Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93853 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you like the brain-stretching work of William Gibson (author of Neuromancer) and Philip K. Dick (author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep?, which was the basis for Blade Runner), you'll feel right at home with this latest futuristic thriller from the author of the well-received Spares (available in paperback). It's 2017, and the first time we meet Hap Thompson he's being hassled in a bar in Ensenada by his alarm clock, which not only talks but walks and has a bad attitude. Hap, a prodigious computer hacker with a pretty bad attitude himself, works for an outfit called REMtemps, which offers a unique service--removing clients' bad dreams by sucking them into the heads of paid professionals. (Could Smith have been influenced at all by the title of one of Dick's best stories, "I Can Dream It for You Wholesale"?) Unfortunately, one of the bad dreams Hap is called on to swallow involves a real murder, and the search for the woman who dreamed it in the first place takes him--and us--on a literally mind-bending journey of scientific and philosophic discovery. But there's plenty of action, gadgetry, and snappy noir dialogue to make it all go down easily. --Dick Adler

Synopsis
Film rights sold to Warner Bros for USD 1.5 million. A mesmerising thriller. Smith's major breakout novel. Hap Thompson has finally found something he can do better than anyone else. And it's legal. Almost. Hap's a REMtemp, working the night hours, having people's anxiety dreams for them. For the first time in his life, Hap's making big money -- and that should have been enough. But then Hap is made an offer he just can't refuse: proxying memories instead of dreams. This is not almost illegal -- this is illegal in bold with flashing lights. The last thing the cops want are criminals who can pass lie detector tests and Hap knows it, but he's relying on the promise that he won't have to carry anything that relates to a criminal offence. Big mistake. Before he knows what's happening, Hap is locked in a vicious nightmare that threatens to tear his mind and his life apart...And, as in all Michael Marshall Smith novels, that is just the start.

Customer Reviews

Fluid writing, well paced and a fusion of genres
I do not have a clue how this book ended up on my shelf, I can only remember it appeared there about a year ago and was subsequently neglected until I picked it up last week.

Needless to say, this was my first novel by the author and I was, especially for someone who doesn't read sci - fi all too often, thoroughly impressed. Smith's writing style is so fluid, full of matter - of - fact British humour and throughout the book you have the impression he is sitting opposite you, while he is telling you the story.

The storyline is at times complex but perfectly paced and his characters(even the white goods) are beautifully coming to life.

There is only one point of criticism: The denoument of the story and Smith's deus ex machina are slightly disappointing, but the book as such is worth a read.

an excellent read
I am not normally a big fan of sci-fi and so approached a book featuring sentient machines with some scepticism. Where my book group leads I follow, however, and so I read this over one weekend while spending an inordinate amount on a train. The plot is hard-boiled pulp fiction, the dialogue crackles along and the whole book is very witty. There are twists and turns galore as the plot races on to its climax with a long-ish exposition around God and humankind's relationship to Him. Definitely worth reading and it has certainly whetted my appetite for more by the same author.

One Of Us Is Wrong
Although this book gets 10 out of 10 for originality, I can only award it 3 out of 5 for the final package.
A great idea of an organisation that hives off nasty dreams and memories, is undoubtedly spoilt by the way the book twists towards the end with none other than God popping in to sort it out.
The electrical appliances taking on a life of their own was quite amusing, but somehow you get the feeling that the follow-through could have been done so much better.
Still, if there's a film on the way, what the hell do I know about anything?