Titanium Noir (Cal Sounder Series)

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Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over. Looking back at the books above, you’ll notice they share a thread of individuals caught up in oppressive, unreasonable systems — and that theme also animates “ Some Desperate Glory” by Emily Tesh. I find myself flipping my sign to the closed side any time their shadow darkens my frost tinted glass door.

Titanium Noir” by Nick Harkaway | Scott My Review of “Titanium Noir” by Nick Harkaway | Scott

Harkaway colors each character and vignette with just enough detail to keep things interesting, while assembling the setting and unraveling the mystery in a steady stream of information. G. Ballard’s geeky younger brother', 'William Makepeace Thackerary on acid' and 'a British mimetic speculative godgame novelist'. The gene therapy is very expensive and monopolized by one family, but in truth most of the few thousand Titans were already head and shoulders above the rest of us due to their money and influence. A pretty good detective caper set in the near future with good world building, interesting characters and a fast-moving pace.

The shoreline city of Chersenesos juts into an alpine lake – possibly an oblique nod to a future climate that has driven humanity far up the mountains. I can see it as the start of a series, and I would be an immediate devotee, but I would also appreciate it if it remains as a stand-alone; the ending is that good. A crime that will lead Cal back through the victim’s history as it intersects with others, and ultimately his own. Harkaway is both social player and social scientist, a verbal sharpshooter who leads us on delicious chases across exotic but oh-too-familiar cityscapes.

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway | Goodreads

Since they start their second puberty as a fully grown adult, they become much larger, their bones denser and their muscles thicker, hence the name Titan.

Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. So when one does turn up dead, Cal has the right insider knowledge and connections to investigate it without becoming public knowledge, especially because his ex-girlfriend, Athena, is not only a Titan herself but also the daughter of the man who invested T7, Stefan Tonfamecasca. So it’s definitely not good that one of them has been found dead, and Sounder has to mind his footsteps as he rummages through the evidence, lest he trip under the unimpeded footsteps of the very Titans he’s trying to exonerate. It soon becomes obvious that he's pursuing a crime that could unravel the dark mysteries of his society.

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway - Fantastic Fiction Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway - Fantastic Fiction

The first thing that strikes you about Titanium Noir is the heavily stylised prose, dripping with irony and sarcasm, dead-eyed and downbeat but also funny as hell. Maybe it’s always been true that the rich and powerful take pleasure from living life better than the rest of us: in Titanium Noir, Harkaway imagines what might happen when they decide they also want to live forever, taking us on a breakneck tour of one infuriatingly plausible future’s corruption and vice. The saving grace could have been some of more interesting nooks and crannies hidden among the play of shadows. But don't start this one late at night--the pacing starts frenetic from the gitgo and does not let up! Once I finally had a copy of Titanium Noir in my hands, I found myself strangely reluctant to open it.For me, it’s time to hang my hat and take a much needed vacation, maybe quit the drink for a little while. Gnomon, I think the first I read, is boggling, and then I read the even more capricious Tigerman and was stunned into submission. Therein lies a tale of genetic manipulation—familiar to fans of movies such as RoboCop and Elysium—the mastermind of which is, naturally, a Very Bad Man—or half-man, half-whatever—named Stefan Tonfamecasca. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf/Pantheon Publishing for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. BookPage is a recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by our editors.