After penning four cozy mysteries, American author Matt Witten upped the ante with two fine standalone mysteries, The Necklace (my review) and Killer Story (my review). His new novel, 51%, is staggeringly different, a wildly imaginative mashup of a dystopian sci-fi adventure and a police procedural. Twenty years from now, six all-powerful U.S. syndicates own everything, including shares in humans. When a syndicate amasses a 51% share of a person, slavery is afoot. At the scene of the bloody murder of a 51%-owned immigrant woman, a homicide detective at NYPD, Inc. (remember, everything is now corporate) and a penniless, pregnant “crime marketing consultant” find few clues and fewer incentives to actually track down the murderer, but the detective is obsessed with justice. Soon they stumble upon a resistance leader, a plot to take over everything, and a ruthless, nigh omnipotent AI. The author’s superb world building and liquid, fast style tumble the reader through a strange but oddly recognizable world and a zigzag plot. All in all, 51% reminds me of some of Jonathan Lethem’s cross-genre novels, and is fully as fine as those classics. A heady, exuberant treat, Matt Witten’s latest sets him apart from his peers.
Book, movie/show, and album reviews