Customer Reviews

Lacey and His Friends

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Lacey and His Friends is a Drake anthology of five shorts he wrote from 1977 to 1981 for Analog (still issued by puzzle magazine purveyor Dell Publications) and Destinies (defunct, published by Baen from 1980-1989). The book contains three Lacey stories and two unrelated time traveler yarns.

It was released straight to paperback in 1986 after Drake had found a hit in his Hammer's Slammers series of space mercenary novels/anthologies (1979, Hammer's Slammers; 1984, Cross the Stars; and 1985, At Any Price). Drake wasn't the first to capitalize on the space age diaspora mercenary idea (see H. Beam Piper's 1963 classic Space Viking or Piper contemporary Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic League series released between 1958 [The Man Who Counts] and 1978 [The Earth Book of Stormgate]), but he was the first to successfully inject the gritty realities of combat experience of the Vietnam War into modern science fiction. The chirpy and idealistic 1950s style of Robert Heinlein's military sci-fi had overstayed its welcome by 1980, so the reading public was more than ready for Drake's style of anti-hero.

Nation Without Walls is the first in the lineup and sets the background of the Lacey trilogy. The United States is a dystopian future of energy shortage-driven poverty and crime that is counterbalanced by near constant surveillance and recording of every individual. Vaguely similar to the Phillip K. Dick 1956 classic The Minority Report (and adapted by Spielberg on the big screen in 2002), obvious criminals are taken out by a "red team" dispatched by the omnipresent computers that are watching all. More sophisticated crimes that take advantage of the weaknesses inherent in video driven surveillance are assigned to police officers like Lacey, themselves selected for the single mindedness and deductive ability required to outthink those smart enough to elude a red team. The main character twist is that Lacey is a convicted rapist who has been rehabilitated through psychological conditioning, and as a result of that treatment, possesses the ideal characteristics needed to be a cop in this here and now.

Anthony Burgess touched on this theme in his 1963 classic A Clockwork Orange when one of the brutish and murderous juvenile friends (Dim) of the central character (Alex) is inducted as a cop by the State upon coming of age. But I give Drake credit for a fresh synthesis. This plot line continues to be popular and can be found in more recent books such as William C. Dietz's 1993 commercially successful Legion of the Damned (where recruits in the cyborg corps of the future Legion are executed criminals).

Nation Without Walls centers on protagonists intent on the overthrow of the federal government who are forced to murder several people standing in their way. The evil-doers turn out to be officers in the Security Police, a sort of cross between the FBI and the Gestapo, the only group with the power necessary to circumvent the suffocating surveillance that would normally prevent such murders in the first place. Screwing up their careful plans is a persistent civilian cop--Lacey.

The second story, The Predators, a sort of Asimov-esque whodunit driven by technology-enabled crime, finds Lacey trying to solve the death of a man murdered without apparent motive, visual evidence, or even an obvious weapon. Like in Nation Without Walls, Lacey dispenses justice as he sees fit when normally sufficient societal safeguards break down in the face of political interference.

In the capstone story, Underground, Drake foreshadows his enduring plot trademark--horrific slaughter may be required to ensure the survival of democratic ideals. This is the ultimate paradox, of course. It is the thin gray line that separates the 21st century middle eastern ideological criminals killing thousands of innocents in an effort to wear down hated governments and gain attention for their cause and the 20th century Allied generals condemning thousands of innocents to death in the total warfare waged against cities like Dresden and Nagasaki in order to cut the jugular of the Axis war machine. Who is right, and who is wrong? Right and wrong are often murky concepts wholly subject to the point of view of the beholder. True to this moral conflict, Drake's story focuses on the class struggle being waged between the haves in New York City and the have-nots of a rebel society that has formed below the streets (plot elements of which appear in John Carpenter's 1981 cult-classic film Escape from New York). Ten years prior the city authorities backed down when faced with the unspeakable tradeoff of high civilian casualties versus eradicating the rebel threat. Lacey is brought in to solve this dilemma in a fashion unique to his moral compass.

Apparently the publisher (Baen) felt that if the anthology ended here on page 144 the buying public would take a pass on forking over $3.50 (in 1986 dollars). So two more stories and another 155 pages were tacked on. Neither have anything to do with the Lacey thread, but that's quite all right as both are an enjoyable and breezy read.

The first filler story, aptly named Travelers, takes place in the turn of the 19th century United States. Drake deftly intertwines issues of the time (the Spanish American War and the motorization of transportation) with contemporary based commentary in a plot that foreshadows another anthology released in 1991 by the author, Old Nathan. That book, probably his finest, displays his knack for bringing to life early and mid-nineteenth century America through vivid character development and an effortless colloquial writing style.

The second filler story (and the second time traveler tale), Time Safari, again foreshadows Drake's oft used theme of cowardice and bluster in the face of death overcome by selfless bravery of others. Plot elements bear a striking resemblance to those found in Robert Heinlein's 1955 novel Tunnel in the Sky and more recently in the wildly successful Prince Roger trilogy (2001-2006) by John Ringo, as well as the Michael Crichton 1990 novel, Jurassic Park. As for Drake's story, well let us just say that much like the slimy lawyer getting eaten in the 1993 film adaptation of Jurassic Park, the bad apple in this story meets his not-so-timely end.

In all, Lacey and His Friends is an entertaining read and a window on Drake's formative years as a fiction writer that will gratify those lucky enough to stumble upon this edition in their local used book store or on Amazon.

Drake tells us himself in the forward to this set of short stories that they were written in a dark period. Boy, I'll say! Lacy is totally ruthless. Drake does a fine job of inventing crimes in a near future where every action is recorded by the omnipresent camera. Lacey goes after his quarry with a bulldog-like determination that is riveting to read. Lacey is a semi-rehabilitated rapist made cop, who operates according to his own wierd moral sense. If you've read any of Andrew Vachs' Burke novels, you won't want to miss this. Oh yea, the, AND HIS FRIENDS, in the title refers to a couple of light fluff stories added at the end

Now this is a book of the distopian future, combine elements of Gunn With Occaisional Music, 1984, and A Clockwork Orange... Add one VERY hardboiled cop and you get one hell of a collection of stories. Drake combines historical events, a bleak future, and some bleak insights into humanity into an amazing journey. Not to be missed.

This set of dark tales about a grim "detective" solving crimes in a bleak oppressive future is truly Drake's best work.
Lacey is a humorless, merciless "rehabilitated" rapist turned investigator who uses the all-seeing surveillance systems of the future to stalk his prey. Along the way he also gains some small measure of revenge against "Big Brother" for the mental emasculation that constituted his rehabilitation. It's too bad that none of Drake's other works come close to matching this level of intensity. Everything else I've read by Drake seems tepid and lame by comparison. Read it. Only 3 stars 'cause there are some really weak non-Lacey stories included to fluff up the word count.