KOP Killer

Starred review from April 9, 2012
Hammond’s enjoyably gritty third sci-fi crime novel (after 2007’s KOP and 2008’s Ex-KOP) could easily be set on the mean streets of today, but he spices it up with the 28th-century setting of the planet Lagarto, where people contend with unusual seasons (including three “weeks” of complete darkness referred to, archly, as the Big Sleep), and some intriguing technological advances. Series protagonist Juno Mozambe is bent on fighting the corrupt leader of the Koba Office of Police, his former employers. Hoping to give the one honest cop he knows a chance to take over the command of the KOP, Mozambe uses the strong-arm tactics he’d perfected as the enforcer for the former police chief to set up his own protection racket, clearly believing that the ends justify the means. Hammond holds nothing back; Mozambe is brutal and ruthless as he pursues both a serial killer and his personal objectives. The fast-moving story line is complemented by a complex lead and perfectly lean prose. Agent: Richard Curtis, Richard Curtis Associates.