New Book Alert: Glitches and Stitches (Death Violation 01) by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Police Procedural Mystery Set in The Future Focuses on Gay Heroes, AI Dependency, and Genetic Engineering

 

New Book Alert: Glitches and Stitches (Death Violation 01) by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Police Procedural Mystery Set in The Future Focuses on Gay Heroes, AI Dependency, and Genetic Engineering

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If Science Fiction/Mysteries have shown us anything, it's that the future will be just as violent and destructive as the present. Except that there will be crimes involving AI, advanced technology, genetic engineering, cloning, and possibly aliens and interstellar travel (at least the fictional version anyway). The crossover genre shows that the human race will be just as temperamental, avaricious, lustful, rage filled, and violent as ever. They will just have new technology with which to use their schemes.

That's the premise behind Nicole Givens Kurtz's Death Violation and its first book, Glitches and Stitches. As Kurtz did with her previous book, Kill Three Birds, she puts a conventional murder mystery in an unusual setting. Kill Three Birds took place in a world of anthropomorphic birds. Glitches and Stitches is instead set in the future in which technology and AI threaten to overpower the human element.

Inspector Regulators, Fawn Granger and Briscoe "BB" Baker are called in to investigate the death of Dr. Leonard Cho, scientist at the Association of Genetically Engineered Humans. The duo find themselves smack dab in the middle of a case involving illicit genetic engineering and technological dependency. They also have to struggle with their own conflicts to keep this search going.

Kurtz does a good job of creating a suspenseful police procedural mystery and surrounding it with a futuristic science fiction setting. It's not as imaginative a setting as say Eternity in Russ Colchamiro's Angela Hardwicke series but it still has some fascinating touches to remind the Reader that "Yes, this is the future." 

One of the clever things that Kurtz zeroes in on but some SF writers overlook is the use of language and slang terms. In this setting, people aren't "murdered." They had a "death violation." It could be a sign of political correctness or just a change in police terminology. Perhaps, even an intentional reference to how current controversies towards the police force will reconstruct how they behave in the future. It's just one of those things that a masterful speculative fiction author like Kurtz acknowledges.

Another sample of Kurtz's attention to detail is the apparent change in social structure. Neither Fawn nor BB are interested in each other because they are both gay. BB is in a committed relationship in which his husband is worried about his dangerous job.

Fawn has massive PTSD and is considering relocating to the Southwest, but this case and a new relationship with an EMT restores her desire for justice and search for love.

Currently, the LGBT community are faced with various controversies such as their rights being scaled back by many bigoted Republicans, Evangelicals, and Conservatives. Because the present is so awful, it is nice in Kurtz's futuristic world that not much is made of Fawn and BB's sexualities.

In the future of Glitches and Stitches, when future generations can be created in ways besides procreation, Conservatives can't even use that excuse to prohibit rights. So, Fawn and BB are seen like any other hard-working cop that is faced with a dangerous job with little time for a social life though they try.

Of course in a science fiction world, many themes that come across are the overabundance of technology and whether we are in danger of losing our humanity. Glitches and Stitches is no exception.

Fawn and BB investigate some genetic engineering that could change humans and for the worse. It's a scary thought to imagine that someone else could change another's DNA or genetic code without their knowledge or consent (or if they give consent without being told all of the options and pros and cons towards such actions so they can make real informed choices).

This book also discusses how AI is used as an option for even the most basic of needs like sexual pleasure. In fact there are hints that there is an android prostitute ring in which horny AI lovers can satisfy their carnal pleasures without human contact. It says something that even the most basic needs like sex need a technological instead of human interaction in Glitches and Stitches. In this book, humans have even lost the opportunity to become close together physically. 

It's not a perfect futuristic world that Kurtz writes in her book. But like all murder mysteries, there will always be people like Fawn and BB who care about justice, fairness, protecting the innocent, and caring for those around them.