Taking the Highway M H Mead 9780983780120 Books
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As much a clever crime thriller as it is sci-fi, this novel highly impressed me. --The TBR Pile
I love the idea of this futuristic Detroit. --Offbeat Vagabond Reviews
When hitchhiking becomes the profession that saves the city, who will save the hitchhikers?
Detroit is thriving, once again on the move. The key to this motion may be the fourths--professional hitchhikers who round out incomplete carpools, allowing the car entrance to the superfast, computer-controlled highways.
The city needs fourths. Fourths need the work. It's an easy way to earn some extra cash.
Or to end up dead.
Someone is killing fourths and the only one who can stop the killer is jaded homicide detective Andre LaCroix, who moonlights as a fourth himself.
Taking the Highway is the newest science fiction thriller from the authors of The Caline Conspiracy and Fate's Mirror.
Praise for Taking the Highway...
Wonderfully original story of mean streets, struggling cops, and old, old passions. Nice ride. --Richard A. Thompson, author of Frag Box
Good ideas, mystery, human interest, a romance that didn't make me nauseous and action, action, action! They have me revving my engine for their next novel. --Papyrus Reviews
Taking the Highway M H Mead 9780983780120 Books
First, I'll say that I would class this as SF lite. While set in the future, the only SF element is the Overdrive, an automatic driving system for the interstate highways. This is not a new concept, and is perhaps not as far-fetched as it was a couple of decades ago. This is technology that is still out of reach, but not by much. In this book, the technology itself is not the focus, but is a key element in social changes in the city. The Overdrive plus energy conservation laws create a whole new workforce in the Fourths - passengers for hire to fill the carpool requirements for highway traveling.While the book is primarily a crime and mystery story, those social changes were really interesting, but lacking some detail. I did not much care for the main character at first, but he grew on me as the story progressed. His issues with his family, conflicts between his two jobs, and concerns for his city's welfare did make him an entirely realistic character. He certainly had his work cut out for him, and found more bad guys than he expected. I thought the ending was well done.
Overall, this was very good reading. I'll be interested to see if this Detroit of the future will be featured in more of the authors' work.
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Tags : Taking the Highway [M. H. Mead] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. As much a clever crime thriller as it is sci-fi, this novel highly impressed me. --The TBR Pile</i> <BR><BR> I love the idea of this futuristic Detroit. --Offbeat Vagabond Reviews</i> <BR><BR> <b>When hitchhiking becomes the profession that saves the city,M. H. Mead,Taking the Highway,Ion Productions,0983780129,FICTION Science Fiction Action & Adventure
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Taking the Highway M H Mead 9780983780120 Books Reviews
I will say up front that I have known Harry Campion (1/2 of M.H. Mead) for several years. I know him as a high school writing and speech teacher and a good one. But I had no idea he was an author. I really like this book. It is set in the not too distant future in Detroit after a radical shift in social and economic conditions. I found the premise of the book thoroughly believable and the characters are lifelike and enjoyable.
With the exception of a couple of sex scenes (hey, I'm no prude!) which were not necessary to carry the story, I think it was well plotted and realized. It has what a Detroit novel should have cars, money, corruption, politics, dirty cops, Belle Isle, Michigan wine, supreme awareness of the street and freeway maps of the area...it was a nice reminder of the continuing nature of decisions we make today and how they might play out in the future.
I give this book four stars, not because it couldn't have gotten five, but because if I find a 5 star book, I want it made into a movie. This one would make a great (I didn't say, "good") television series. I would watch a series like this every week.
Well done, M.H. Mead!
I really enjoyed this book. The plot hung together coherently; the editing was excellent; the settings vivid and well-described (although I've never been to Detroit--a little too specific to just one city).
I had some concerns with characters' actions which sometimes did not seem to follow logically from their personalities and previous choices. I can't give specifics without spoilers, so I won't. Some of the LaCroix family backstory dragged and was unnecessary.
Andre, the cop, seemed at times oddly lacking in judgment and self-confidence. I supposed we all do, but police officers of Sargeant rank should be better at keeping it together and not be derailed by personal conflicts on the job, for instance in following a mass murderer/terrorist in an unfamiliar neighborhood.
Sophia, the other main character--wasn't. She started out smart, sassy, competent, then jumped in bed with the cop who now reports to her, then essentially disappears from the narrative until near the end when she is kidnapped by the bad guys and rescued. I had hoped for them to be colleagues, friends, team members throughout the book, the two of them in tandem.
Oh, well, I suppose hot sex scenes are mandatory for a novel to be successful. At least these were well-written.
I very much enjoyed the near future science fiction aspects of the story, woven cleverly into and through the mystery. Well done!
Taking the Highway
Review, by Brendan Stallard
Taking the highway is a further edition of the general premise of a future time when those who wish to travel in their cars must have them full, so in order to travel they purchase a passenger, a, "fourth." The fourths are at best engaging and smart, in order to get employed. Some of them are police officers, including our main protagonist Andre LaCroix.
I cared about the characters straight away. Being a retired cop, there's always a kinship I have with cops that appear real, and these did. Cops shouldn't be doing second jobs. It's always a problem, you can't serve two masters, and cops should only be cops.
I'm not entirely sure if the characters were complex enough or that they underwent much change on their journey through the story. Andre LaCroix, at times, seemed more fortunate than good. He needed a touch of meanness perhaps.
There were too many named individuals in the story. I get the point that complex work requires plenty of characters, but at times, I couldn't keep up with the variety of names. I know you can't quite call individuals, "bad guy/good guy," like cinema does, and it isn't quite like Mozart's' "too many notes, but perhaps something to consider.
Sofia Gao entered the plot with a bang. Rude, sassy, handsome and competent. Just how I like my women. I hope she is a continuing character. Her back story could easily intrigue this dirty old dog. She eventually ended up a bit of the tied up woman rescued by the hero, when she could easily have been more kick-ass.
Cars and the inevitability of car accidents enter the plot, and one thing the writers capture well is the astonishing tragedy that a car wreck causes. Most of us don't know that, we see the news and move on. I've been to hundreds of car wrecks, they are always a massive mess.
The end snuck up on me some, and all the loose ends were tied up almost before I realized it was happening.
An enjoyable read, would like to know more, see more of, and read more of Sofia Gao.
brendan
First, I'll say that I would class this as SF lite. While set in the future, the only SF element is the Overdrive, an automatic driving system for the interstate highways. This is not a new concept, and is perhaps not as far-fetched as it was a couple of decades ago. This is technology that is still out of reach, but not by much. In this book, the technology itself is not the focus, but is a key element in social changes in the city. The Overdrive plus energy conservation laws create a whole new workforce in the Fourths - passengers for hire to fill the carpool requirements for highway traveling.
While the book is primarily a crime and mystery story, those social changes were really interesting, but lacking some detail. I did not much care for the main character at first, but he grew on me as the story progressed. His issues with his family, conflicts between his two jobs, and concerns for his city's welfare did make him an entirely realistic character. He certainly had his work cut out for him, and found more bad guys than he expected. I thought the ending was well done.
Overall, this was very good reading. I'll be interested to see if this Detroit of the future will be featured in more of the authors' work.
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