Strictly Analog - Richard Levesque

"Strictly Analog" is a twisty noir detective story, set in a cyberpunk California of the future, that works as both a detective story and as character-driven cyberpunk. 

 

Ted Lomax, a veteran of the Border Wars between California and Nevada, lives in a digital world where everyone is on-line all the time through the IYZ (eyewear computers) that he can't use because he has only one eye. Making a virtue of necessity, he earns his living by investigating "off the grid", selling his services as, "Strictly Analog".

 

Science Fictions fans will enjoy how well this future world, where California has become a Corporate entity and won its independence from the rest of the US, is built. The techie toys are plausible, well explained and salted with humour (I loved the idea of the drivers of the almost silent electric cars of the future choosing a "drive tone" for their vehicle.)

 

Detective story fans will enjoy Ted Lomax's sarcasm and his determination and his (literally) crippling  back-story as well as the strongly noir tone of the story and the well thought through plot.

 

I listened to the audiobook version where Steven J Cohen's narration added an edgy twist to the text that matched the mood of the book perfectly.