Monday, May 17, 2010

The Blonde by Duane Swierczynski

Duane Swierczynski seems to have carved out his own niche of crime stories with a twist. If Expiration Date is time-travel noir, The Blonde is femme fatale sci-fi. Not hardcore sci-fi, mind you. More the Michael Crichton kind, since this story revolves around self-replicating nanobot parasites that live in the blood and can be tracked by satellites. They are also able to somehow sense proximity to other people, which is why the title character has to stay within 10 feet of someone else, otherwise these nanites rush to the brain and force a severe hemorrhage and death. To force someone to stay with her, she poisons an unwitting traveler at the airport bar and tells him she's only give him the antidote if he helps her.

The Blonde is a lot more violent than my previously-read Swierczynski novel, mostly because of the assassin taking orders for hits and decapitation, and the language is a lot more "adult". Nearly all of the story takes place in the hours ticking down to the poisoned man's death (which happens to coincide with his appointment with his wife's divorce lawyer.) Fast-paced, relatively short (around 200 pages), and imminently readable seems to be Swierczynski's modus operandi, but while I'm sure I'll read Expiration Date again and own it, I'm satisfied I just got this one from the library.

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