First published 1994
Conrad Metcalf works as a private detective in a world where evolved animals walk alongside humans. The city operates under strange rules, and Conrad tries to make sense of cases that blur the line between the ordinary and the surreal. When one investigation pulls him deeper than expected, Conrad discovers he has stepped between two powerful forces. On one side stand the gangsters who control the streets. On the other waits the Inquisitor's office, a government authority with its own agenda. Conrad must navigate this conflict while the case threatens to consume him. The detective finds himself caught in a web where the stakes keep rising and the rules keep changing. In this noir landscape populated by both species, Conrad struggles to survive a game where the players hold more power than any private investigator should face.
Genres: science-fiction, speculative-fiction, detective
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, noir
Setting: Conrad Metcalf
262 pages · Hardcover · Harcourt Brace