Very Hard Choices (Hardcover)

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Product Description

After the shattering death of his beloved wife, aging baby-boomer Russell Walker had wanted only to hide from the world in the woods of British Columbia. Instead, an old college acquaintance called Smelly, who was a telepath, had knocked on his door and demanded his help in stopping a serial killer who made Hannibal Lector look like a boy scout. They had managed to convince Nika, a hard-headed and skeptical police officer, and the trio had stopped the killer, though nearly at the cost of their own lives, and things could go back to normal . . . they thought.

 

But then Russell was visited by his estranged son, Jesse, a PR exec from New York, still angry over his father’s role in his mother’s death. And, to their dismay, Nika and Russell learn that agreeing to help Zudie conceal the fact that he can read minds involves committing to help him hide from the CIA, who have been hunting him desperately ever since he escaped from the MK Ultra Project back in the 60s. Constable Nika must decide what being a peace officer means. Russell must decide on the fly whether or not Smelly is the kind of friend you'd die for. And Jesse, who lives in America, must decide just where his own national--and personal--loyalties lie.

 

Best-selling and award-winning author of The Martian Child David Gerrold says of Very Hard Choices, “Spider Robinson is at his best when he is most passionate—and this is Spider Robinson at his very best. If you're expecting a nice polite distraction that you can put down and forget, you're going to be very annoyed. This isn't a story, it's a wake-up call. And it isn't over until you decide it's over.”

About the Author

Award-winning author Spider Robinson is renowned for his “Callahan’s Place” series of bestselling novels, the latest being Callahan’s Con (Tor). With his wife, Jeanne, he has written the Hugo- and Nebula-winning “Stardance” series, which Baen recently published complete in one volume for the first time. He has been a favorite with readers from his earliest stories, which won him the John Campbell Award for best new writer. Since then he has garnered many other awards for his amusing, Heinlein-inspired SF, with the current total at three Hugos and a Nebula Award. He is frequently a guest at SF conventions across the US and Canada. His last book for Baen was the The Lifehouse Trilogy

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416555560
• ISBN-13: 978-1416555568
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #726,143 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very satisfying read, May 30, 2008

By	Gale Mead (Sonoma, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very Hard Choices revisits the characters introduced in Very Bad Deaths, and again presents them with difficult, painful, life-threatening circumstances that force them to consider both the ethics and the morality of the choices they face. To say much more might upset certain surprising turns in the storyline, but suffice it to say that the first reviewer of this book got it wrong. The story does not suggest the US is in danger of being turned into a "religious dictatorship," nor is the story's antagonist working towards that goal. The threat, rather, is framed as a takeover by a very small cabal of extremely wealthy, powerful, and conscience-less autocrats. Sounds more like real life than science fiction to me! If you're an ardent right-winger, you probably won't like some of this book's premises. Everyone else is in for an enjoyable, and thought-provoking ride.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now this is serious stuff...., June 23, 2008

By	MixMeister (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews

The sequel to Very Bad Deaths was something I had been waiting for with some trepidation: what story was there left to tell? The thrilling yet non-graphic horror that the former book had titillated me with should have warned me.

Although I had been prepared for some more of that insightful prose in that trademark way that Spider writes in, I did not expect that he would take the tale of the suffering telepath Zudie more than one step further. Everyone thinks that being a telepath may be a mild nuisance if you cannot turn the talent off at will. But this tale makes you feel what he feels and makes you understand why he had to retreat into obscurity... damn.. 't is difficult to not spoil the fun for would-be readers. Let me just wrap this up by stating "yes, he's done it again, he keeps evolving, and the stories keep getting more interesting and insightful each step of the way".

See if you can read the introductory chapters over there at the Baen Books website and then keep away from this one... even if you have not read the first book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Past Has Returned, February 10, 2009

By	Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Very Hard Choices (2008) is the second SF novel in the Russell Walker series, following Very Bad Deaths. In the previous volume, Russell Walker and his friends attracted the attention of a serial murderer for whom they were searching. The killer trapped them in Walker's house, but Zandor Zudenigo used his powers to cause the man to disbelieve in himselves. They buried the body down by the stream.

In this novel, Russell Walker is a columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail. He telecommutes from Heron Island in Vancouver Bay. The house is well-built, but rather simple. His office in the back yard is extremely comfortable, but downright rustic. Russell has lived alone in this house since the death of his wife Susan.

Jesse is Russell's son. He lives in New York and works in public relations. Jesse earns much more than his father and has all the multitudinous attractions of the City. He blamed Russell for the death of his mother and they have been estranged ever since.

Nika Mandic is a Vancouver police officer. She has recently been promoted to Detective Constable. But Nika is still driving the same old 1989 Honda Accord.

Zandor Zudenigo is an involuntary telepath. He cannot shut it off and most thoughts from other people are painful to him. He lives alone and unnoticed on Coveney Island within Vancouver Bay.

In this story, Charles Haden is a former CIA operative. He drives across the border without any problems. He doesn't even need one of his passports. A few simple questions and he is in Canada. A half hour drive and he is within Vancouver.

Haden changes license plates at the airport and discards his current identity on the Oak Street Bridge over the Fraser River. By the time he reaches the city limits, he is Thomas McKinnon. Then he abandons his car in the police impound yard.

McKinnon is looking for Nika. She had her cousin make a simple query about Zandor and now McKinnon is on her case. When he catches up with her, McKinnon fires a GPS-snitch at her car bumper and then falls back to follow her movements on his transceiver. Unfortunately, Nika notices him on her tail, seems to lose him, and then heads for Heron Island.

Russell is entertaining Jesse in his home on Heron Island. Nika interrupts their tete-a-tete and takes Russell aside to announce her bad news. Jesse counterinterrupts and learns more than he expects about his father and his friends. Then they discover the GPS-snitch.

Russell has not been able to contact Zandor since the previous events, but he tries again. He eventually takes a Zodiac over to Coveney, but loses the motor and his cellphone on the way. Luckily, Zandor is on the island and rescues him. Unluckily, Russell has a collapsed lung on his way back.

This tale faces Russell and his friends with a crisis. A man that Zandor has known and hated many years ago is coming for him. He can hide, but his friends cannot. Sooner or later the operative is going to find them.

Meanwhile, Russell and Jesse are beginning to mend their relationship. Both learn that there is more to know about the other than each has ever suspected. Then their wife/mother becomes a commonality rather than a controversy.

This story is one of the best of the author's works. It has some of the flashbacks of the prequel, but mostly concentrates on the present. The interaction between Russell and Jesse is subtle and interesting. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Robinson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of special operations, ordinary people, and strained personal relations.

-Arthur W. Jordin