Two troubled homicide detectives race to find a serial killer in a town filled with surgically reformed murderers, in this captivating near-future SF thriller.
In a small religious community rocked by a spree of shocking murders, Detectives Salvi Brentt and Mitch Grenville find themselves surrounded by suspects. The Children of Christ have a tight grip on their people, and the Solme Complex neurally edit violent criminals - Subjugates - into placid servants called Serenes. In a town where purity and sin, temptation and repression live side by side, everyone has a motive. But as the bodies mount up, the frustrated detectives begin to crack under the pressure: their demons are coming to light, and who knows where that blurred line between man and monster truly lies.
*****
Anyone else find themselves suddenly nervous when reviewing something new from an author you relentlessly follow for her other series? As an Aurora junkie, I've done this before with Bridgeman's The Time of the Stripes and am doing it again with The Subjugate.
I have come to know Bridgeman's novels as solid fiction built around a core of realistic and motivated characters. She creates characters who aren't always nice, don't always have realistic expectations, become exasperated with themselves and most importantly, are never, ever, perfect. Kinda like us.
Then she sets them to work.
In The Subjugate, Salvi Brentt and Mitch Grenville hunt down a serial killer. Both detectives have their own hidden histories they need to reconcile not only to solve their case but to move forward. I love a good buddy story and was rewarded with this book, the plot comes from their relationship as much as it comes from their investigation. They struggle to see what lurks on the underside of everything while doing their best to avoid confronting their own demons. Their powerful interplay is the polish that links so much of this story together.
Also, for me, setting and my own thoughts flavoured the story. I don't travel much but one of the few places I've visited is San Francisco so it was easy for me to envision where this book happens. At the time I was there, it was crowded, touristy, and I heard more car horns there in three days than in ten years where I come from. We also have a town named Bountiful nearby. In recent years, it has been in the news and not for really positive things which for me added a personal layer of suspicion to Bridgeman's fictional Bountiful.
In The Subjugate, we see what happens to an investigation when many of the tools the investigators rely on aren't available. We feel their blindness investigating the murders in a tech-free town and this gives that aspect of the story a palpable depth and gives the villains a nice boost of evil.
I recommend The Subjugate for lovers of gritty SF. Great cast of characters and a strong story make this a good read!
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
