If it gets into enough hands, Michael Shean’s Shadow of a Dead Star is going to have a huge following. That's because it's well-written, nicely paced, and offers some surprising turns in a genre often referred to as tech or future noir. A list of fitting reference points you'll see mentioned will include Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (or Blade Runner if you prefer), Neal Stephenson, Cyberpunk, William Gibson, CSI, maybe even some work by Warren Ellis. I'd venture to include a few more unconventional influences, namely Clive Barker or Mary Shelley.

Set in Seattle 2078, Shadow of a Dead Star is a grimy, nightmarish vision of a dystopian future. It also functions as a procedural crime drama complete with crime bosses, anxious detectives, and plenty of mystery. Because it falls within the realms of tech noir, it means we have to accept that some folks are walking around with cybernetic implants or with their brains wired to computers. Instead of relying on wit and instinct, agents now have an arsenal of advanced software, cloaking devices, and smart guns. If you can embrace all that, you’re in for quite a ride.

It's an utterly bleak, technology-saturated, cynical world created by Shean. His vision of the future is inhabited by the “connected” super rich, the desperate folks living on the fringe of society, and the violent struggles for control that fall in between. Shean capitalizes on Seattle’s dreary climate, an expanse now separated into New City (the corporate core), Old City (an untamed urban ruin), and The Verge (slum-like border between the two zones). The book is hyperviolent with detailed descriptions of bloodshed and viscera, melted flesh and protruding bone. Also detailed is a fully realized world of uber technology, complete with futuristic toys and lingo. The old city, with its devastated infrastructure and hordes of feral inhabitants, is now considered the “wilderness.” We can imagine a world filled coast-to-coast with dilapidated buildings, pulsating power stations, and war zones. To quote from Shean’s own description, his playing field is a “post-apocalyptic vision of an end that has not yet come."

Despite the cold, networked landscape of his story, Shean has a secret weapon—humanity. For every monstrous atrocity committed in the story, there's always a human voice asking "why." Although his characters are totally immersed in a corporate-controlled megalopolis, not all of them have totally given themselves to the model. Rather than succumb to the reigning fetishistic society, they fight to retain whatever sense of humanity is still left within. Shean peppers the undercurrent of philosophical implications with interesting descriptions of the body as extension of the machine—as having the contours of shoulders and wings. He does the same for the human characters and their relation to the mechanical—those deriving pleasure from nerve probes instead of their own five senses.

Our protagonist is Tom Walken, one of the Industrial Security Bureau’s most experienced agents. Sought for a strong investigative instinct, his job is policing the world of illicit technology. He’s more or less a vice cop, cracking down on the creepier aspects of the technology industry. Walken is a good cop, an honest cop, but he's at his wit's end with the drudgery, corruption, and the inhumanity of it all. Hell, he might even be an idealist, at least as much as can be mustered in this world. If he had his druthers, he'd probably just be the permanent maintenance man of his dilapidated apartment building. For now, he tackles some of the worst cases involving the most sordid use of technology.

When he’s assigned the task of tracking down some missing “Dolls”—child-like programmed sex slaves—he’s thrust into the labyrinthine underworld of unmentionable technology coming out of Wonderland. Wonderland—referred to as such in Great Siam (a future Thailand)—is the hub of the black market industry, churning out devices to suit the most heinous of lusts. The entire system is one of extreme corruption, gang warfare, tech-prostitution, and hideous melding of human flesh with electronic parts. With the help of the gorgeous, street-smart Bobbi January, they uncover a plot for domination by a group of individuals who may not be totally human. He’ll be pitted against Anton Stadil, a major player in illicit activity in New City. In his fancy suits, Stadil runs a number of hi-tech sex clubs with thuggish tactics. A series of events guides them to the ultimate truth, one that will place Walken face-to-face with a possible new species of human.

Shean’s use of archtypical characters and dialogue works well by offering temporary escape from the monumental surroundings and cynical nature of the story. His two leads ground the story, one which tends to feel overwhelming in scope. They converse like a couple of characters straight out of a ’40s film noir in stark contrast to the unrecognizable world surrounding them. Walken's character is richly developed—a tough guy with a heart and conscience. He doesn't shrug off the people (or cyborgs) killed in battle. He feels real pathos for the victims of a world long since spiraled out of control. He sees in the “Dolls” his own waning humanity, and the shift to a society shorn of spirituality, emotion, and compassion. His is on a personal crusade, though he believes he’s simply doing his job.

The book ends on an ironic, ambiguous note which may fail to satisfy some readers. I, however, found it to ring in perfect harmony with the progression of the story. Shean has smartly crossed many genre boundaries, giving him the freedom to move about in ways we don’t expect. Though some militant sci-fi fans might be turned off by the often gruesome imagery, most will be rewarded with a story that rises above mere fodder for action sequences. There’s a true heart and soul at work here, one that resists the seeming inevitability of this potential future. While science fiction writers like Michael Shean may not be able to halt the unstoppable force that is progress, they can at least prepare us for the consequences. If we ignore their warning, only we’re to blame.

Shadow of a Dead Star is the first in the three-book Wonderland Cycle series. The second book, Redeye, will be available soon. For more information and updates, please visit http://michael-shean.com/wordpress