The Sapphire Sirens [Paperback]

John Zakour (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Zach Johnson, the world's last freelance detective, has been man-napped by the beautiful sapphire-haired Amazon Kiana. She's brought him to her home island of Lantis-where the women dominate men with their words-to discover who killed her mother, the Queen. But to save the day this time, Zach and his holographic A.I. sidekick HARV have to tangle with not just one gorgeous superwoman, but four. Each of Kiana's three sisters could have the motive and the means to pull off the crime-and now that you mention it, Kiana could too...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the seventh adventure (after 2008's The Flaxen Femme Fatale) for Zachary Nixon Johnson, the last freelance PI on Earth, Zakour continues his playful pastiche of hard-boiled detective novels with a SF twist. This time, Zach is kidnapped and taken to Lantis, a secret island of alien Amazonian women, to find out who killed their queen. Aided by HARV, an AI wired to his brain, Zach must wrangle superpowered buxom babes who instinctively distrust men and believe them inferior. Zach finds and confronts the murderer, but then HARV's right to exist is challenged and put on trial. It's no surprise that the pulp-style plot and characters have plenty of atmosphere and little substance, but while there are clichés aplenty, Zakour's examination of whether humanity is the sole province of humans adds depth to the lightweight story. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Return now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when sf paperbacks and pulp magazines had lurid covers featuring large-breasted women with blue hair in the arms of lantern-jawed guys brandishing huge ray guns. Meet Zachary Nixon Johnson, the world’s last private eye, his brain-linked supercomputer HARV, and GUS, his sentient gun. It’s the year 2070 in this latest of seven novels (beginning with The Plutonium Blonde, 2001) featuring Zach and his talking accessories, who once again are asked to save the world, this time from 10,000 telepathic superpowered Lantian women (who live at Lantis—get it—located on a remote island). This series, first published online, combines some rousing sf adventure with a hilarious, wise-cracking send-up of the hard-boiled PI genre. Recommend it to fans of A. Lee Martinez’s The Automatic Detective (2008) and Richard K. Morgan’s less comic genre-bender Woken Furies (2005). --Elliott Swanson

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: DAW; Original edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756405815
• ISBN-13: 978-0756405816
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #850,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amusing pulp action science fiction mystery, December 4, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sapphire Sirens (Paperback)

In 2060, Zachary Nixon Johnson is the last freelance detective in the world. He is ably assisted by his AI sidekick HARV and together they have saved the world many times over.

Zach's latest case is finding former basketball star turned entrepreneur Don Rickey's Baseball card collection. He gets a blackmail letter asking for four million dollars to get the collection back. The paper the note is written on is Prime especially since most people communicate through paperless means. The client's ex-wife bought the paper. Zack finds in her home a sapphire who fights him and knocks him out. She takes him to Lantis an island dominated totally by females who came from another planet millennia ago and use a force field and other advanced technology to keep intruders out. His "man-napper" sapphire-haired Amazon Princess Kiana demands Zach find out who killed her mother. The evidence points to Kiana, but the sleuth thinks she is being framed as her guilt is too overwhelming to be true. He has two days to uncover the truth or one of her three sisters will be the heir to the throne of Lantis and Kiana will be execured; of course than again the proof may prove right.

This amusing pulp action science fiction mystery is loaded with futuristic technology, royal politics, a two meter plus giantess, amazons, baseball cards, comic books, Zach and HARV. What more could someone ask for?. The relationship between HARV and Zach is evolving as the AI increasingly seems more human, which makes them behave more like friends. Zach treats the island case like he does any as he easily adjusts to kick butt females (he knows Threta first hand), technology (He has HARV) and royal bull (he has the law). John Zakour provides another colorful insane sci fi whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

4.0 out of 5 stars Flamingnet.com Teen Book Reviews-keeps you on your toes, April 4, 2010

By 

Flamingnet Teen Book Reviews "FLAMINGNET COM" (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sapphire Sirens (Paperback)

This book is about Zachary Nixon Johnson,who is the
last Private Investigator on the earth. The story takes
place in the future, when humanity has evolved into a
robot friendly environment. His own best friend is a
hologram with a brain! Things are going great for Zach,
and he seems to be putting together a life that works for
him.

Then, one day, he is kidnapped and brought to the
island, Lantis, with only women, to solve a crime. The
queen of Lantis had been killed and it's up to Zach to
find out who the killer is, and the suspects include the
queens daughters themselves!

I really liked this book because it has
tons of action, and even a trial of
faith between Zach and the Amazonian women! The book went
a little slow, but not everything in life is fast, and the
author stayed in the role of Zach the whole time. Some
parts are hard to understand and I found myself skimming
every once in a while, but then the action grabs you and
keeps you on your toes until the end! I felt that the
setting could be our possible future, and the author
portrays everything excellently. I would recommend this to
people who like to read fiction and science fiction.I
rated this a two because it would be a little mature for
some people under 12.

Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer
Flamingnet Book Reviews
Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, March 4, 2010

By 

David C. Harris "davethekey" (Huntingtown, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sapphire Sirens (Paperback)

John has another winner in this book. He keeps coming up with new ways to put the earth, or in this case "man"kind, in jeopardy and having the world's last private detective save the day.