Welcome to the Pacific Rim, the new center of the civilized world. As the rest of the planet sinks toward
economic and social disaster, the cities on the coast have become a neon-lit, high-tech paradise. Chief
among them is Los Angeles, a sparkling metropolis attracting lost souls from across a shattered continent.
But beneath the sleek surface lies a labyrinthine underground feeding on the darkest human desires. Here
the wealthy seek forbidden thrills though an anonymous on-line computer system that makes use of
'prowlers' -- masked simulations of human users programmed to delve into the most taboo of the hard-core
sexual underworld and bring back exotic and erotic experiences to their safeguarded users. For most
people, the prowlers are a way to indulge in their wildest sexual fantasies. But for others, they are something
far more dangerous.
When a young executive of one of the world's most powerful corporations is found brutally slain, a retired
ex-cop is called in to find his missing prowler. The corporation believes the young man's prowler is still
"alive" and they want it found... but they don't care to reveal why.
McNihil was an information cop forced into early retirement. He knows he is walking straight into a trap,
but he has no choice. He must descend into the noir underground, his only companion a ruthless female
operative named November who has a desperate agenda of her own.
Together they will uncover a web of evil far more extensive than McNihil ever imagined... a vast conspiracy
that threatens to blur forever the line between the sane safety of the daylight world and the dark, dangerous
world of noir.
Noir is K.W. Jeter at his very best, a dazzling and inventive futuristic drama of mystery, menace, and sexual
terror set in a society of glitter and sinister darkness in which no one can be trusted and everything is far
worse than it seems.
K.W. Jeter is one of the most respected SF writers working today. He is the author of fourteen novels
including Dr. Adder, Wolf Flow, The Edge of Human, and Replicant Night. He lives in Oregon.
"I had been brooding about it for a long time before everything came
together. One element was the love of old film noir movies. Then another element sort of
swam into focus, and that was the issue of protection of intellectual property in a
digitized environment. Then all my usual sort of craziness. I like to take disparate
elements and see if I can crash them together in an interesting way."
- K. W. Jeter
"..Jeter accomplishes his goal of updating the genre, and he does so with commendable
energy and imagination. If the results are irremediably nasty, McNihil for one would
not be surprised. ''All writers were mean bastards,'' he notes, adding with italicized
approval: ''Must come with the territory.''"
- Gerald Jonas, N.Y. Times
|
![[enlargen]](img/noir2.gif)
![[enlargen]](img/k-noir.gif)