DNF'd @ 25%

Night Call by Brenden Carlson sounded like it was going to be great as an alternate 1930s sci-fi noir. I don't know about you, but that should have been exactly up my alley. Unfortunately, I ended up giving this one up. The world-building is very flat, nowhere near as robust as it ought to have been, and the characters voices are the same way. I just wasn't interested in forcing myself to continue on with it.

Night Call is a sci-fi murder mystery that takes place in a futuristic version of 1930s New York. The main character, Elias Roche, is an ex-cop turned mafia enforcer. He is called upon when a violent murder is covered by the FBI. He and his new robotic partner, Allen, work together to find who is responsible for the crime.

This book intrigued me for a few reasons:
1. I thought the cover looked very cool.
2. I had never read anything like this before.

So in an attempt to expand my horizons, I picked out this ARC. I had an unsettling feeling in the first few chapters as if I had seen this story before. I soon realized I may have not read anything like Night Call, but I had certainly played a game like this. The plot and themes felt similar to the PlayStation 4 game, Detroit: Become Human. And let me say, I am not fond of that game.

Throughout this book, we see that all of humanity is treated as equals. However, that does not apply to humanity's robotic counterparts. We see themes of racism, classism, and the robots seem to constantly be misgendered in an attempt to dehumanize them. Roche constantly reminds people that the robots are an "It. Not he." The number of times Elias corrected others when they gave pronouns to the robots began to get on my nerves.

I immediately did not like the main character, Elias. While he may have been an ex-cop, the lines were most certainly blurred throughout the book. He was essentially a mercenary hired by the police, but he felt like he was a police officer from the very beginning. There are exhibits of Elias Roche using excessive force and making many other infractions, which is addressed by his partner, Allen. Had I known the main character was like this, I would have definitely not requested this book.

Aside from me not liking Elias Roche, the characters were very flat and two dimensional. They had little depth and I felt no connection to them at all. Not only was there no connection to the characters, but I barely had a sense of the surroundings. The setting was hardly described throughout the story. Because of this, I had a very hard time being interested in the book. All of these elements made the book forgettable.

I thought overall it was an ok novel, it was a bit slow for me through the middle. Interesting from start to end overall, but I’m not a huge fan of books I have to “work through” to the finish. #thewalkingshadows

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy for an ARC review.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free e-copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

<b>2.25 stars rounded down to 2.</b>

I'm a big fan of Blade Runner. When I saw <i>Night Call</i>, I thought it would provide me with the same: an action-packed detective noir with androids and morally gray characters. I didn't expect much philosophy, but I thought it would be loads of fun. Gangsters in 1930s alternate New York? You know you've got me.

<b>Unfortunately, the novel quickly loses its charm. The fun is all flash; one moment you're dazzled, and then the next you realize there's nothing concrete behind it. Just smoke.</b>

I really did enjoy the worldbuilding in this novel. It's got a retrofuturistic feel, like it's straight out of the sixties. Things aren't explained too in depth but I liked the ideas. There are different types of robots (Automatics), and the ones with the most advanced AI are shunned because they have a penchant for violence.

<b>In the beginning, I enjoyed the action scenes too. But they also felt... meaningless. What are the deeper stakes? I don't know. Just keep running and shooting. This felt like a B-movie in those aspects.</b>

The plot is your standard murder mystery with a sci-fi twist. A rogue Automatic has killed a restaurant full of people... but wait, his brains were pulled out! That's impossible! Who programmed him into doing such a thing? <b>And even though there were established consequences, I couldn't feel the urgency or gravity of the plotline. Things weren't interesting to make me want to read more.</b> The pacing was super weird too.

Which leads me to my next issue: the characters. I get it, you know. Old-school noir and murder mysteries are often more plot-focused than character-focused, so you get a big chunk of flat characters with super basic motives. <b>But if your plot is boring, then your characters have to at least be interesting to make up for it, and <i>Night Call</i> unfortunately didn't manage that.</b> Does that sound harsh? Well, maybe I'm too used to contemporary thrillers that manage to have twisty mysteries and complex character psychology at the same time.

The protagonist, Elias, is your average tough guy. He's an ex-cop who freelances for the police because he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. He's biased against Automatics and lives a fast and hard existence of working (shooting and getting shot at), drinking, and gambling. And then one day, he's put on a case where his partner is an Automatic. Gasp! Allen, his robot partner, is hyper-intelligent but naive.

Yeah, you've read this story before. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But Allen and Elias don't have a fun relationship like you'd expect out of buddy cop flicks. It's just... strained. And forced.

<b>Oh, and there are no significant female characters. So I'm removing a star just for that.</b>

<b>TL;DR No.</b>

This one is a sci-fi mystery and crime novel based in the 1930s. Think Men in Black but instead of the Aliens you have the Androids and Robots.
That's what attracted me to the book, it reminded me so much of the In Death series, which In Death series is based in Future, this one is in the Past.

Its 1930s, it's a world of Robot labour and discrimination, free energy, and multicooprations that have all the power. Along with world wide Great Depression going on.

Elias Roche, former police officer turned Mafia enforcer, works to maintain a tenuous peace between the two parties.

"Accustomed to settling disputes with the business end of a gun, Roche must expand his repertoire after a violent murder is covered up by the FBI. With the Mafia insisting they’re innocent of the crime and the police powerless to help, Roche and his new Automatic partner, Allen, must root out those responsible before the situation sparks a war in the city streets."

At first I hated how there was excessive force and undue violence used by Elias. For just about no reason he kills potential witnesses. There is one part where some thugs were trying to rob him and okay he fights them like a pro and all. But he didnt need to kill them. He seems to love breaking the law where it isnt even needed and is very reckless.

All of this btw is later addressed by Allen and we get to know that Elias has some major issues.

The way how Allen takes so much of the stuff literally, brought a little bit of humor into the story. Overall the story was intriguing enough to keep me hooked. The suspense was good enough though the process of the whole reveal caused a bit of confusion.

The world building was very good and I couldn't help but get the Men in Black vibes.

I love the partnership between Elias and Allen. They balance each other perfectly. I'm very curious to know more about Allen and his kind now.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Night Call by Brenden Carlson

Summary

Elias Roche is a consulting detective in 1933. He’s been through a world war more partners than he can count. It’s never a good thing when he receives a night call from the police commissioner, and now he’s investigating the slaughter of several police officers by what is called a Red Eye. His new partner is a robot that he has named Allen.

Roche quickly realizes that Allen isn’t your ordinary robot. He is much more intelligent and observant. The two of them quickly realize that this robot who has committed the crime doesn’t have the required neural interface to complete the job. With the help of some of his war buddies, Roche and Allen get to the truth of the matter.

Thoughts

My first thought was that this novel was a perfect combination of an Isaac Asimov novel, a Philip K. Dick novel, and a James Cagney movie. After reading roughly a third of the novel, I contacted the librarian in charge of ordering science fiction and fantasy and insisted she ordered this novel for our shelves.

Elias Roche is not a great person; he doesn’t even like himself. Readers will find themselves cheering Roche on no matter his circumstances, and they will fall in love with his robotic counterpart, Allen, immediately. What’s not to love about a pretentious robot who doesn’t even realize how sassy he is?

This novel was full of well written action and internal conflict. I am already excited for the next installment in this series. I truly applaud Carlson for this beautiful work of fiction he has created.

Thank you to Net Galley for this advanced reading copy.

I wanted to love this book, but I had a hard time getting into it. The character connection just wasn’t there.

There once was a retired cop, in 1933 New York, having to solve crimes with his companion. It does sound like a standard police novel, doesn't it? However, this book is different in it's setting, with androids running around. This is not only flavouring, but also gives an angle that shows racism like it would have been in this period (and perhaps even now).

Although I loved the book, it did feel a little bit like it all was flavouring. Other parts did very much make up for it though. The protagonist had raw edges, and in real life I would have stayed clear of him, but it was exactly the way he should be.

A futuristic sci-fi murder mystery with a cop for your main character?!? What’s not to love? I was excited going into this novel but for me it fell flat. The story is expansive and hard to follow at times with to much jumping around and lack of connective writing, I love a good sci-fi but this one seemed a bit to far fetched to me and with an unlovable main character it just didn’t hold my interest. I would recommend this to any male sci-fi fan who cares more about the story then character development, it’s not my cup of tea but I know it will have a lot of fans.

This was more of a 2 and a half stars but it felt like a low 2 and a half rather than a high 2 and a half. Let me preface the review that this is probably a really good book if you like reading cop books. From the start of the book I was hit with it being a cop book with a bit of sci-fi elements rather than a scifi book with cop elements. That sort of book really just isn't my cup of tea. I couldn't really connect with the characters so my reading of it wasn't super enjoyable even though I wanted it to be.

This was a decent book.... I had a lot of trouble getting into it at times. I’m a huge fan of sci-fi / fantasy but this book was hard to follow at times. The characters could have been more Developed. I really wanted to love this book. Some parts were not very realistic which was big turn off for me. I know with sci-fi a majority of it is unrealistic but this one was in ways over the top.

Pretty good overall. The ending was just OK and the main character wasn't very likable. I just didn't stay very engaged with this one. But the author has some talent and hope he continues to write.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

Imagine it's the year 1933, New York skyline looks a lot different when robots and other vast technological enhancements are seen, even when the Great Depression hits. Rather than racial and sexist issues amongst humans, all those problems seem to be resolved once robots were created. They became the inferior race. Initially created to help fight the Great War. They soon became feared for their strength and intelligence, and most were decommissioned or made into be less inferior robots.

One rogue retired cop, Elias Roche, plays by no rules. He straddles the line between good and evil, right and wrong. He is the middle man between cops and the mafia. Keeping the peace, so to speak, between two natural enemies. He is asked to partner with a robotic police robot, which he names Allen, once he starts to investigate a triple cop murder in the 5th precincts territory.

A cool steampunk mash up is what I kept envisioning with this dystopian sci-fi. Pretty fascinating perspective of the pros and cons to technological enhancements. The relationship between human and robot kind of reminded me of that old Will Smith movie, iRobot. The plot of this story was a bit better and delved much deeper though.

An interesting read for sure. I really enjoyed the murder mystery, bad cop good cop, 1930s sci-fi aspect. It looks as if it will be a series and I wouldn’t mind seeing how the next book continues on with Elias and Allen’s story.

Its 1933 in Jersey during the middle of the great depression. However, this is definitely not historical fiction, this is pure scifi/fantasy in a world with robots that perform labor and even some that take part in crime.
Meet Elias Roche. Please refrain from calling him Roach, he definitely does not appreciate that. Roche is somewhat of a detective, and after a major shootout with police and civilians both dead, he takes the case to try to uncover what is really happening in this city. He is partnered with an Automatic which at first he does not appreciate. However as time goes by he learns that the blue eyed Automatic is actually a pretty helpful resource.
This book starts out with a thrilling fight scene that somewhat lays the groundwork for how the rest of the story goes. I highly suggest this action-packed debut novel for all fans of scifi and fantasy alike.
Thanks for reading my review and happy reading!!!!

I gave up reading this, this book has too much testosterone for me. The protagonist has no feelings beside 'love alcohol, guns r cool, I'm tired n hungry'. I don't think I didn't enjoy it because I'm a girl, I think I didn't enjoy it because I couldn't see him as a real person, just as a 2d character.

DNF

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for hooking me up with an ARC of this!

This is an alternate history science fiction story about the 1930s... but with robots and it is functions basically like a police show. So basically Law & Order: Robot Edition. And it does it very well, as the history was set up in such a way that it felt like everything was explained. Not too far from the divergence that there felt like too much, and so there was enough history that it was basically all recapped to us throughout the story.

That is another thing this book does pretty well, spreading out backstory/world-building throughout the text. It doesn't dump it all on you at once but it is spread out over the course of the story. With certain things being left out so they can be addressed later, which leaves a bit of mystery to certain events until much later. The mechanics behind how/why all this advanced tech works is explained in simple enough terms while still making sense in the grand scheme of things. I never really felt lost which is really impressive for a science fiction novel.

Our MC of Roche felt a bit stereotypical when it comes to detective-esque novels. As he is gruff and does everything his own way and more than a little rough around the edges. BUT, I felt that we are seeing the beginning of character growth for him towards the end. His internal dialogue also does a good enough job of showing us what is beyond his gruff exterior.

Carlson's Night Call is an interesting jaunt into a divergent past in which automation and robotics leaped ahead during World War 1, leading to a world divided between humans and the robots they created. The story moves along, with the main character Roche moving through different scenes of exposition and action, to finally arrive at a conclusion that seems both satisfying and bland. I enjoyed the setting of the story, but felt that the conclusion seemed rushed, with at the same time too little and too much exposition. The universe Carlson has crafted is interesting, but doesn't feel completely fleshed out, nor are the characters grealy differentiated. I didn't struggle to finish the book, but don't feel compelled to watch for a sequel.

Night Call by Brenden Carlson, a nice addition to the Robot Noir fantasy genre. Elias is a night caller, not quite on the side of the law but not far off either, when screwy things start to happen with the robots in the city, he and his new partner are on the job.

It is New York City in 1933 in an alternate universe. There are different levels of robots with differing levels of intelligence.

The main character is a human ex police officer who gets recalled by the police commissioner for special jobs. He also works jobs for the head of the underworld. He has a no holds barred attitude and always gets the job done.

He gets called in on a case and partnered with a new type of robot that's capable of independent thought and reasoning.

There is a running theme of the bias humanity has for the artificial beings it has created

I enjoyed the first half of the book but was disappointed by the conclusion. Also, I am not sure why the author chose 1933 for the time the book takes place.

I was given a free copy of this and I am leaving my honest review.