The Radon File

by Denise Vitola

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441006701
• ISBN13: 9780441006700
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Truly original

A very good book, especially because it has a lot of imagination. If you want to try something familiar enough to be digestible, but different enough to truly keep you guessing, try this. The Radon File is written in a "police procedural" style--you know, the kind where the detective talks like: "I'm Joe Friday. On Monday my partner Fred and I cruised over to Floyd's bungalow to grill him about the Jenkins case. He wouldn't talk until I accidentally spilled coffee on his shoes. He yelled, 'That was no accident!' 'Oh, no?" I asked. 'Well what about this, does this look like an accident?' And I stroked his ugly mug a few times with the butt of my .38. Then he sang like a parakeet..." But it's set in a semi-dark future, where a hybrid communist global government is in charge, but dissent is openly tolerated, and personal creativity is encouraged, even mandated. The decrepit economy is reminiscent of Soviet-era Eastern Europe. Amid this mess, low-grade supernatural events have started to sprout like mushrooms all over the landscape, and alien influences may be involved. There are 5 or 6 books with the same central character, a woman named Ty Merrick, who has a trauma-induced form of lycanthropy. It's not stereotypical at all; she doesn't turn fully into a wolf, and doesn't eat people. Like the main detective's lycanthropic disorder, the dystopian setting of the book is treated completely differently than anything I've read before. Among the other titles are "Manjinn Moon" and "Opalite Moon". I have ordered all of them. Everything and everyone in the story is broken, but I was not left depressed. It's all strangely rather encouraging in regard to the ability of average humans to overcome the craptastic plans of their governments.

Fantastic Combination of Science Fiction and Mystery

I usually do not like dystopian novels. Current headlines are bad enough without looking into a future where the US has become enmeshed in an economic and ecological nightmare. I do like mystery novels though. I've always been fond of the theory that mysteries are popular in times of stress because they demonstate the triumph of order over chaos when the culprit is identified and the rule of law takes over. Which may explain why I like these novels.Detective Ty Merrick due to an encounter with a defective heater's fumes, has become a modern lycanthrope. She has what she describes as "stretches" where she changes mentally and physically. Her partner LaRue collects Soviet Communism and drives an antique East German Trabrant with a spring necked plastic statue of Lenin that with each bump bobs its head and squeaks "comrade, comrade." They struggle to maintain order in a world where there are constant shortages, all officials are corrupt and most of the populations manages to bridge the gap between what is provided by the state and what they need to survive by scavaging while they rely on supersition and magic to try to gain some control of their environment.Which leads back to the theory about mysteries. By continuing to do their job in the midst of intolerable conditions, Ty and LaRue show some order does exist, there is some hope when they suceed in solving a crime that order can be restored at least to some small part of the world.the books, by the way, should be read sequentially to appreciate the evolving nature of Ty's lycanthropy.

Fantastic Combination of Science Fiction and Mystery

I usually do not like dystopian novels. Current headlines are bad enough without looking into a future where the US has become enmeshed in an economic and ecological nightmare. I do, however. like mystery novels. I've always been fond of the theory that mysteries are popular in times of stress because they demonstate the triumph of order over chaos when the culprit is identified and the rule of law restored. Which may explain why I like these novels so much. Detective Ty Merrick due to an encounter with a defective heater, has become a modern lycanthrope. She has what she describes as "stretches" where she changes mentally and physically. This is not covered by her medical plan. Her partner, LaRue, collects Soviet Communism and drives an antique East German Trabrant with a spring necked plastic statue of Lenin that with each bump bobs its head and squeaks "comrade, comrade." He also believes fervently in the effectiveness of magic spells to help control the external world.Together, They struggle to maintain order in a world of constant shortages, where all officials are corrupt and most of the population manages to bridge the gap between what is provided by the state and what they need to survive by scavaging. Which leads back to the theory about mysteries. By continuing to do their job in the midst of intolerable conditions, Ty and LaRue show that order can triumph over chaos, that there is some hope of resolution of the larger problems, and (in their loyalty to one another) that there is some interest other than self interest. The books could best be considered police procedurals set in hell. They should, by the way, should be read sequentially to appreciate the evolving nature of Ty's lycanthropy.