New Gods by Robin Triggs
I would like to thank the author for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Published - Out Now
Price - £9.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle eBook
Revolution in a frozen city.
Robin Triggs’ psychological thriller transports us to the city of Australis, an industrial outpost set deep in the icy wilderness of Antarctica.
Freshly-demoted security officer Anders Nordvelt is hell-bent on finding the person who murdered his comrade. But the people of Australis are more concerned with evidence of atrocities carried out by the all-powerful Company, the organisation for whom they all labour.
As discontent threatens to break into outright rebellion, Anders struggles to walk the line between duty and justice. Having invested his life’s work in the Company, he must surely back the status quo.
Yet the murderer is out there, and apparently targeting Anders. Is it a lone killer, or are they acting under orders?
Detectives going down the mean streets are always found in SF too bad rain trodden streets of cyberpunk streets or solving robotic puzzles in outer space. In Robin Triggs we get an entertaining noir tale in New Gods where the action takes place in a locked down city hidden within Antarctica.
Australis is a new increasingly important city in a world that has been turned on its head by war and resource issues. Australis offers new minerals and ores of vital importance and so has increasing scrutiny from the UN and the infamous Company that rules a lot of the world for a place that used to be where war criminals and those deemed more problematic were sent. Anders Nordvelt was there for all of Australis’ development from tiny mining site to now 100,000 souls. But a strange fire, arrival of new troops and strange politicians all start a game where people all want Australis to be the start of things to change the world for good or ill.
I really enjoyed the claustrophobic setting if this novel. It reminds me a lot of Scandinavia-noir with a very cold isolated place where people cannot easily escape. It leads to a feeling that you can’t trust anything or anyone because of hidden agendas so Anders starts to doubt everyone from his police team to former lovers and potential friends.
The tale is told in Ander’s first person and he is a classic loner detective. Tolerated more than loved by the people in authority but definitely can be expendable. I liked his diligence and refusal to take sides to some extent but he sometimes does appear overly passive and allow events to happen to him rather than drive them creating a lull in the story. When he finally commits the action does pick up.
The mystery at the heart of this is well plotted and moves from just potential city discontent to a wider and more sinister look at this world still haunted by a rocky past. Triggs smartly adds these elements once we are used to the world and they add a huge level of grey morality for the reader to untangle. But the final conclusion is well planned. One slight issue is the use of previous adventures always an issue in a long running series but it did often feel like a little more explanation of the world and earlier adventures would have helped more easily explain things for a new reader. As Anders is quite a closed and passive narrator he doesn’t tend to go into unnecessary detail he’s more focused on the here and now.
This is for readers who enjoy stretching their grey cells and enjoy noir in their SF. I found it a very enjoyable read!
