Death Arms

Death Arms (1987) is the 3rd book in the so-called "Dr. Adder trilogy". However, it's an independent book, having nothing to do with Glass Hammer (1985) or Dr Adder (1984). All 3 books are wildly different in storyline and style but they do share some themes. Like Dr Adder, the protagonist, Legger, is a young man with an infamous father, who returns to LA as the story begins. Set in the near future, the entire West Coast of the US has been largely abandoned after a mysterious mass panic ("the Fear"). Legger's father was an assassin with the mutant power to "call" his victims to their deaths. But he died before killing his last target, a powerful and corrupt corporate executive, who had something to do with the Fear. The novel starts out slow, but Legger is soon swept up in his father's unfinished business and the story literally races along like a bullet until the last page where "death arms" takes on a new meaning. Death Arms is very reminiscient of a Philip K. Dick novel from the 1960s in terms of writing style and tone except it replaces PKD's usual reality-twists with paranoia and conspiracy. Glass Hammer is probably the best of the bunch; Dr. Adder is one of those books you either love or hate; and Death Arms, the most obscure of the three, is a minor classic that seems to have been forgotten.