Home ~ Reviews ~ 326 ~ 327 ~ 328 ~ 329 ~ 330


Title

 Zero G

Author

 Sandman

Story Code(s)

 M/F

Length

 14,500 words

Arousal

 2 out of 5

Story

 3 out of 5

Objective Analysis

 5 out of 10

Subjective Analysis

 Good

Summary

 Steve Whiley is enjoying a leisurely trip to Mars, when one of his fellow passengers is murdered.

Commentary

 This is the third story, in a series of four, about a detective named Steve Whiley.

For the most part this story is not arousing. I believe that was the author's intent. There are a few sex scenes, but they felt like the gratuitous sex scenes that Hollywood studios include in many motion pictures. Don't misunderstand me. I enjoyed the sex scenes in this story. They were arousing, but they weren't essential to the plot and they were few and far between.

As far as the story goes, I liked the plot. It was well conceived and well paced. The author acknowledges that the story resembles the works of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Think 'Murder on the Orient Express', not 'Hound of the Baskervilles'.

The story was going along nicely, until it came time for Steve to interview his fellow passengers, a la Hercule Poirot. The various passengers did not come across distinctly. They were in and out of the story so fast that it was hard to remember who was who. This was not a problem with the main characters.

If you are a big fan of mysteries, then you may want to read this one. Other than Conan Doyle and Christie, it also reminded me of Isaac Asimov. This is a good attempt, but it is less polished than the stories I consider to be A- or B-list material, thus the Good, under Subjective Analysis.

ASSM Link(s)

 Part 1 (of 1)