SOJALS rating:

Mediocre (2/5)

I first read this in 1996 and most recently on the 17th April 2012

Our hero Diane Fletcher wanted to be a police officer but that didn't quite work out and she is now a bounty hunter. She has a very special talent: she is a "shaper", someone who can not only make sense of a situation and what caused it, but what will happen next. She hunts murderers and when the hunt is on our girl is very concentrated and very good indeed.

So what we have got so far is just a murder mystery. But here's the catch: it is set in an alternate reality (or it might be a near future) where the US is a fundamentalist society, ruled harshly by Christian law. Thank God there still some room for humanity in that grim society.

The first time I read this book I was very disappointed. There was no relevant SF aspect, it was just a "whodunit". On this second reading, I really am more impressed. This is a intelligently and well-imagined world, Diane is a babe, and Jim Halliday turns out to be a very nice guy indeed.

It is well worth a read.