What is your book about?
It’s one of those questions that should be easy to answer but every author struggles with.
Usually, when someone asks about my science fiction book, A Knife in the Dark, I give them the general rundown. How it is a murder mystery set on a planet where night lasts for a full standard week. How it’s about a grizzled old private investigator sort of called out of retirement to investigate the murder of The only son of a wealthy industrialist. And how I tried to mimic the feel of old film noir movies, where it always seems to be dark and raining, by setting the story within the course of one night on this planet, so it literally is always dark during this investigation. And, of course, naturally, how this investigation leads to connections to the main character’s own dark and bloody past.
And while all that does happen in the book… that isn’t really what the story is about.
The book’s really about how technology must, at some point, stop moving us forward and actually take us backward instead.
I initially thought that a murder investigation in a science fiction atmosphere would be downright dull. Even today, in our own world, all you need is a piece of DNA to find the culprit. It is unquestionable. But then it struck me. What if technology had advanced to a point where DNA wasn’t reliable anymore? What if faking DNA was as easy as faking a cold? And what if gene manipulation and DNA alteration became so commonplace that it was used in products like beauty products, skincare, hair restoration, anti-aging, etc.?
If incorrect DNA was being found at crime scenes, you would think that this would lead to the use of DNA in such products being regulated. But look at our own world. That is rarely how things go. What if, instead, because of the vested interests of powerful people and, let’s face it, capitalism being what it is, the backlash led the other direction? If commercial products were making powerful people tons of money, it seems pretty likely that lobbyists would do anything they could to keep them in use and instead turn the tide against the use of DNA in law enforcement. And that is exactly what happens in this story.
This novel takes place in a time where DNA is so unreliable because of its prevalent use in commercial products that it is inadmissible in a court of law. I thought, what would happen if that were the case? Well, criminal investigations would have to take a step backward. They would have to rely on old-school methods. Motive. Hard evidence. Confessions. Eyewitnesses.
The bottom line: What’s good for some people when it comes to advanced technology like artificial intelligence, gene therapy, et cetera, is not good for everyone. Especially the average Joe like you and me.
This idea of advanced technology actually taking us backward a step is prevalent throughout this entire novel, right down to the tone. Yes, it is a science fiction story set in a cyberpunk, futuristic world. But I gave it the tone of a film noir movie. The characters even talk that way and dress that way, and I use some of the same sort of language that would be more likely to be found in the 1940s than it would in science fiction. And this murder that our old-school, hard-boiled detective is investigating, as it turns out, was committed using an old-fashioned powder-based firearm. In a world where sidearms fire artificially accelerated slugs through the use of antigravity tech, and personal shields to protect them from maser weapons, this murder is strange because it was committed using a six-shooter revolver.
The book is full of these sorts of seemingly conflicting elements. Kind of like where we are today. The technology of social interaction, for example, has advanced so far that it has made us antisocial. The ability to have access to information, which one might have assumed allowed us to become more informed and more intelligent, has instead led to misinformation and a climate where knowing truth is more difficult than at any other time.
It’s gotten to a point where many of us don’t even enjoy these things anymore. We see all of it as a necessary evil and are actually nostalgic for a time before any of it existed. Yet, it is now so integral to our lives that we can’t escape it.
So, yes, it is a murder mystery with a grizzled old detective who drinks too much, trying to track down a killer, with a heavy dose of cynicism and shootouts and false leads. But all that is just the stuff to communicate an idea.
So, that’s what my book is about.
If you liked this post, check out A Knife in the Dark: A Science Fiction Noir Thriller or my other novels. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases on these product links.
A Knife in the Dark: https://amzn.to/41wOMqP
Rust on the Allegheny: https://amzn.to/3ZcvOnK
The Fallen Odyssey: A Parallel Universe Fantasy Novel: https://amzn.to/3YdGSj4
The Fallen Aeneid: Book 2 of The Fallen Odyssey: https://amzn.to/41ybBKE
Shadows of the Fallen: Book 3 of The Fallen Odyssey: https://amzn.to/3L2Fhdh
