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Book Review By Harriet Klausner
Extremes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch



Roc, July 2003, 6.50, 384 pp.
ISBN 0451459342

In the far distant future, mankind has treaties with at least fifty alien species because Earth and her colonies want to trade with them, humanity is subject to their laws. If a person has run afoul of an alien species and doesn't want to be held accountable under alien law, they disappear. Retrieval Artist Miles Flint, based in the Armstrong Dome on the moon, searches for the Disappeared for matters they left unfinished but don't hand them in to the law.

People, agencies and governments hire trackers to find the disappeared and hand them over the proper authorities. Tracker Miran Oliviari has come to the Moon Marathon run outside the dome to see if she can find Frieda Tey in her new identity as a business entrepreneur. She is wanted for the murder for the killing of many people in a scientific experiment gone awry. Before the Tracker can confront her prey, police detective Noelle Ricci investigates the murder of a marathon runner that Oliviari believes was Tey. Flint comes into the scenario when a client hires him to find Tey; a job that almost gets him killed when he figures out who she really is and where she is going.

Unlike the first book in this series, THE DISAPPEARED, there are no aliens residing on the pages of this novel. This is a medical thriller police procedural set in the future with humans judging their own. The antagonist of Extremes uses smoke and mirrors to conduct an illegal and unethical scientific experiment and in the confession, disappears. Only one person will find her and the person who blinks first will die.

Harriet Klausner


Plot & Themes
Tone of book - humorous or laughable
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - finding a killer (criminal)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10 %
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 %

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 40's-50's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
Which planet? - Earth's Moon
Not Earth, in Solar System? Yes

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript
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