The Ultra Thin man

AADL has no copies of this item

"In the twenty-second century, a future in which mortaline wire controls the weather on the settled planets and entire refugee camps drowse in drug-induced slumber, no one--alive or dead, human or alien--is quite what they seem. When terrorists manage to crash Coral, the moon, into its home planet of Ribon, forcing evacuation, it's up to Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos, contract detectives for the Network Intelligence Organization, to solve a case of interplanetary consequences. Crowell' and Brindos's investigation plunges them neck-deep into a conspiracy much more dangerous than anything they could have imagined. The two detectives soon find themselves separated, chasing opposite leads: Brindos has to hunt down the massive Helkunn alien Terl Plenko, shadow leader of the terrorist Movement of Worlds. Crowell, meanwhile, runs into something far more sinister--an elaborate frame job that puts our heroes on the hook for treason. Crowell and Brindos are forced to fight through the intrigue to discover the depths of an interstellar conspiracy. And to answer the all-important question: Who, and what, is the Ultra Thin Man?"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Extensive logic failures, but somehow fun anyway. submitted by eknapp on December 19, 2014, 11:58am A couple hundred years in the future, humanity has formed an eight-planet Union alongside two sentient alien races. A terrorist group called the Movement of Worlds runs around blowing things up to foment unrest and destroy the Union. Two agents of the NIO (basically the interplanetary CIA) hunt the Movement's bin Laden figurehead. Mystery, betrayal and shocking twists ensue.

First, I gotta say that The Ultra Thin Man needed a much better editor. There were far too many typos and jarring disconnects:

"On the facing page was a photo of five scientists: two humans, a Helk, and a Memor." (See, I require that my science fiction authors be able to count to at least five. Bare minimum.)

"It can't have been an antimatter weapon, the amount of antimatter needed has never been created. Also, the rays from the antimatter weapon that I just established doesn't exist are going to kill all the living things still on the planet." (o_O)

After 120 pages of discussing First-, Second-, and Third-Clan Helks (varieties of aliens), I suddenly encountered some Second-CLASS Helks. Oops. And there were plenty of other examples.

Then there were the logic gaps and motive failures. Why are the bad guys constantly capturing people, detailing their evil master plans, and then leaving them alive to escape and save the day? "Bwahahaha! Now that you know everything, I think I'll kill you later." How do you disappear several tens of thousands of law-abiding citizens and no one in eight worlds seems to wonder where they are? Why are there no rescue missions to a dying world when it's only six hours away by press shuttle?? Ye gods, you could drive a truck through some of the plot holes.

So why three stars? Swenson excels at setting a hook. Probably three chapters out of four ended with a cliffhanger so good that I couldn't stop reading. That's it. Even when I was rolling my eyes I had a hard time putting it down. I don't have much respect for The Ultra Thin Man, but I did have fun reading it.