Bruce Golden

This is one strange book. Seemingly set in the future, it follows several interwoven story lines includng a cop whose partner is killed and is thereafter partnered with a robot-like creature and their search for the killer, people from another planet who want to take over the world, and a woman who has chosen to follow a religion that touts celibacy as a way of life.

There are lots of twists in this book, lots of jumping from one scenario and/or character to another with little warning. That was quite well done. I found the book to be disturbing, though; there are an inordinate number of references to sex and erotica. Even when celibacy is the topic, it's presented in a way that somehow reeks of eroticism.

The overall storyline kept me reading all the way to the end of the book. When I was finished I felt almost dirty. This is not a book I would recommend to anyone. I gave it two stars because, in spite of the content topic-wise, Bruce Golden proves to be an author who is good at describing characters, scenarios and the like.… (meer)

Mortals All is the first novel by Bruce Golden. He is also the author of subsequent works, including Evergreen, which I will soon be reading.
Mortals All is a well-written story set in a future time when artificial humans, or andrones, are the newest slave class. Created to function as servants for humans, andrones are without rights and deprived of autonomy. Although they are engineered to be servile, some of them long for freedom. Mary 79 is one such androne. Zach is a writer of space novels who meets Mary 79 in a bar. He is looking for a one-night stand, but soon finds himself embroiled in a conflict between the laws of the land and the urgings of his heart. His heart wins out and he tries to help Mary 79. As rogue andrones are customarily pursued and destroyed, the new romance is fraught with danger as Mary 79 tries to connect with others of her kind and avoid being killed. Zach is pulled into the intrigue which puts his safety at risk as well.
Mortals All has a little bit of everything. Along with jabs at religious hypocrisy, the author in his narrative touches on the double-sided treachery of politics and illuminates the kind of mob mentality that condones and fosters oppression of certain classes of people. The parallels to the history of slavery in our nation are inevitable. Yet, Mr. Golden handles all of these issues with the finesse of a real storyteller. The story is well-paced; the world he creates is believable; and the dialogue is natural. The story is told in the first-person by the various characters, each chapter representing a different point of view. The author does an exemplary job of keeping the character dialects and personalities true to form.
I found the book to be engaging, holding my interest up to the final page. And I particularly liked the little surprise at the end that gives the reader a big sigh of relief.
As for the physical book itself, it was professionally bound and formatted. There were very few typographical mishaps, and none that were jarring. I detected no editorial flaws. I liked the novel well enough that I ordered another of this author’s books, and look forward to reading more works by this very talented writer.… (meer)