Amazon.com Review
An edgy thriller that moves from the underground music scene of southern California to the high-tech world of Silicon Valley, Keith Snyder's latest is a return trip with Jason Keltner, a starving artist and composer of electronic music who's drawn into a world where reality is a construct that depends on the hardware that creates it. When multimedia guru Huey Benton dies at a party in front of Jason's eyes, it seems at first to be an alcohol-stimulated accident. But things are not always as they appear. Jason begins to suspect that Paul Reno--the computer genius he's been asked to watch--may be involved in the death. All Jason really wants is to finish his latest composition and find a title for it, but when mysterious men start following him and threatening his life, not to mention his somewhat stalled career, he's forced to take a more active role in protecting a piece of computer hardware known as a dongle from people with no compunctions about committing murder to get their hands on it. Coffin's Got the Dead Guy on the Inside is an interesting take on a part of the music world that will be new to many readers. It is written by a multimedia designer, composer, and filmmaker who introduced his unlikely hero in Show Control. --Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
The title of this offbeat, mostly engaging but occasionally too cute, story is the answer to "What's the difference between a cello and a coffin?" That's one of several musician jokes traded by underemployed electronic composer Jason Keltner and his friend Norton Platt at the start of Snyder's second Keltner adventure (after Show Control, 1996). Platt, a shadowy figure with connections to the world of intelligence, offers Jason a paying job keeping an eye on a mutual friend, Paul Reno, who is hanging with a new crowd ("a little seedier and a little more serious than his usual") and who gets involved in software theft and a possible homicide. Paul is a royal pain, rude and condescending to Jason and his friends?Robert, a very tall actor, and Martin, "an occasional graphic artist" and aspiring knife fighter. One problem readers will have is understanding why someone doesn't punch Paul out sooner than it happens. Other readers may take issue with Snyder's reliance on scenes involving clunky old cars, a device that's refreshing for only the first few turns. Most of these objections will be made between bouts of laughter, however, as Snyder delivers dialogue that is often strikingly original and adroitly paced. His edgy, appealing characters and deft evocations of seedy Southern California urban life make return visits with Keltner and his cohorts a welcome prospect. Editor, Michael Seidman.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
