While Julie, a striver, is eager to get to work, readers will understand that she’s caught up in the machinations of powers she doesn’t yet understand, especially when Governor O’Connor’s interest turns personal. Hannon weaves other intriguing threads, such as ritual murders across the unnamed City (presumably future Boston), and The Supreme’s support of another researcher’s experiments in time travel. Meanwhile, Jones, an android acquaintance of Julie’s, trains to be a detective and eventually links the murders to COLI*GO. Hannon’s brisk storytelling makes all this clear and enticing, especially human/android politics and the culture of biotech companies.
Hannon deftly handles the complexities of Coligo’s story, though its admirable ambitions—especially the abundance of details demanded by its interlocking mysteries and conspiracies, plus its politics, advanced technology, and fascinating considerations of android intelligence—draw emphasis away from the characters, whose actions and development often feel summarized rather than fully dramatized. Despite a surfeit of adverbs, the prose at its best echoes the clipped stylishness of noir tales. But it’s the plotting and world that shines. While Coligo kicks off a series, its conclusion satisfies.
Takeaway: An ambitious noir-tinged future-city mystery of androids, politics, and biotech.
Great for fans of: Adam Christopher’s Made to Kill, China Mieville’s The City and the City.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
