Extremes: A Retrieval Artist Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Booklist calls Extremes “an exemplary futuristic detective thriller.” RT Book Reviews says, “This futuristic tale breaks new ground as a space police procedural and should appeal to science fiction and mystery fans.” But Locus Magazine covers it all: “Extremes is simultaneously thriller, deftly plotted detective story, and SF complete with a form of Mad Scientist. Like the best of those genres, it also features well-drawn characters whose various viewpoints, areas of expertise, moral choices, and personal dilemmas all add to the rich mix.”

A Retrieval Artist dies of a virus, yet his colleague, Miles Flint, believes the death is not an accident. Police detective Noelle DeRicci knows that the death of a young woman in the Moon’s prestigious Extreme Marathon is not an accident. It soon becomes clear that both deaths are connected. Flint and DeRicci find themselves in their own race, one against time and a certain kind of madness that could threaten everything they know and love.

Find out why I09 says Miles Flint is one of the best science fiction detectives ever, why New York Times bestselling writer Orson Scott Card calls the Retrieval Artist series “some of the best science fiction ever written.” Read Extremes.

International bestselling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch has won two Hugo awards, a World Fantasy Award, and three Asimov’s Readers Choice Awards. IO9 called her six (so far) bestselling, award-winning Retrieval Artist novels one of the top ten science fiction detective series ever.

For more information about all of her work, please go to kristinekathrynrusch.com

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Retired cop Miles Flint is now a Retrieval Artist--that is, someone who tracks down members of the Disappeared, a category of outlaws wanted for crimes against aliens. His first job is investigating the death of another Artist, who supposedly died of a viral infection. While he is doing that, a young woman dies during the moon's celebrated Extreme Marathon, a fine display of low-gravity sports. Her death is at first thought to be accidental, but it turns out to be a murder. Putting the two investigations together enters Flint in a race to stop a viral epidemic for which there is no known cure. Good all around, Rusch's third Retrieval Artist novel is an exemplary futuristic detective thriller that stands independent of The Disappeared [BKL Je 1 & 15 02] and Alien Influences (1997), but is likely to motivate readers to search out its predecessors. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Roc (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459342
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459343
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Death At the Armstrong Marathon, July 7, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extremes: A Retrieval Artist Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Extremes (2003) is the second novel in the Retrieval Artist series, following The Disappeared. In the previous volume, Miles Flint and his partner, Noelle DeRicci, are detectives in the Moon Police. They survive and solve three cases involving the Disappeared, people who have been helped to vanish from official view after being convicted of crimes on alien worlds.

Such Disappeared are considered criminals under interstellar treaties signed by the Terran authorities and all Terran police are directed to assist any aliens or bounty hunters who are tracking down such fugitives. These were Miles's first cases as a detective and the obvious injustices in all three instances are more than he can ignore. When he receives a large sum of money, Miles resigns from the force and buys the business of a friend who is a retrieval artist.

After learning as much about the business as he can from Paloma, the former owner, Miles awaits his first case. He is approached by a junior attorney with the firm of Wagner, Stuart, and Xandor, Ltd, to discover the whereabouts of a Disappeared. Miles is suspicious of the offer, especially when the woman mentions that Paloma had worked with them in the past. Fearing that he might be used as a Tracker, Miles refuses the case and then visits a research cafe near the University campus to investigate WSX. Shortly thereafter, Ignatius Wagner, the younger son of WSX's senior partner, shows up to persuade him to take the case.

Meanwhile, Noelle and her new partner, Leif van der Ketting, are directed to the site of the Armstrong Marathon, where the body of a woman has been found on the course. The body appears to be Jane Zweig, the co-owner of an extreme tours company. Zweig's partner, Brady Coburn, has discovered the body curled up in the shade of a very large boulder. When Noelle views the body, she finds several discrepancies that leads her to believe the death was not an accident.

Miriam Oliviari is a Tracker who has come to the Armstrong Marathon looking for Frieda Tey, a medical researcher who has been accused of exposing a group of subjects to a rapidly mutating virus and then cold bloodily observing their struggles and deaths. Miriam has joined the marathon staff as a contract medic in order to collect DNA samples from various suspects. She knows of an incident on the course, but is not concerned since it was reported as a male runner.

These three cases rapidly converge into a single disaster. Noelle gets to show her administrative talents, Miriam displays her leadership abilities, and Miles performs a hot pursuit in space. This rapidly moving story is an excellent sequel to The Disappeared, but sets such a high standard that it may prove a hard act to follow.

Highly recommended to Rusch fans and anyone else who enjoys fast moving suspense stories with twist after twist.

-Arthur W. Jordin

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good SF Mystery/Thriller, August 19, 2003

By 

Lisa J. Steele (Bolton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extremes: A Retrieval Artist Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this up on a whim and was surprised at how well it blends a near future setting with the police procedural mystery style. A good novel for fans of both genres.

Rauch plays fair with the science and the mystery. Since the reader is privy to information from three different investigators, he or she may well solve plot points ahead of the heroes, but not so far ahead as make the story slow or unsatisfying.

Certainly worth a read in these dog-days of summer.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice procedural, August 2, 2003

By 

Addison Phillips (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extremes: A Retrieval Artist Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked up this volume during the "speed shopping" portion of a visit to the bookstore with my son (3 1/2). I didn't expect much from it, so it was a pleasant surprise to get a decently crafted police procedural/detective story coupled with SF. This is a neglected form of science fiction and a good addition is a great blessing.

The book is a bit weak in some areas. The ending is a bit muddled. There are some gaps in this book's exposition that might be explained by the previous volume (which, thank heavens, is not at all necessary to enjoy this one). The writer is a bit more familiar with the mystery genre than with SF. The SF bits aren't very crisp and feel borrowed. The setting on the moon was handled more deftly, for example, in Niven's Patchwork Girl.

But there is a lot here to like. The characters aren't nitwits. The puzzle is pretty good. There's nothing sloppy about the book and the writing is genuinely gripping in many places. I recommend it and will go back and get the previous volume when I get the chance.