Noir - Paperback

by K. W. Jeter (Author)

" K. W.] Jeter is an exhilarating writer who always seems to have another rabbit to pull out of his hat. . . . He] accomplishes his goal of updating the genre, and he does so with commendable energy and imagination."--The New York Times Book Review

"A master of dark visions, Jeter delivers his most . . . ambitious book to date. . . . An SF equivalent, perhaps, of The Name of the Rose."--Publishers Weekly

L.A.: the sparkling metropolis at the new center of what's left of the civilized world. Here wealthy men and women seek forbidden thrills through a system that enables them to indulge safely and anonymously in their wildest fantasies through the use of computerized simulations known as prowlers. Then a young executive at one of the the world's most powerful corporations is brutally slain and an ex-information cop named McNihil is called in to find the dead man's still "living" prowler. McNihil knows he's walking into a trap. But he wants a chance to redeem himself for a botched job that forced him into retirement years ago. Teamed with a ruthless female operative called November, McNihil is about to enter a world in which no one can be trusted and things are far worse than they seem . . . a world in which a vast conspiracy of evil is about to blur the razor-thin line between the sane safety of daylight and the dark danger of noir.

"Impressive."--Locus

Front Jacket

In his acclaimed novels "Dr. Adder, The Glass Hammer, and the "Blade Runner books, K.W. Jeter masterfully re-created the grim and gritty world of Ridley Scott's classic science fiction film masterpiece. Now Jeter returns with a startling and stylish new vision of the future as only he could imagine it, a dark and disturbing universe that can be described with one word...
Welcome to the Pacific Rim, the new center of the civilized world. As the rest of the planet sinks toward economic and social disaster, the cities on the coast have become a neon-lit, high-tech paradise. Chief among them is Los Angeles, a sparkling metropolis attracting lost souls from across a shattered continent.
But beneath the sleek surface lies a labyrinthine underground feeding on the darkest human desires. Here the wealthy seek forbidden thrills through an anonymous on-line computer system that makes use of prowlers--masked simulations of human users programmed to delve into the most taboo of the hard-core sexual underworld and bring back exotic and erotic experiences to their safeguarded users. For most people, the prowlers are a way to indulge in their wildest sexual fantasies. But for others, they are something far more dangerous.
When a young executive of one of the world's most powerful corporations is found brutally slain, a retired ex-cop is called in to find his missing prowler. The corporation believes the young man's prowler is still "alive" and they want it found, but they don't care to reveal why.
McNihil was an information cop forced into early retirement. He knows he is walking straight into a trap, but he has no choice. He must descend into the noir underground, his only companion aruthless female operative named November who has a desperate agenda of her own. Together they will uncover a web of evil far more extensive than McNihil ever imagined...a vast conspiracy that threatens to blur forever the line between the sane safety of the daylight world and the dark, dangerous world of noir.
"Noir is K.W. Jeter at his very best, a dazzling and inventive futuristic drama of mystery, menace, and sexual terror set in a society of glitter and sinister darkness in which no one can be trusted and everything is far worse than it seems.

"From the Hardcover edition.

Author Biography

K.W. Jeter is one of the most respected SF writers working today. He is the author of fourteen novels, including Dr. Adder, Wolf Flow, The Edge of Human, and Replicant Night. He lives in Oregon.