The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez: A...

A while back, I reviewed A. Lee Martinez's book, A Nameless Witch, on here. I gave it a great review for humor and the unique characters.

I am also giving The Automatic Detective my highest recommendation if you like your science ficton with action and humor. This is a totally different kind of book, though. This time the setting is Empire City, Tomorrow's Town, where weird science is a way of life, robots can become full citizens, and mutants and "norms" share the polluted, often radioactive streets with equanimity.

Our hero is a 7 foot tall robot named Mack Megaton who was supposed to be a killer weapon until he developed the "free will glitch" and refused to kill innocent people. Since that ended his military career, he drives a cab. He's almost ready to become a citizen, as soon as he hones his "socialization skills." Mack is a loner, having a hard time with the concept of friendship. But he has developed a sort of friendship with a talking gorilla named Jinx, a little girl named Julie, and Julie's mom and brother, who live downstairs.

So when Julie and her family are kidnapped, suddenly Mack discovers a whole new directive in life: Find them and rescue them. And that directive brings him together with a brainy, beautiful dame, a little green mob boss, and some low-life scum as he uncovers a conspiracy that threatens the fate of the world.

Mack channels Humphrey Bogart if Bogart were made out of indestructible metal, and Martinez writes sci-fi as pulp fiction with the best of them.

5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to read more detective stories with Mack!