The Loop

I don't like procedurals. Put CSI Whatever on the TV, I'll yawn. The Mentalist or Lie to Me, I'll yell at the screen like a programmer watching The Net. Even Agatha Christie - I'm sure Miss Marple was responsible for a swathe of death in 1920s England. It takes a lot to make me want to pay any attention to something that even smells of murder mystery.[return][return]This collection of short stories by Pati Nagle, all based around the adventures of an genetically modified detective tabby cat, didn't have the hook I might have needed to care. Sure, the trappings of science fiction are there, animal uplift, a space station, megacorps, but if you scratch the surface all that's left is a set of fairly standard cop stories.[return][return]The cat in question is no more than a human pretending to be a cat and the other animals are merely ciphers, the universe is barely sketched out and the much more interesting story of the societal organisation of humanity (and uplifted animals) in space is all but ignored. [return][return]This time, the future's so bright, it feels like 1980.[return][return]http://bit.ly/pJf0l2

I so despise the books with animals, because the is always something cruel that happens to them.
But overall I more or less liked the book. There were some extremely cinematic moments.
The characters (at least most of them) were highly likable too. My favorite of them all was probably Eleanor. That is strange even for me, but she was probably the most adequate of them all.