Passion Play (Tesseract Books) [Paperback]

Sean Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2002 | Series: Tesseract Books

The great cities are dying, like the country, from the heart out. The Redemption Presidency tolerates vigilantes who kill according to Biblical example. The police subcontract freelancers. Diane Fletcher is one of them. She is also cursed with the gift of seeing and feeling the emotions of others. Set in a future where right-wing theology has merged with government, the novel explores current religious and philosophical trends, creating an action filled journey of adventure and intrigue.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This tale of a futuristic sleuth who pursues criminals and her own inner demons succeeds both as science fiction and as a mystery. Although pretentious prose studs the first few pages (e.g., "Scattered across the asphalt like murderer's footprints, puddles of water turn bloody with sunset"), it vanishes when Stewart settles in to show us freelance detective Diane Fletcher using her ability as a "shaper" (someone who can read and experience the emotions of others) to help policeman Rolly French investigate the death of Jonathan Mask. An actor, Mask was electrocuted while filming a television show. Since he was the darling of the fundamentalist Christian, anti-technology, anti-intellectual "Reds" who run Redemption Era America, French hopes that the actor's death was accidental; but Fletcher's interview of cast and crew reveals strange patterns under "the murk of events." Even as Fletcher doggedly explores the relationships between Mask and his coworkers, she becomes increasingly disturbed about the morality of her own life and work. This memorable character contributes significantly to Stewart's fast-paced yet thoughtful debut.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When the country's leading actor and religious icon dies under suspicious circumstances, freelance hunter Diane Fletcher is commandeered by the Redemptionist government to track down the murderer--despite her heretical beliefs. Set in a grimly puritanical America of the not-so-distant future, this first novel explores the intimate relationship between the hunter and the hunted. Told in compellingly simple language, this powerful debut belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: Tesseract Books; 1 edition (November 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888783140
• ISBN-13: 978-0888783141
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sean Stewart is the author of the innovative I Love Bees and Beast search operas, two short stories, and seven previous novels: Galveston, Mockingbird, The Night Watch, Clouds End, Resurrection Man, Nobody's Son, and Passion Play. His novels have received the Aurora, Arthur Ellis, Sunburst, Canadian Library, and World Fantasy awards. He presently writes lots of things that have Non Disclosure Agreements attached so he cannot talk about them. Stewart is tall, energetic, uses big words easily, coaches his daughter's soccer team, is a great reader, has taught writing, and lives in Davis, CA, with his wife and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite writing and an excellent read, April 10, 2001

By 

S. Katz (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passion Play (Paperback)

When I first picked up Sean Stewart, a few years ago, it was because they happened to have autographed copies of two of his books -- notably Passion Play and Nobody's Son -- on the shelf after a signing. I believe he still lived in the area then. I skimmed the covers, thought they sounded interesting, and bought them.

I was in no way disappointed, and I've bought all of his books since.

This is an exquisite book. Stewart has a way with a turn of phrase that always makes me want to read more; he handles sentences delicately, and the emotions that his characters feel infuse the lines. His writing style may not be for everyone, but I enjouy good writing that paints images with words, and his does that for me.

He also writes female voices very well. I was impressed with how well he took on the persona of a woman; she spoke convincingly, had convincing trials and tribulations, and problems that anyone could relate to -- or at least anyone who has ever had that feeling of disconnect from themselves, exacerbated by her profession.

Stewart writes books where magic is integral, and part and parcel to the story; it is not thrown in as an afterthought but is ingrained and the world would not be the same without it. Very original, and very worth reading for the possible promises and futures it ordains.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passion Play - best I've read in years, January 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Passion Play (Paperback)

Gets a nine for the annoying, unhappy ending.

Seriously, this is a great book. While on the surface it's a book about a murder, it really engages on other levels. One of the central themes is biblical vs. civil justice, and whether murder is ever right.. Not that this is a religious book. Far from it, thankfully. Faust is another theme that is explored, but it's really just a great book. Stewart has a gift for concise, powerful description.

The main character is unique. Dianne Fletcher is a shaper - a sort of empath discovered by a psychiatrist about 20 years before the novel begins. Shapers can 'read' emotions. Dianne Fletcher comes up with an analogy for how a person acts. For example, a very religious man she 'sees' as a wick, burning brightly in a white wax candle. (Stewart puts it better than I do.) She's a Hunter, basically a private detective, but they're licensed by the government, and work more closely with the police. Basically, they get all the difficult cases that the police can't handle because they're busy arresting people for adultery and other stuff. The world is really well thought out, and isn't that far from the technology level of the present day 1990s, so If you don't like far out SF, don't worry. This is just a nicely detailed backdrop for the story.

Anyway, the book is really, really good. Every time I read it it never lasts long enough. And I'm always mad at the way the ending turns out. But the ending is consistent with the world the book takes place in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising and excellent, and over too soon, November 25, 2009

By 

Tactitles (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Passion Play (Tesseract Books) (Paperback)

Diane Fletcher is a Shaper, which is a sort of empath. She is a private investigator, known as a Hunter, for her dogged determination to pursue criminals. It is an ability that has come naturally for her most of her life, and she has lived with the ultimate certainty of the rightness of her cause. But criminals who have been publicly executed, after being apprehended by her, have begun to haunt her conscience. No longer living with moral certainty, she has begun to question her beliefs and her being. She is not wholly convinced that her Shaper ability has not dulled her humanity, after years of being overwhelmed by others' true feelings and nature. The truth has seemed to shake her view of mankind, which has opened other questions Fletcher is not comfortable asking. Amidst all of this, she is pulled into an apparent suicide of a beloved actor (known as a Communicator). It quickly becomes a possible murder investigation. The investigion leads to a riveting conclusion, which is so well told that the impact is deep, and effective. Those two words aptly describe the book as a whole. It is a deceptively simple story - a murder mystery, with a science fiction backdrop. But there is layer upon layer of other themes wrapped around it. Characters are expertly drawn, moral and ethical issues are explored, and Diane Fletcher is unforgettable. Simply a diamond of a book, waiting to be discovered by the masses.