There is also plenty of tongue in cheek, irreverent humour once again, as with Bloodlines:
“But a revenant? That’s somebody that did some very bad shit when they were living and came back from the dead to do more of it to the people who had done some very bad shit to them before they died.”
Doc makes great use of his sixth sense, the “Insight” to help him find the trail to the killers:
“I was chosen for SCU because I possess an ability I’ve nicknamed the Insight, something I picked up when I tried to kill myself at rehab eight years ago. It’s a magical lens through which my eyes sometimes perceived people, objects and places, revealing whatever veil masked them. But it was also fickle and wouldn’t necessarily work even when I needed it.”
In this exciting sequel to Bloodlines we learn more about the history of this intriguing and not too distant future version of New York in which the stories are set, Empire City:
“Long before I was born, nukes and the pandemics that followed had devastated Earth. The destructive forces unleashed from that time had weakened the fabric of reality, earning beings from an infinite number of so-called alternate Earths an inadvertent one-way ticket here. They’d “jumped” from their world to ours. As far as I knew, there had never been a portal to appear inside any of the fifty-two worldwide enclaves.”
Pieces of Eight is more of a companion story to Bloodlines than a sequel, taking place in the same location with the same main characters plus some new side characters, it has little to do with the first book in the series despite occasional references to the events of Book 1. It certainly would not be necessary to read Bloodlines in order to enjoy Pieces of Eight, in my opinion.
The title, “Pieces of Eight” comes from the name of an Empire City rehabilitation program:
“Released from New Rikers last year as part of Mayor Samson’s Pieces of Eight program, an enclave-wide initiative to assist ex-cons’ return to society. Get them back on track, provide education, jobs, counseling, and help them manage the pressure and anxiety of post-prison life. Eight steps toward re-entry and rehabilitation.”
The number eight is a constant throughout the story, with eight people targeted by the killer, an eight step program and eight-legged supernatural beasties. Will Doc be able to figure out the mystery in time to save the final victims?
“Eight meaningless, hopeless, soulless pieces upon the Board, then none.”
I recommend Pieces of Eight to fans of first person narrated detective stories, featuring jaded gumshoes who enjoy a healthy helping of science fiction and fantasy thrown into the mix and even a love interest for Doc this time around.
