A Book Recommendation

I finished reading a book last week called Red Planet Noir. If you follow me on Twitter, then you've read my tweets regarding the book and it's author, D.B. Grady (@dbgrady on Twitter),who lives in Baton Rouge, La. (I've his website listed, please visit when you leave here). Online, he's prone to self-deprecation and occasional geeky-ness which is funny and endearing, but make no mistake, he is a smart, intelligent writer. Other writing credits include political articles for The Atlantic, an online publication.

I'll be honest, when I first heard the premise of his book shortly after having met him, I was almost sure I would not be interested in reading it. Not by any shortcoming of his own, I wasn't sure if I'd like a part detective/part science fiction novel. I'm not a sci-fi kind of woman, after all. But then I read his articles, and I was impressed not only with his intelligence and skill with the written word, but also his ability to capture my attention. He drew me into his article on the ongoing war in Afghanistan, for instance, when I'd long since given up on understanding our role in the country.

By this time, I'd made up my mind to purchase his book when it was released, if for no other reason than to help support his writing effort. Then I read an excerpt on his website, and once again, I was hooked.



Red Planet Noir in turn scared me and excited me. It made me cringe and wince and mutter "Oh my God" more than once as I traveled alongside Michael Sheppard, the down, but not out, Private Eye from post-apocalyptic New Orleans, hired to solve a murder on Mars. Falling into the world Grady created, I found it, in turn, horrifyingly believable and fantastical. The story is fast-paced and multi-faceted, and the author brings richness and depth to even the minor characters as Mike makes his way in and out of trouble on the Red Planet.

Park Mickey Spillane and part Michael Crichton, Grady manages to bring both the past into the future and the future back to the past in his novel with clarity and humor. The futuristic world inlaid with Mike Sheppard's old-fashioned vernacular makes reading this novel a joy.

The book is available on Amazon.com and just about everywhere else. If you don't find it, ask the store to order it. It is a great read!