Marcher

Remember that TV show "Sliders" from the late 90s? Where a small group of people could travel from one parallel universe to another? Every week they would go to a new earth that was slightly different from the one we live in. Well, imagine that instead of just one small group doing this, there is a pill that allows anyone to do it. The pill is illegal and in the hands of the same people in society who use crack or meth. The main character in this novel is an immigration officer assigned to a special unit that deals with people from alternate universes. There is a series of murders and violent crimes being committed by people who know that they can just skip to the next universe. It's a bit more complicated than just evil people skipping from universe to universe versus good immigration officer trying to solve a riddle. The main character is himself tempted to use the pills for his own reasons, and the society he is part of and the government agencies he works with have their own problems. This is science fiction written by a social worker, and, as someone who works closely with folks in that field myself, I really appreciated the perspective the author brought to this book. I found it very insightful, and I recognized the moral ambiguity that social workers have in their jobs. The book does get a little lost towards the end, but overall it was one of the best science fiction novels I've read in some time.