The Last Iota

Starred review from April 3, 2017
Kroese gifts readers with his gripping second mystery set in 2039 Los Angeles (after 2016’s The Big Sheep), another sophisticated blend of science fiction and crime. A decade after a national economic trauma known simply as the Collapse, a large segment of the city, the Disincorporated Zone, remains beyond the reach of law and order. PI Blake Fowler’s ex-girlfriend Gwen Thorson went into hiding there after her colleagues on a planning task force disappeared or were murdered. Gwen has now returned to L.A. proper, a development that coincides with a new case for Blake and his eccentric partner, Erasmus Keane. Selah Fiore, an actress who attempted to kill the pair in the prior book, offers them a huge sum of money to track down an iota coin, a tangible representation of the virtual currency that gained wide acceptance after the Collapse. The plot twists are both logical and surprising, with developments and motivations straight out of classic L.A. noir. Every part of the book simply works. The compelling story, memorable leads, and imaginative worldbuilding suggest the series has a long and promising future.

May 15, 2017

Eccentric PI Erasmus Keane and his partner Blake Fowler from The Big Sheep are back with another blend of mystery, sf, and humor set in 2039 Los Angeles. The pair are hired by studio boss Selah Fiore to find a rare coin, but things quickly go awry.--MM

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
It's 2039, and L.A. is a ticking bomb. A decade ago, the collapse of the U.S. dollar led to a huge section of the city being abandoned by the government, and law enforcement pulled out and cordoned it off. Thus the Disincorporated Zone was created, essentially a Third World country inside the city of Los Angeles itself. Erasmus Keane is a peculiar but brilliant detective, Blake Fowler is his stoic partner whose primary task is saving Keane from dangerous situations (often created by Keane himself.) As the two of them embark on a case to find a promotional physical copy of a digital currency, it soon becomes apparent that there is so very much more to the case than finding a collector's item for a billionaire. Fowler's missing girlfriend shows up, their client is murdered, and they are framed for it. Of course, they have to venture into the DZ to clear their names, find their item, and unravel an astoundingly bold plot. This is a riveting tale of action and intrigue, and readers won't be able to put it down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)