‘Deadstock’ – Jeffrey Thomas (Solaris Books)

When I’m not reading sci-fi, fantasy etc (which, to be fair, isn’t all that often) I like to read detective novels, in particular the works of Raymond Chandler. I love that slightly hard-boiled, pulp noir thing he has going on and I enjoy reading about Philip Marlowe and the cases he takes on that always end up being more than they seemed…
Bearing this in mind I love it when sci-fi adopts the same kind of approach with books like Richard Morgan’s ‘Altered Carbon’ and William Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer’, two of my favourite genres in one book!
Looking at the blurb on the back of Jeffrey Thomas’ ‘Deadstock’ I thought I was in for more of the same, I was but it didn’t quite go the way I’d been expecting…

Punktown is a colony town on the planet of Oasis. It’s also a crime ridden melting pot of human and alien life, just the right kind of place for a private investigator to make a decent living. Jeremy Stake is one such private eye, former war veteran and owner of chameleon-like abilities he does not want and cannot control. There’s nothing less threatening than a missing doll (even a genetically engineered ‘living’ doll) but the client wants it found and Stake has bills to pay. Soon enough though, the case takes on a life of its own and Stake is up against more than he bargained for…

If you’re after some sci-fi that features a ‘low tech’, grimy cityscape with danger around every corner then you won’t go too far wrong with ‘Deadstock’. Punktown is a truly nasty place to live, especially the poorer area of SubTown where the law is just another dirty word. Anything can happen in Punktown up to and including insect invasions from another dimension, not so fun to be stuck in the middle of but definitely fun to read!

I mentioned that this scenario is the ideal place for a private eye to do his thing and Jeremy Stake blends into the picture really well. Stake is your archetypal private eye with a dodgy past and an ex-lover that he cannot forget. What sets him apart from the rest of the pack is his ability to take on the face of anyone he looks at for too long. This makes for some innovative ways of getting information but Thomas also takes time to examine what this ability actually means for Stake’s day to day life. Here is a man who cannot look at anyone for too long, lest he end up looking like them, so spends his time looking at the floor instead. Stake’s love life is also complicated as a result of his ‘gift’, especially when his current lover prefers him to take on the faces of popular celebrities. Questions of identity, coupled with the typical ‘gumshoe’ persona, definitely make Stake an interesting character to read about.

It’s a shame then that the story doesn’t quite match up to the work that Thomas has done on the world building and characterisation. On its own the plot works very well with clues and revelations gradually added to the mix to keep up the interest. There is also a couple of gunfights which are handled very smoothly and everything ties together right at the end to form one of those pictures which leave you thinking, “So that’s what was going on…”
The problem though is that I felt the world building aspect crowded out the story itself. This led to a lack of urgency in proceedings, certainly in Stake at various points, with only the sub-plot of the gangsters trapped by the ‘blank men’ lending a sense of adrenalin to what was going on. There was also a lot of talk between characters which sometimes made it difficult to spot the pivotal events which would sway the story…

If you can get past some of the more heavy going elements then I think there’s a lot to recommend ‘Deadstock’ to anyone who’s into ‘sci-fi noir’. There was certainly enough there to get me to check out the sequel…

Seven out of Ten