Missing sheep, cloned starlets and murder
The Big Sheep By Robert Kroese St Martins Press Sci Fi & Fantasy, Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date: June 28, 2016 Review My initial reaction to the beginning of The Big Sheep could be described simply - "what?" Here we have Keane, a phenomenological investigator (holistic detective) who has been called in by Esper Corp to find a missing sheep. It is a strange place to start that puts the reader a bit off-kilter. Next, a popular starlet who is clearly a bit delusional comes to Keane and his Watson-figure Fowler, saying that someone is trying to kill her. You wouldn't expect the two to be related but it is. The further I read, the more fascinated I became. Robert Kroese is an amazing storyteller. The plot is intricate, but as you read the more everything makes sense. I simply had to keep reading page after page to find what would be revealed next. There is a lot of fast-paced action, but at the same time there is a cerebral component that is extremely satisfying. The Big Sheep poses important questions. Can an identity, like a character in a story be owned? How much of a role does media play in infrastructure? How much power does one who controls the media have? - to influence law? Government? Even criminal structure? Does a person whose mind is transferred to an artificial or engineered being retain rights? Is having a human brain enough to be considered human? Ownership, media, and individual identity are all concepts that play an important role in The Big Sheep. Whether you view The Big Sheep simply as an unusual scifi/mystery, or read it for the questions it examines, my point is simple -Read It! The Big Sheep is an amazing novel. 5/5 The Big Sheep is available for preorder and will be released June 28, 2016. I received a copy of The Big Sheep from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. --Crittermom Description Los Angeles of 2039 is a baffling and bifurcated place. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities, and became essentially a third world country within the borders of the city. Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there's no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane. When a valuable genetically altered sheep mysteriously goes missing from Esper Corporation's labs, Keane is the one they call. But while the erratic Keane and his more grounded partner, Blake Fowler, are on the trail of the lost sheep, they land an even bigger case. Beautiful television star Priya Mistry suspects that someone is trying to kill her - and she wants Keane to find out who. When Priya vanishes and then reappears with no memory of having hired them, Keane and Fowler realize something very strange is going on. As they unravel the threads of the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the two cases are connected - and both point to a sinister conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the city. Saving Priya and the sheep will take all of Keane's wits and Fowler's skills, but in the end, they may discover that some secrets are better left hidden. Kroese's The Big Sheep is perfect for fans of Philip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!, and Scalzi's Old Man's War.
