Ex-Kop

I also read Hammond's first book and pre ordered this one. It didn't disappoint. The same characters are here along with some new ones. The main character, Juno, is no longer a Kop and his wife is very ill. Maggie tries to enlist him to help her solve a multiple murder case but this doesn't sit well with the other detectives. Juno gets involved anyway and discovers that the murders are linked and some detectives may be involved. I don't want to ruin the story by revealing any more, but trust me, it is worth reading!

Like another reviewer, I had read KOP and pre-ordered Ex-KOP. It is as good as the first and I can't wait for the third. All the elements are there: deep interesting characters, a complex environment, and a plot that doesn't try to out-think itself. BTW- anyone have any good guana recipes?

As a reader of Hammond's first novel, KOP, I pre-ordered Ex-KOP and read it in two days. I loved it! There are so many themes that Hammond plays with here: an aging detective (Juno) who fights the good fight when he can but has made more than his share of bad choices, a younger and more idealistic detective (Maggie) who still believes that Juno has "the right stuff" in him, and a world beset by poverty and crime. But at the heart of this story, as with KOP, in my view, is the relationship between Juno and Maggie. The book begins with the descent of Juno, and while Maggie may have no other choice than to turn to him, you could look at her attempts as giving him an opportunity to redeem himself. Hammond's writing is raw and unadorned, and he is much heavier on psychological insight than on flowery passages. People comment frequently on the "noir" aspect of his writing, but I see hope glimmering through as well. I am eager to see where he takes these characters. A great book!

In 2788 in the gritty town of Koba on planet Lagarto homicidal dirty detective Diego Banks forces Koba Office of Police cop Juno Mozambe into premature retirement. Juno knows he has no moral stand as he sold out to the powerful crime lords. Before losing his job he was despondent, but now feels like a failure as his efforts as a private investigator proves futile; he feels old, worn-out, and finished with only boozing giving him relief. His former police partner detective Maggie Orzo quietly hires a reluctant Mozambe to investigate the homicides of the parents of Adela Juarez; the daughter was convicted of the murders and sentenced to be executed. Maggie believes Adela is not only innocent, but her current partner Ian Davies framed the girl. Mozambe works the case muddied by police corruption and attempts to drive him off the inquiry by threatening his family. The sequel to KOP retains the gritty helplessness of the first futuristic police procedural science fiction (see KOP). Readers will feel they walk the mean streets of a town with no pity alongside of Juno who works a case he does not want to investigate. Fans will appreciate Warren Hammond's excellent but extremely bleak future Noir as abject poverty leaves everyone harder than the carbonite that froze Hans Solo. Harriet Klausner