A Death of Honor

By Joe Clifford Faust

Book Overview

THE GIRL WAS SPRAWLED OUT ON THE FLOOR IN THE LIVING ROOM OF HIS APARTMENT.So begins Joe Clifford Faust's classic science fiction thriller, which has entertained both SF and non-SF readers since its release nearly 25 years ago. Originally published as a paperback original by Del Rey Books, Honor was also a main selection of the Science Fiction Book Club, where it was given a generic cover and enjoyed crossover sales through the Mystery Guild Book Club. It was also chosen as a Recommended Read in the Crime and Punishment category by the Science Fiction Museum.The novel takes place in an alternate future where a crumbling United States is one of the few nations left to have fended off Soviet domination. It tells the story of seven days in the life of D.A. Payne, a bioengineer who finds the naked corpse of a woman in his apartment and is compelled to investigate her murder. As he digs deeper into the woman's identity and the cause of her death, he learns things about himself and his world that will conspire to change his life forever.The electronic editions of Honor also contain bonus material: the novel's original ending - a 2,000 word epilog that was cut before publication - along with an essay from the author telling how it came to be chopped.REVIEWS: "The science fiction mystery is an extremely difficult genre to handle well, and it's a delightful surprise when a first novelist pulls the trick off gracefully. Joe Clifford Faust has constructed a compelling mystery... Chillingly plausible."LOCUS"One of the most entertaining, well-thought-out SF/detective novels to come around in a long time... At the close, one feels one has seen a real world, met real people; certainly one has felt real suspense. This is meaty stuff; extremely satisfying."FANTASY REVIEW"Storytelling that will surely keep readers turning pages."BOOKLIST

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1463629036
• ISBN13: 9781463629038
• Release Date: December 2011
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Fabulous SF Mystery

Joe Clifford Faust possesses the rare ability to produce science fiction that is simultaneously fun and substantial, as this fabulous SF mystery from the late 80's demonstrates. The premise is inspired: in the near future, the police are just too damn busy to handle every case, so the 31st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides victims the right and resources to conduct their own investigation. Our likable protagonist, Payne, finds occasion to take the 31st, when he comes home one evening to find a dead girl in his apartment. Payne and his friend Bailey are club-hopping bachelors (well, everyone is in THIS future society, and that's where the fun comes in), but Payne is also a skilled bio-engineer, so he's prepared to act as his own CSI. The bio-medicine in Death of Honor is impressively convincing (Faust must have done some serious research here), and handled in a way that the reader can follow. Payne's labwork is used to expose critical plot-points, rather than as an excuse to toss around bleeding-edge buzzwords. In a sense, this novel was considerably ahead of it's time--fifteen years later, we're a nation of forensics buffs. And Faust really knows how to structure a murder mystery, too; this isn't merely sci-fi tarted up with noir cliches. Neither the mystery nor the SF suffers in this marriage. Also refreshing is the fact that the resolution doesn't involve any shadowy billionaires or evil zaibatsus (well, maybe an ambiguous zaibatsu). ADOH's characters, "villains" included, are ordinary, flawed human beings, plausibly driven to tragic decisions--responses demanded by the corrupt world they inhabit. Oh, I should add that the ending is a real nail-biter.

Good Science, biased Fiction

One of the most memorable (anonymous) quotes I ever heard was "If you've got a message, send it Western Union". The usage is with a subtle irony, as the speaker disapproved of the practice of leading a reader on with the carrot of an interesting story, and then whacking the reader with a stick to pound in a moral lesson. That may be the case with "A Death of Honor". While the science aspect is fascinating, the socio-political background for the novel is oddly unrealistic. There are rules in Science Fiction. For example, anything is believable if you can sell the concept. And that doesn't happen here. In this case, the author shows us an America of the future as regimented in it's way as in Orwell's 1984. I waited and waited for some explanation how this all came about. No explanation came. The author depicts life in America as having become one wild party, with no family structure allowed, children raised by the State, and government officials that openly use torture and murder to punish resistance. America has become the mirror image of Soviet Russia, with no freedoms left, Secret Police, no emigration allowed, the works...And nowhere was there any suggestion that any great cataclysm had occurred to change American society. As if we would stand by and allow all children to be abducted and raised by the State, and never blink. No, without some explanation of HOW such a ridiculous, warped society could happen, it just doesn't fly. I can imagine stringent eugenics laws following a nuclear war, for example. Nope, the author just uses the Fear of war as his justification. Unlikely in the extreme, as we know that in the face of war, people cling to traditions.My only conclusion is that the author has a strong dislike of American culture, and no appreciation for the strength we derive from family ties. These traditions do not fall away overnight, nor would we allow such legislation to take away our rights. The book ends with the crowds of huddled m! asses, trying to escape from America (!) singing a British Anthem ! I haven't read such Anti-American claptrap since I read Michael Moorcock's Nomad of Time.