Book Review: Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe by Richard Paolinelli

Pulp detective noir meets space opera. Result: awesome.

Fedoras. Trenchcoats. Space cigarettes. Space dames. A hard-boiled detective. Fistfights. Spaceships. Honestly, you could’ve just said “space dames” and I would’ve coughed up my money.

Considering the popularity of pulp detective noir wizards (or one particular wizard, Mr. Dresden), the genre of pulp detective noir in space is tragically underserved. Fundamentally, a hard-boiled detective in space is awesome in of itself. But when multi-genre master Richard Paolinelli takes on the tropes, we end up with far more than the sum of the parts: a pulp noir detective in all his hardboiled glory saving the galaxy in the style of the best space opera.

The Story

Our fedora-wearing space-station detective receives two cases in rapid succession, one of them from a beautiful dame. Each client accuses the other of stealing a certain priceless antique. Something stinks to high heaven about the case, and cracking it will put our hero in the crosshairs of the most powerful people in the galaxy.

The Characters

Our narrator, a trenchcoat-clad hardboiled detective, is all you can ask for: hard drinking, chainsmoking the space cigarettes, and puzzling out cases with a keen mind and quick punch. But beyond the tropes, he has a deep sense of justice and fairplay, and a willingness to bend the rules or break the law to see justice done. He embodies all the best in hardboiled detectives and space opera heroes.

Our femme fatale is everything you want in a lead dame: beautiful, seductive, and dangerous—the sort of lady a hero will go out of his way to aid, but less innocent than she may appear at first glance.

We add to this a plethora of traditional noir characters in space: clients, good cops, corrupt cops, petty criminals, thugs, dames of questionable profession… plus the evil masterminds and brilliant superscientist you might expect from the best early 20th century science fiction. Our hero has his hands full, between taking cases and saving the galaxy.

The World

The story takes place in an all-human inhabited galaxy, with rapid travel between star systems and a galactic government headquartered on Mars. GalJus—Galactic Justice—polices the galaxy, but our hero, an ex-inspector, finds their techniques and policies questionable.

The world is well-executed, and we gradually learn more of it as our hero travels within it, and the stakes get higher and higher.

Politics

None, other than that government officials are sometimes corrupt. (gasp)

Content Warning

Gratuitous bigamy, implied sex, prostitution. In the grand tradition of detective noir, it’s expected that a number of clients will be dames of a certain profession, and this book is no different. Of course, our hero has no problem telling reluctant-to-pay johns that engaging in such transactions is a bad idea.

Who is it for?

If you liked the Dresden Files, this tale of a private detective heroically saving the galaxy will be right up your alley. This book is for lovers of pulp detective noir, lovers of traditional space opera, and anyone who wants to see the two put together, done well.

Why buy it?

Space dames. You had me at space dames.