Customer Reviews

The Mammoth Book of Future Cops

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This is a collection of thirty-three crime stories set in the future. They cover standard crime themes of murder, robbery, embezzlement, fraud. Their settings are what make them science fiction.

Some representative stories:

William Nolan's "Violation" shows a future traffic cop making a routine stop of a car that runs a red light.

In Joe Haldeman's "Blood Sisters" a beautiful woman walks into a private detective's office and asks for his protection. She can't go to the police.

Melanie Fogel's "Thighs" feels a little like A Clockwork Orange. But at least the main character has a job.

In Carol Ann Davis' "You Never Know" a dedicated FBI investigator loses sleep over a serial killer.

The stories are okay. A couple are memorable. The collection as a whole kind of wears on you after a while. It might have worked better split up into two or three more tightly-themed collections. This would encourage readers to take it in smaller doses. Unless you have a particular interest in science fiction and crime, I'd recommend skipping this one.

Basically what it says, so if you are a fan of the detective or crime story and are interested in a bit of science fiction to go along with that, then this anthology would serve you well, as plenty of stories in this book told with that style, as well as the odd straight short more standard sf story.

Quite well done, carrying a 3.47 average throughout.

Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Celebrate the Bullet - Richard Paul Russo
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Glass Earth Inc. - Stephen Baxter
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Footprint on Nowhere Beach - Conrad Williams
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : The Shape of Murder - Ian Watson
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : The Incorporated - John Shirley
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Seiza - Steven Schwartz
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Axl Against The Immortals - Jon Courtenay-Grimwood
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Offenders - Mat Coward
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Violation - William F. Nolan
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Needle Taste - M. Christian
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : An End to Hunger - China Miéville
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : A Scanner Darkly [SS] - Philip K. Dick
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : The Mojave Two-Step - Norman Partridge
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Blood Sisters - Joe Haldeman
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Heartache - Stuart Young
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Mindstalker - Martin Edwards
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Thighs - Melanie Fogel
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : The Uncertainty Principle - John Moralee
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Prison Dreams - Paul McAuley
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Three Bananas - Larry Tritten
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : You Never Know - Carol Anne Davis
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Play Nice - J. E. Ashley
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Me and My Shadow - Mike Resnick
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Gone Bush - Chris Amies
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Digital Honey - Liz Evans
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Blankie - Paul Di Filippo
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : No Better Than Anyone Else - Molly Brown
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : So Napoleon Almost Slept Here Right? - O'Neil De Noux
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Professionals - Keith Brooke
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Fishing - Jay Caselberg
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : In Silver A - Cecilia Tan
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Sleep That Burns - Jerry Sykes
Mammoth Book of Future Cops : Ravens - Stephen Dedman


Sheltered violence distribution.

4 out of 5


Advertising unreality dysfunction.

3.5 out of 5


Murder supply chip replay.

3 out of 5


Poirot ship instantiation investigation shifts.

3 out of 5


Corporate disinformation system edit.

4 out of 5


Net run relations.

2.5 out of 5


Wh0re transformation raid.

3.5 out of 5


Joke police.

3.5 out of 5


Traffic policing is killer.

4 out of 5


Revenge removal.

2.5 out of 5


Philanthropic satire unappreciated.

3.5 out of 5


Drug scramble.

4 out of 5


Robot slot slayer.

3.5 out of 5


Original courtesan clone kill refusal freedom association.

3.5 out of 5


S*xually transmitted hit.

4.5 out of 5


Psychological murder skills.

3.5 out of 5


Hardbody trade.

3 out of 5


P**dophile rejuve extreme.

3.5 out of 5


Doll triage run.

3.5 out of 5


Extinct fruit 0rgy revenge.

3.5 out of 5


Frozen killer blowup.

3 out of 5


Life stealing payback hit.

3 out of 5


I'm personality driven, just like the old days, killer.

3.5 out of 5


Correspondence disposal.

3 out of 5


Inorganic assistance unappreciated can leave you out in the cold.

4 out of 5


Child minder's overly close attention gives spiteful big baby up.

4 out of 5


Ex-backup singer cop's lack of backup mistake.

3.5 out of 5


Cold case crim's conversion not quite clever enough.

4 out of 5


Love addiction duo's deal.

3.5 out of 5


Relocation deal a dud.

3 out of 5


Fringes or elsewhere preferred to America.

3 out of 5


Finally putting the heart of the matter on ice.

3.5 out of 5


Suicide isn't painless, says the forecast.

4 out of 5

The title is a bit of a misnomer -- the stories are as much about private eyes and criminals as about police in the future.

Most of the stories have a strong disoptia tone, which can be wearying after nearly 500 pages. A few stories have clever ideas or societies that I would have liked to see more of, but many seemed typical of the genre.

With 30+ stories, quality varies. I didn't find much that stuck with me after putting the book down, but there was enough variety to keep me reading until the last.

For the folks who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they'll like.