Shovel Ready

Weird, disturbing mix of sci-fi future and noir-ish thriller. Our narrator/protagonist is a cold-blooded, emotionless killer whom the plot heats up to luke warm. He quips like Philip Marlowe and kills like Bond - impassioned, with no regrets. Yet, somehow, you care about him, want him to survive and succeed.
This was a re-read, I'd given it 3 stars previously, 4 this time. Don't know what pushed it towards the mediocre end last time. I like the way it's written, it does draw a lot on Chandler, not sure if that's deliberate. Certainly Spademan has Marlowe's honesty and integrity but he's an accidental detective, doing the right(?) thing in a world gone wrong.