The Last Resort

 The Last Resort (2023) by Michael Kaufman

Set in the near future (2034), Washington D.C. police detective Jen Lu and her sentient bio-computer implant Chandler are back in action in their second case. Months after the last case when Lu's partner Les (if he's given a last name, I managed to miss it) is nearly killed saving her life, she's down one human partner. Les is physically fit, but has retreated into himself and doesn't speak and only does things when told or reminded to do so. So, when Patty Garcia, a powerful lawyer on the side of the angels in the climate crisis battle, dies in what is officially filed as a freak golf accident on the eve of "an important announcement," Lu smells a rat and decides to defy her Captain's orders to leave things alone. 

She and Chandler start digging and discover that Garcia was on the hunt for the "smoking gun" in the oil industry--explicit proof that companies have known about the damage they've been doing to the planet since the 1960s. The lawyer had recently won a big case in the efforts to make oil companies pay reparations for the damage done. Proof of an earlier date would mean a bigger settlement--but the Supreme Court has put a time limit on the presentation of evidence and time was running out. Garcia's assistant claims that the lawyer had finally found evidence that the proof existed, but just hadn't gotten her hands on it yet. Did someone connected to big oil make sure she'd never find it? Or perhaps her ex-husband, who suffered professionally and financially in their break-up (he was connected to big oil as well), wanted to make sure he wouldn't suffer even more when she found the proof. With the added bonus of getting rid of the woman who had humiliated and ruined him once. [He's that kind of macho misogynist. Even has a podcast spouting ant-woman nonsense.]

But the more she and Chandler discover the more people die...of accidents. Chandler finds a way to reactivate Les's bio-computer and soon Les is back in the hunt as well. His patience for digging in old Senate reports comes in handy. And it isn't long before she, Les, and Chandler are close to finding what Garcia was after. But someone has killed to keep that proof out of the hands of climate activists and they don't mind adding a few more victims to their list.

So...let's start with my issues with the story. First, purely personal, it hits too close. Climate change is happening and here in American we just decided to put the lunatics in charge of the asylum and see if we can't make it happen even faster (not to mention all the other idiotic/awful/terrifying things that will be coming down the pike...but I'll get off my soapbox.). Second, I'm not keen on police procedurals where the protagonist is basically going rogue to solve what is obviously a crime and her Captain should be glad she wants to investigate. People are dying and Cap keeps telling her to mind her business and pretend it's not happening. (Sure, Chandler tells us it's really that he's encouraging her to break rules "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" while he plays it "by the book." But whatever.) This story would have been ten times better if we'd just had Lu officially on the case from the start and it had been handled like a standard investigation.

On the plus side, I really liked the new (to me, anyway) set-up with Lu having a sentient computer link in her brain. The narration toggles between Chandler and third-person...and of the two, I prefer it when Chandler tells the story. I got a kick out his observations and his efforts to sound like a tough-guy cop. And I enjoyed his conversations with his human partner. In fiction, this set-up works. In real life, I'm not sure how I feel about the implants. Character development overall is pretty good. I would have enjoyed more interactions between Lu and Les and if the series continues (and I read more if it does) I'd be interested to see how the four of them (Lu, Les, Chandler, and P.D.--Les's implant) work together on a complete case. Generally, a solid mystery--a bit violent (one of the deaths in particular seemed a little unnecessary for the story...), but enjoyable and entertaining. ★★★

First line: "I never killed anyone before."

Last line: The report with its pale-blue cover and a faded red ribbon binding the whole thing together.
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Deaths = 5 (two hit on head; two shot; one fire)