Flash by L. E. Modesitt

From the Publisher

Modesitt returns to the twenty-fourth century future of Archform: Beauty, for a new story.
Ten years ago, Jonat deVrai was a rising star in the Marines. But he shocked his superiors by walking away from the Corps after witnessing atrocity and hypocrisy. Starting his life over, he established himself as the world's expert on the effectiveness of "prod"-- product placement, the only advertising which viewers will allow through the sophisticated filters they all use against unwanted intrusions on their electronic link networks. Prod, reinforced with sublims and the "res"-- resonant frequencies, a form of sonic branding -- is the wave of the future. Then Jonat's comfortable world is upset when the Centre for Societal Research approaches him to study the effects of res and prod on political campaigns. After a res-heavy political rally for Laborite Republican Senatorial candidate Juan Carlismo, armed thugs jump deVrai in a parking garage. A day later, a sniper ambushes him. What looked like a safe, lucrative contract has suddenly turned dangerous. With his life on the line, deVrai must sort flash from fact before it's too late.
Flash is a riveting blend of all-out thriller and thoughtful social, political, and technological exploration as only Modesitt could write it.

Publishers Weekly

Down the mean streets of a future Denver a man must go, in this Chandleresque tale of corporate and political scheming and murder. Fantasy bestseller Modesitt (the Spellsong Cycle) returns to his SF setting of a federated post-U.S. North America ("the Commonocracy") run by large companies ("multilaterals") as much as by governments. Jonat deVrai, ex-Marine colonel, tries to navigate among the corporate clients who seek his product placement ad analyses. When the Centre for Societal Research asks for a similar report on a political campaign, deVrai becomes part of an elaborate plot to further corporate controls over the indentured Martian colonies. Having quit the Marines to stop being used as company muscle, deVrai turns the tables on the executives who try to exploit him, with the help of a law-enforcement AI, Central Four, and "her" humanoid clone bodies, known as cydroids. DeVrai's campaign, as befits a noir hero, has personal costs, leaving him to care for his orphaned niece and nephew. It also comes with benefits, as Central Four's principal cydroid, Paula Athene, grows to self-awareness, independence and romantic attraction. Modesitt strives for emotional rather than intellectual satisfaction. His future has much eye-pleasing chrome, but it lacks infrastructure, making the book seem more contemporary techno-thriller than SF (parents queuing up in hydrogen-powered cars to pick up their kids after school). (Sept. 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Another political SF yarn set in the future world of Modesitt's superior Archform: Beauty (2002). Ex-marine colonel Jonat deVrai-straight-arrow Jonat resigned his commission after witnessing atrocities, unable to stomach government duplicity and hypocrisy-is now the world's leading analyst of product-placement effectiveness. Though the effectiveness of "prod" is notoriously difficult to evaluate, Jonat is completely honest-and his system really works. A commission from the Centre for Societal Research requires him to analyze Juan Carlisimo's Senate election campaign. Perhaps illegally, Carlisimo uses "rez" (the resonant amplification of music's emotional impact) and prod to beef up his ads and campaign appearances. Thugs, apparently tied to the campaign, attempt to beat up Jonat while he investigates. After Jonat evades the lethal intentions of a sniper, he receives a deadly threat from prod biggie Abraham Vorhees, whose highly touted and expensive services Jonat's work has shown to be utterly worthless. And, while cooperating with Central Four, the intelligent computer that runs the police, Jonat exposes a powerful security firm's attempt to smuggle illegal weapons to Mars so that the ubiquitous MultiCor can suppress the revolt there. Four illegal cydroids-programmed clones that can be controlled from a distance-try to murder Jonat; another cydroid, wearing Jonat's face, assassinates his beloved sister Aliora and her husband Dierk-leaving their children in Jonat's care. The only person he can trust is an independent cydroid, Officer Paula Athene. The other officers have been suborned by the malefactors and prefer to see Jonat dead. Modesitt's abundant novelistic virtues-great charactersand plotting, impressive attention to detail-aside: this is smart, aware, provocative, and engrossing on several political, economic, and professional levels.

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