Unusual, disturbing and remarkably pertinent
The Dark Side by Anthony O'Neill Simon & Schuster Scifi & Fantasy, Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date: June 28, 2016 Review Take an android, add a megalomaniac businessman's sociopathic rules for corporate dictatorship, set loose -- What do you get? Bodies, lots of bodies. (Sounds a bit like someone in the US presidential race) When you pick up The Dark Side, be prepared for an unusual, disturbing, and remarkably pertinent novel. The narration alternates between the experiences of Justus, a detective newly arrived from Earth, and Leonardo Black, a psychopathic android who is looking to conquer El Dorado (Purgatory). Purgatory is a moon colony ruled by the billionaire Fletcher Brass and populated by a wide assortment of criminals and tourists, brave enough to visit. Justus is an unusual pick for a lawman. Unlike the vast population, he is incorruptible. He treats everyone as equal under the law, and power and wealth does not deter him. The truth matters more than what is convenient. Upon arrival, he is immediately tasked with a murder enquiry - three people, including one of Brass's advisors have been killed in an explosion. The further Justus delves into the mystery, the more corruption comes to light. His staff have little interest in changing the status quo. Brass and his daughter QT both seem to be pointing the finger at the other. As more people die, Justus uncovers a plot more heinous and devious than he had imagined. The ending is not a "happy" one, but somehow it is all the more fitting. There is a delicious irony to the novel's conclusion. The Dark Side is a good choice for anyone looking for an out-of-the-ordinary piece of speculative scifi. 4/5 The Dark Side is available for preorder and will be released June 28, 2016 I received a copy of The Dark Side from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. --Crittermom Description In this dark and gripping sci-fi noir, an exiled police detective arrives at a lunar penal colony just as a psychotic android begins a murderous odyssey across the far side of the moon. Purgatory is the lawless moon colony of eccentric billionaire, Fletcher Brass: a mecca for war criminals, murderers, sex fiends, and adventurous tourists. You can't find better drugs, cheaper plastic surgery, or a more ominous travel advisory anywhere in the universe. But trouble is brewing in Brass’s black-market heaven. When an exiled cop arrives in this wild new frontier, he immediately finds himself investigating a string of ruthless assassinations in which Brass himself—and his equally ambitious daughter—are the chief suspects. Meanwhile, two-thousand kilometers away, an amnesiac android, Leonardo Black, rampages across the lunar surface. Programmed with only the notorious “Brass Code”—a compendium of corporate laws that would make Ayn Rand blush—Black has only one goal in mind: to find Purgatory and conquer it. Visual, visceral, and tons of fun, The Dark Side fuses hard science with brutal crime and lunar adventure. It’s an intense, stylish, and action-packed thriller with a body count to match
