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Synopsis
In Orbital Burn, a seriously down on her luck unlicensed Stalktown PI named Louise "Lou" Meagher ekes out a sparse living solving petty crimes. She is chronically broke, clinically dead, and nervous about being evacuated from her home planet, Kestrel, which in nine days time will be hit by an unstoppable doomsday rock, known as the Bloody Bastard. But Lou takes on one last case: helping a cybernetically enhanced canine named Dog, -locate his former master, a defective biological android boy known only as Kid....
Timothy Capehart - VOYA
Louise Meagher—former child of privilege, former abused wife, former living human—was long ago infected with a virus that left her clinically dead. She is still walking, talking, and complaining thanks to nanotechnology. She has billions of microscopic machines in her body keeping her cells from decaying too much. She has been working as an unlicensed private investigator on the planet Kestrel, but it is about to be destroyed by a giant hunk of space debris known affectionately as "the bloody bastard." Most sentients have left or are planning to leave, but Lou is not looking forward to being labeled "untouchable" elsewhere in the galaxy. She is so low on funds that she accepts a case offered to her by an augmented beagle with the power of speech. Dog wants her to help him find Kid, a "disposable" cyborg with whom Dog is psychically connected. On the hunt they run afoul of nasty henchmen, evil corporations, vile ex-husbands, and of course aliens. First-time Australian novelist Bedford does an admirable job of world building and moving the at-times gory story along. If the one-liners are often stale and the SF occasionally less than plausible, most readers will not mind. Lou's journey to transcendence is, if a bit long, an enjoyable ride. VOYA Codes 3Q 3P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, Edge, 305p., Trade pb. Ages 15 to Adult.