Quantum Marlowe, Glenn Lazar Roberts, TWB Press

“I’m just that kinda guy...”

Pete Marlowe, a tiny but tough private detective, is having a bad day. Two mad scientists have abducted him, lopped off his little finger, and installed a red button that enables him to walk through walls. They targeted him because his fast-talking, con-artist Uncle Flynn secretly unloaded the Blarney Stone on the Pope and they want ‘Pinky’ with his detachable finger to get it back. The clandestine operation involves the Vatican, church bells, a Mexican drug cartel, and a World War II Nazi project called Die Glocke. Pete, however, uncovers M&M’s real purpose and turns the tables, using their own quantum mechanics and electron entanglements against them: “When Pinky gives them the finger, they stay fingered.”

From Felecia Mack Little - author of "Scions of Darkness"

Glenn Lazar Roberts’ Quantum Marlowe is a quirky Tech-noire that features a gritty, fast talking detective who travels through parallel universes to track down a stolen powerful religious relic. Once he obtains it, Marlowe must outmaneuver a drug-pushing mafia queen, mad-hatter scientists, and a gang of hardened killers in order to return it to its rightful place. Glenn’s clever narrative takes us through a high-stakes, high-energy quest while introducing intriguing ideas of quantum dynamics. Similes and metaphors fly at sometimes breakneck speeds, harkening to Raymond Chandler novels. Overall this novel is an entertaining joyride that challenges the reader with its complexity, twists, and layered nuances.”

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Member NetGalley: not rated

“Just wow. Quantum Marlowe is a fun romp that mixes the detective genre with science fiction. It brought to mind authors like Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. Funny, vivid, and often strange, this book is its own adventure and worth the journey.”

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Member NetGalley - Virginia Williams: FIVE STARS

Pete Marlowe isn't five feet tall, but the hardboiled detective PI can usually take care of himself with his smarts, his mouth, and his favorite Colt 45. This crazy narrative starts out all crime film noir and proceeds into overwhelming fantasy sci-fi, quantifiably unusual and uniquely quirky. The first thing you have to swallow is the lopped off pinky and the insertion of a red button, the Universal Indexer. He merely needs to remove the little pinky cover to expose what is an awesomely powerful weapon. This is installed before he is sent to retrieve the Blarney Stone that his uncle had stolen and taken to the Pope.

At the Vatican, the reader begins to get a glimmer that this isn't just a simple fantasy sci-fi. It quickly becomes so multi-layered, so complicated and complex that if you weren't paying attention you'd be lost now. There is a parallel universe (actually universes--plural), however, as otherwise our clever Italian Canali suited detective would never have survived the mobsters who send him deep into Mexico to a hidden Aztec pyramid in the mountains of the Sierra Madre to deal with the cartel, who are actually pretty clever themselves.

Author Roberts notes in his bio that he loves language. No kidding, as this story is chock full of humorous metaphors, similes, twists of well-known clichés, phrases, and all manner of tongue-in-cheek connotations, innuendoes, and insinuations. It's a constant challenge to the English language albeit a fun one.

This is not a short one, expect to remain for the long haul. There are few slow-paced passages. The well-plotted and fast-moving intricate narrative involves multiple well-developed personalities. Dialogue runs from typical forties film noir to the wacky. Reading this book becomes a quasi-train wreck scenario. You can't believe where this is going and you have to see for yourself how it is going to conclude. I was given this ebook download by the publisher and NetGalley and appreciate the opportunity to get into something far from my usual genre. Recommended for die-hard fans of exceptional avant-garde fantasy sci-fi prose.

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Member NetGalley - Kelly Watley: FIVE STARS

Marlow is fearless, funny, savvy, and brave. Cracking good action mystery...funny, sardonic and fast paced. Loved every minute!!