Extremity

Binge (Dissolution) writes an exciting sci-fi novella that explores the perils of time travel and asks what a person might sacrifice to ensure the future. The story begins with a murder investigation, with the central problem being that the victim appears to have been killed in two different locations at once. The obvious solution might be that the victims were clones, but the truth behind how there could be two identical people in the novella's world is unexpected and exciting. The narrative follows the police officers trying to make sense of the crime, giving a nod to the law-and-order world. Each of Binge's books can be read as an extended thought experiment in both form and substance, and his latest is no exception. Here the story is told in near-contemporaneous multi-perspectives, fired off in rapid succession, allowing each character's insights to twist and turn the narrative focus. The writing style gives the text a neo-noir quality, which helps drive its plot towards its mind-bending conclusion. VERDICT Binge's recommended new work of science fiction brilliantly uses a thriller style to get at deep and profound questions about the universe and time itself.--Jeremiah Rood

A disgraced detective comes out of retirement to help her former partner, and an eager rookie investigate the double homicide of a billionaire…and his clone. In London, three Metropolitan Police officers conduct postmortem interviews about the impossible case they've just solved. Alternating perspectives lay out the facts: DCI John Grossman drags his ex-partner Julia Torgrimsen out of forced retirement to analyze the murder of Bruno Donaldson, a nasty billionaire with whom she'd crossed paths while working deep undercover in her past life. As a handler for the late Dmitri Yegorov and his cabal of unsavory associates, Julia procured human trafficking victims, including one young woman whose tragic fate still haunts her. An assassin has shot Donaldson--but across the city, an identical double is also found dead. The case triggers Torgrimsen's past regrets, even as she stubbornly brings green DC Mark Cochrane into the fold to chase the shooter across town. When they discover the billionaires are hoarding time machines that are responsible for the bizarre doppelgängers, all three are tempted by the roads not taken. An SF novella about the ultrawealthy and their clones could reasonably be assumed to be in conversation with Kazuo Ishiguro'sNever Let Me Go, butExtremity as a title is a bit of a red herring. It's not about the clones being extensions of their prime selves, but rather about humanity reaching too far in its greed and Earth ultimately paying the price. The narrative framework is engaging but underused as the three stories basically line up, failing to generate sufficient tension about the evening's outcome. While Binge's longer works likeAscension are stunning in their scope, this tonally uneven adventure stumbles before it really gets started. A too-slick police procedural about fixing past mistakes could use more time. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.