Transient City

Transient City (Victor Stromboli 1) by Al Onia

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I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, mostly because it is a well-written mystery with thrilling set-pieces and a sympathetic lead character.

Victor Stromboli is leaving on the fringes of society in Transient City on the planet Lodan. Lodan is owned by Agamemnon Corporation, which is only interested in Lodan's mineral wealth. The cities on Lodan are moving mining operations that slowly crawl over the face of the planet from mineral strike to mineral strike, picking the planet clean. Eventually, the corporation will pick Lodan clean and leave the planet and its population without any established settlements or economic infrastructure. This set-up leaves a hidden undercurrent of political unrest in the background.

Stromboli has a photographic memory which he uses to act as a part-time, freelance “witness” for the security bureau. Stromboli is liked by the people he deals with, but there is something withdrawn about him because of past tragedies that he literally cannot forget.

Stromboli is drawn into conspiracies while participating in the investigation of several murders. One of the murders involves the husband of a woman recently returned to Transient City who Stromboli cannot forget as his great unrequited love when he was twelve years old. She, of course, has forgotten him.

The book clips along at a good pace with serial killers, explosions, plots, and counterplots. I liked the Stromboli character who kept things glued together.

The book is not perfect. I didn't have a clear sense of what Jordan was like. My mental image was “Mars with atmosphere” because the city seemed to have no obstacles in the way, but there were indigenous life forms, or, at least two were mention. So, the world-building was fairly empty.

Likewise, I question an administrative system consisting of three bureaus - Automation, Immigration, and Security. Maybe that could work, but it seems sparse. Immigration worked as Human Resources, incidentally, because a large part of the economic system involved the cities trading blocks of compartments and the people that went with them to fit their economic needs.

All in all, though, it was a fun book. I've picked up the next instalment in the Stromboli series.