Book Review: LOST PLANET HOMICIDE by Larry Correia

The last good cop has to solve a murder in a very bad little town, on top of a mountain, above an acid cloud, on a planet so far away that Earth doesn't even know about it. What drives him?

Available Exclusively via Audible

The story

Many generations ago, a colony ship left the Earth system to settle a new world, only to somehow get jumped to a distant planet that wasn't on their maps. They're incredibly far from Earth and their only hope for survival is to carve out a rough existence on a planet that may surely kill them.

After a century on this world, appropriately called Croatoan, humanity has all but surrendered to its basest tendencies, operating under what should be a functioning government but really dividing itself into classes and being controlled by criminal organizations. It's under these circumstances that the corrupt police force must maintain the appearance of order.

The characters

Lutero Cade is our protagonist, a police inspector with a conscience and a code. He's descended from the man that Croatoan blames for its predicament, a man who allegedly pushed the button that jumped their ship to this planet with no hope of escape. He wants to prove that he's better than the rep anyone else puts on him, and so he has a strong moral code--despite being surrounded by people who would just as soon shoot you as take a bribe.

The world

If you've read GUN RUNNER, you've got a feel for how dangerous these planets can be, and Croatoan is no different from Lush in terms of how badly it wants to kill you. There's also a literal tier system to the colony there, with rich corporations at the highest levels of the mountain compound, and shady mafias ruling the lower levels. They grow their own meat in vats. They live in metal boxes. It's a meager existence, ruled by the two highest commandments known to a vicious society: survive, and take whatever you can.

The politics

If "survivatarian" is a point on the political spectrum, then that's where it goes. And that would make Lutero Cade the only "DoTheRightThingTarian" on Croatoan. Other than that there's nothing from our world crammed into this.

Content warning

PG-13 for language and crime-related violence, with some substance abuse references.

Who is it for?

Fans of GUN RUNNER, naturally, as well as those who like gritty cop shows and hard-boiled crime with sci-fi mixed in.

Why read it?

If you're invested in what's to come in future GUN RUNNER stories, you'll want to read LOST PLANET HOMICIDE. That said, my one complaint is the abrupt nature of the story's ending, and the fact that it's rather incomplete. This could be a few bridge chapters in the background of a larger story and we won't know until the next GR book comes out. All the same, it was an entertaining two hours on Audible.