One or two characters possibly could have benefited from a bit more time, but this is a lean story from which it seems everything has been trimmed that does not propel the story breathlessly along (the story pauses only briefly to catch its breath about halfway through). So I think Danker-Dake can be excused if not every single one of his minor characters isn’t photo-realistically depicted within the story’s pages.
Though I call the story lean, somehow paradoxically Danker-Dake manages to convey without slowing the story down a bit a fully realized, lived-in world with a vast recent history and vibrant popular culture. There are so many glancing references to events and places and institutions that momentarily fascinate the reader but that never get revisited. One event in particular, which happened not too long before the story begins, is mentioned in the most off-handed way. From the details we are given, the event would have been at the same time terrifying, world-changing, and uproariously funny. But this event is never mentioned afterward.
As much as I would like to discuss this event, I must be vague about it, because I think part of the strategy of all of this world building was to continually throw the reader off the scent of the story’s central case. I, for one, fully expected the event to which I refer to play a part in the story’s resolution. But it doesn’t. Not even remotely. Some might call that a loose end. I call it the author playing games with his readers, and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.
I have read many of Danker-Dake’s writings, and I am continually impressed by all facets of his writing, not just his characters and his world-building. Something which we have not seen a great deal of in his published work are action scenes, for which Danker-Dake clearly has a real talent. Each scene is imaginatively designed and brilliantly narrated. I look forward to reading more of this kind of story from the author.
As always, Danker-Dake is funny. Humor permeates this story, even though it isn’t what one would call a comedy. The character archetypes of Projections and the shape of its plot are certainly more indebted to mysteries and action thrillers than to comedies. Nevertheless, I found myself laughing consistently all the way through the story, not least at the story’s climax. Again, no spoilers, but I really cannot remember another novel whose climactic moment made me laugh so hard. But the humor was never a distraction. It always served the other more central elements of the story.
So I made a reference to sequels earlier. There is no indication from the author that he intends this to be a series. However, Projections is conspicuously full of unresolved mysteries and unexplored avenues. Again, I think the fact that this story’s world has fuzzy boundaries is an intentional choice and part of an authorial strategy. I know the author’s writings well enough to realize that this is not the result of amateurish writing. Danker-Dake is a pro who takes time with his work and writes in a fully intentional way. So when I see a central mysterious element about one of the main characters go unresolved, and when I see the establishment of a mystery-solving duo not unlike Watson and Holmes, I cannot help but think that we may not have seen the last of Green and Juha. I, for one, earnestly hope this is the case.
Green and Juha, who were years ago partners in the police force but have since gone their separate ways, have a relational dynamic at the same time reminiscent of a buddy cop movie but also suggestive of Watson and Sherlock Holmes. Green is the focalizing (not narrating, since the story employs a third-person perspective) Watson character: straight-laced, moral to a fault, and extremely competent. Juha is the Holmes character: mysterious, uniquely talented, morally ambiguous, manically driven and emotionally turbulent but hidden behind a façade of biting humor and nonchalance. Their past and their current relationship certainly has enough substance to support further explorations (meaning sequels – more on that later).
In fact, Green and Juha are not the only interesting or fleshed out characters. As I reflect on this book more and more, I realize how much distinct and pronounced personality most of the minor characters have. One or two characters possibly could have benefited from a bit more time, but this is a lean story from which it seems everything has been trimmed that does not propel the story breathlessly along (the story pauses only briefly to catch its breath about halfway through). So I think Danker-Dake can be excused if not every single one of his minor characters isn’t photo-realistically depicted within the story’s pages.
Though I call the story lean, somehow paradoxically Danker-Dake manages to convey without slowing the story down a bit a fully realized, lived-in world with a vast recent history and vibrant popular culture. There are so many glancing references to events and places and institutions that momentarily fascinate the reader but that never get revisited. One event in particular, which happened not too long before the story begins, is mentioned in the most off-handed way. From the details we are given, the event would have been at the same time terrifying, world-changing, and uproariously funny. But this event is never mentioned afterward.
As much as I would like to discuss this event, I must be vague about it, because I think part of the strategy of all of this world building was to continually throw the reader off the scent of the story’s central case. I, for one, fully expected the event to which I refer to play a part in the story’s resolution. But it doesn’t. Not even remotely. Some might call that a loose end. I call it the author playing games with his readers, and I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.
I have read many of Danker-Dake’s writings, and I am continually impressed by all facets of his writing, not just his characters and his world-building. Something which we have not seen a great deal of in his published work are action scenes, for which Danker-Dake clearly has a real talent. Each scene is imaginatively designed and brilliantly narrated. I look forward to reading more of this kind of story from the author.
As always, Danker-Dake is funny. Humor permeates this story, even though it isn’t what one would call a comedy. The character archetypes of Projections and the shape of its plot are certainly more indebted to mysteries and action thrillers than to comedies. Nevertheless, I found myself laughing consistently all the way through the story, not least at the story’s climax. Again, no spoilers, but I really cannot remember another novel whose climactic moment made me laugh so hard. But the humor was never a distraction. It always served the other more central elements of the story.
So I made a reference to sequels earlier. There is no indication from the author that he intends this to be a series. However, Projections is conspicuously full of unresolved mysteries and unexplored avenues. Again, I think the fact that this story’s world has fuzzy boundaries is an intentional choice and part of an authorial strategy. I know the author’s writings well enough to realize that this is not the result of amateurish writing. Danker-Dake is a pro who takes time with his work and writes in a fully intentional way. So when I see a central mysterious element about one of the main characters go unresolved, and when I see the establishment of a mystery-solving duo not unlike Watson and Holmes, I cannot help but think that we may not have seen the last of Green and Juha. I, for one, earnestly hope this is the case.
August 13, 2020
Projections is a murder mystery story set in the future. The story follows Greene, who is head of security at Xiong Holonautics, makers of high quality holograms. When a murder occurs in their headquarters, it is up to Greene to find out what happened. All the while, Greene gets reacquainted with his friend, a former police officer, as they begin to unravel who and what has happened.
This a very fun read. Danker-Dake has a way with writing dialogue and the banter between the characters works very well. I found the story to be well paced and the mystery to be intriguing enough. There was a bit of a lull in the middle as the characters try to piece together the clues, but the characters are written so well that I placed the plot aside at times.
For what this book is, I think it is a good entry and I can see myself reading this again in the near future. Hopefully the author writes more entries into this universe to explore the characters and the world further. There are plenty of opportunities to continue with these characters and I would love to see more!
This a very fun read. Danker-Dake has a way with writing dialogue and the banter between the characters works very well. I found the story to be well paced and the mystery to be intriguing enough. There was a bit of a lull in the middle as the characters try to piece together the clues, but the characters are written so well that I placed the plot aside at times.
For what this book is, I think it is a good entry and I can see myself reading this again in the near future. Hopefully the author writes more entries into this universe to explore the characters and the world further. There are plenty of opportunities to continue with these characters and I would love to see more!
May 25, 2023
Who doesn't love a bit of near-future corporate espionage?
Greene, an ex-cop looking for a quieter and safer life, suddenly finds himself embroiled in an internal murder investigation at one of the leading hologram technology companies. Enter the wild card as Greene brings a former colleague into the mix to help him...... or hinder him.
The story proceeds predominantly as a race against time as Greene tries to piece the clues together from a long way behind the perpetrator, in a world where corporate espionage is par for the course. Despite the fast pace, the different characters all interact in a way authentic to their descriptions and the positions they hold within the organisation.
I went through this in one sitting, so that's always a good sign!
Greene, an ex-cop looking for a quieter and safer life, suddenly finds himself embroiled in an internal murder investigation at one of the leading hologram technology companies. Enter the wild card as Greene brings a former colleague into the mix to help him...... or hinder him.
The story proceeds predominantly as a race against time as Greene tries to piece the clues together from a long way behind the perpetrator, in a world where corporate espionage is par for the course. Despite the fast pace, the different characters all interact in a way authentic to their descriptions and the positions they hold within the organisation.
I went through this in one sitting, so that's always a good sign!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews