Killing Time: 10/16/08

Caleb Carr is best known for his Victorian era mystery-thrillers. Killing Time is a departure from his usual fare as it's set in the near future and is more a social commentary than a mystery. It was serialized in Time Magazine before being released by Random House in book form. Somewhere in the mix of writing outside his normal genre and the challenge of writing a serial, the story fell apart.

Killing Time's premise is fascinating and earily realivant given the current economic crisis and our invasions of Afgahistan and Iraq. There's also the internet too playing a role, giving everyone too much information and none of it verifiable. Then there's the environment and the missing fish (among other problems). In other words, the world has gone to pot in 2023 and in that mess the protagonist is recruited to do some good.

Malcom Tressalian, his methods and his vessel, stink of Captain Nemo and the Natulus. As I slogged through the middle section of the book I found myself thinking more of Nemo as "eco-terroist" than I was about the book I was supposed to be reading. That's not a good sign!

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