Great North Road

Peter F. Hamilton

25 July 2019
9781509868728
1104 pages

Synopsis

A clone has been the victim of a savage killing. The investigation may uncover a threat to humanity's very existence. Great North Road is a standalone adventure from science fiction star Peter F. Hamilton, the author of The Night's Dawn trilogy. For fans of Philip K. Dick and Kim Stanley Robinson.

In Newcastle, AD 2142, Detective Sidney Hurst attends a brutal murder scene. The victim is one of the wealthy North family’s clones, but the most disturbing aspect is how he died. Twenty years ago, a North clone billionaire and his household were slaughtered in the exact same manner, on the tropical planet of St Libra. The only member of the household left alive, Angela Tramelo, received the blame. Was Angela wrongly convicted back then? She’d never wavered under interrogation – claiming she alone survived an alien attack.

With St Libran bio-fuel now powering Earth's economy, investigating this alien threat becomes top priority. A vast expedition is mounted via the planet’s Newcastle gateway – including Angela Tramelo, grudgingly released from prison. But the expedition is cut off, deep within St Libra's rainforests. Then the bloodshed begins . . .

A great big sprawling enjoyable science fiction read. Does what it says on the tin. I finally closed it with a sense of satisfaction
Complex world-building, harrowing back-story and good payoffs
The author controls a cast numbering more than fifty, multiple complex plot lines, speculation on the science of wormhole technology and cloning, and arrives at a dénouement that is far more than just the resolution of a murder mystery