Monday, May 20, 2002
Title: neoAddix
Author: Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Publisher: New English Library
Having recently read reMix it is interesting to now read neoAddix, the first in the first series of novels by jon courtenay grimwood. which introduces the character lady claire who was also in reMix as well as Alex Gibson and Razz who are both referred to in that book but are more central to the plot of this one.
There is a mysterious killer stalking the streets of paris, one who seems to be able to elude all attempts to capture him, along with which he seems to be hundreds of years old. alex gibson is a trial chaser, finding the trials that are likely to be worth televising. he has an interview with a tramp that witnessed one of the killer's murders - which is evidence certain people would rather he didn't have. an assassin in on his trail and alex has soon disappeared, with the assassin acquiring a new plaything in the form of a young street girl who has witnessed what he has done. meanwhile it seems that one of the reasons that the serial killer has never been captured is because the head of the french secret service is covering it up - which is unfortunate for claire, and ambitious investigator who is trying to get to the bottom of the latest murders.
One of the things that put me off picking up Grimwood's work when I first saw remix was the comparisons to Gibson and Tarantino - both being far too over used in terms of comparisons, and to be honest normally the sign of laziness. With that it probably is fair to say of the three books by Grimwood I've read now this is the only one where I can see any real comparison to Gibson. Certain points giving that uncanny sensation, but for the most part he gets over that and certainly as his work has gone on he has improved, so that his current series is better than this first one.
RVWR: PTR
May 2002
