Customer Reviews

Recovery Man: A Retrieval Artist Novel (#6) (Retrieval Artist Novels)

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On the Jovan moon Callisto, Recovery Man Hadad Yu abducts Rhonda Shindo for his client the alien Gyonnese; apparently she failed to make remittance on an agreement they had; handing over her daughter to them as payment. However, this Recovery Man demands the true daughter not the clone Talia living with Rhonda. She refuses, but he insists she broke Earth Alliance law so he will take her instead.

After learning from House that her mom was out of range Talia who assumes she is thirteen earth years, now knows of cloned "false children" and that she is one of at least five. Soon afterward, the Aleyd Corporation claims possession of Talia the clone as if she is an object while the cops search for her disappeared biochemist mom. At the same time, Retrieval Artist Miles Flint follows a clue found in a secret file of his late mentor Paloma that implies his daughter Emmeline is not dead as he thought, but lives on Callisto where he will soon find himself in the middle of the search for Rhonda Shindo.

Fascinatingly, Flint plays a relatively minor role considering he has been the hero of the previous retrieval artist tales. No one will care because from the opening scene when Hadad confronts Rhonda, readers will be hooked with strong characterization starring in a powerful science fiction thriller. The prime cast is fully developed; Talia has doubts about life now that she knows she is false child; Rhonda is Machiavelli playing poker; and Hadad actually has major pangs or regret and doubt that he is doing the right thing. Fans of the series will relish this fresh entry while newcomers will learn quickly how superb a writer Kristine Katherine Rusch is.

Harriet Klausner

Recovery Man (2007) is the sixth SF novel in the Retrieval Artist series, following Paloma. In the previous volume, Flint retained Maxine van Alen as his lawyer. She arranged for him to get all computer files from the quarantined Lost Seas. Flint stored them on the Emmeline.

Nyquist was trying to warn Claudius of his danger when the assassins arrived. Nyquist killed both Bix assassins, but was severely injured. And Claudius was dead.

In this novel, Miles Flint lives in Armstrong Dome on the Moon. Long before he become a Retrieval Artist, he had a wife and daughter. Then his daughter was murdered and his wife divorced him.

Rhonda Shindo is Flint's ex-wife. She had been convicted of a serious crime by the Gyonnese and the penalty was the loss of her first-born child. She now lives on Callisto with her daughter Talia.

Talia Shindo is the sixth clone of Emmeline, the daughter of Flint and Rhonda. She is younger that her original.

Hadad Yu is a Recovery Man. Usually he recovers inanimate objects, but now he has been hired to find the missing daughter of Rhonda Shindo. The Gyonnese are convinced that Emmeline was not killed as had been reported.

Janus Nafti is the current partner of Hadad Yu. He is big and bulky, but not too smart.

In this story, Miles sits in the Emmeline -- his yacht -- going through Paloma's files. He is using a computer without links to anything else. He also has the ship moving randomly just outside the Moon's space, avoiding orbit and other ships. And he is monitoring nearby space with external sensors.

Flint knows that these files would be damaging to some important individuals and corporations. They are likely to do anything to keep this data from becoming public knowledge, including destroying his ship. Now he has security and privacy to examine them in detail.

Flint finds a curious entry concerning his deceased daughter Emmeline. Paloma had indicated that Emmeline was on Callisto. He returns to the Moon to check the information and finds that Rhonda is living on Callisto with a daughter.

He then retrieves all available information on the murder investigation of his daughter Emmeline. He finds some information missing from the police files. He decides to go to Callisto and ask Rhonda some questions.

On Callisto, Rhonda comes home from work to find Talia missing and a Recovery Man in her house. He is not after Talia, for Yu knows that she is a clone. He is after the original Emmeline. Since Rhonda will not cooperate, the Recovery Man takes her to his ship to give to the Gyonnese.

Yu locks her in a spare compartment as far away from the control room as possible. Still, her incessant pounding on the hatch is driving Hafti and himself nuts. he sends Nafti to intimidate her into stopping the noise.

Rhonda tells Nafti that the storage room is contaminated. He contacts the control room with this news. Yu has the computer check the compartment and then tells Nafti to take Rhonda to the medical quarters.

Nafti dons an old environmental suit and escorts Rhonda to medical. Once there, Rhonda starts her decontamination. She also gathers a few medical items to use as weapons.

Meanwhile, Talia hacks the house computer to get out of the locked closet where the Recovery Man put her. She checks the house and finds a video presentation of the incident that led to her mother's trial and conviction. Then she follows her mother's instructions and tries to contact a lawyer on the Moon.

The call to the Moon is unproductive, so Talia calls the local police. However, the junior lawyer continues her attempts to contact Rhonda's attorney. After finally reaching the senior partner, she finds him not very happy with her conduct. He tells her to arrange passage for him and herself to Callisto.

This tale reveals data about his daughter that Flint had not previously known. Soon the various parties are gathering on the Jupiter moons. And the Alliance Police are looking for the Recovery Man.

Flint finds himself in the role of parent of a teenager. The next volume -- Duplicate Effort -- concerns the duties and trials of such parenthood. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Rusch fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of private investigators, alien customs, and young computer wizards. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Disappeared.

-Arthur W. Jordin

like all of the retrieval artist novels, 'recovery man', has it's good parts and its bad. at times it seems to run on, be disjointed. it need to be tightened up some. also, the mothers death could have been done much better.

This book is the 2007 addition to the Recovery Man series. This book is not the place to start the series. It does not stand alone. It assumes familiarity with Myles, Paloma and their back story. It is well written, tense, and solves the question I never thought to ask: Why did Myles's wife leave him after the death of their infant daughter?

I've been a fan of the Retrieval Artist series since the second book.

For the newcomer, Rusch's latest book is not the best place to begin reading -- it assumes the reader is basically familiar with the setting and with Miles Flint, the series protagonist. (Familiarity with the prior book, Paloma, is useful but not vital to the plot.) Extremes is a better starting point.

For the fan, the events of the book and the effect on Miles are worth reading. New characters, including Miles' ex-wife, are well drawn and engrossing. I find I missed even a cameo from Miles' former partner, but it is a minor loss.

All in all, a good book, though less so for a newcomer to the series.

The Recovery Man continues the series of science fiction private detective stories in the Retrieval Artist series. This book provides a broader understanding of the events, mentioned in earlier books, that lead the main character Miles Flint to become a retrieval artist.

As other reviewers have said, this book is not the best place to start the series. But it is overall an enjoyable addition to the series. It is interesting as well established facts about the main series character (Miles Flint) are retold and reinterpreted from the experiences of another character, his ex-wife Rhonda Shindo.

Miles Flint is only partially involved in the plot of this book. But this is fine, because it expands the overall story arc beyond his experiences.

I was disappointed by two things.

First, I expect that well established science facts not be presented incorrectly, especially in the science fiction genre, but this book contains several errors. The most grievous occurs on page 256 where Ms. Rusch provides an incorrect explanation for the phases of the moon. She writes that the moon dome's artificial daylight is used "during the two weeks in the Earth's shadow". The phases of the moon are caused by the Moon's shadow, not the Earth's. The Earth's shadow causes short lived lunar eclipses or from the dome's point of view a solar eclipse.

The second is really a preference issue. I don't particularly enjoy Spielbergian genius children who are smarter and one step ahead stupid adults. I understand the importance to this book's plot of Talia Shindo. If your preference are like mine, you should be warned that Talia is a primary character in this book. And since Talia has the potential to be a re-occurring character, I worry that this series will start to depend upon her as both a motivator for Miles Flint and as a deus ex machina based on her genius and technical abilities. That would certainly make the series less enjoyable to me.

If you are a fan of the series, then this book is a decent addition to the series. This book has the typical for the series easy reading style. It never bogs down in long speeches or dense details. The plot moves along at a nice fast pace. If you haven't read the series, then I recommend starting with "The Disappeared" or as early in the series as you can get since each book builds slightly on events of the previous books.

I am absolutely thrilled to discover the Retrieval Artist books. Women exist in these books and they are not just sexual playthings that are so popular in those pubescent boy science fiction books. Rusch seems to realize that there is a large female readership for science fiction and we aren't all 13. I'm 61, and my interest in adolescent sex disappeared sometime during menopause though I'm very interested in the DeRicci/Nyquist affair. Keep these books coming. Old ladies who like hard science fiction and mysteries need you, Ms. Rusch. So far, I've read all six twice. We need some new books.