Teaser

Fergus is a repo man, travelling the stars to take back items from delinquents and criminals alike. It’s honest work, but his latest job shows all the signs of getting him killed . . .

Review

Finder is one of those books I heard a little about when it first released, and then promptly forgot all about. In this specific case, I first heard about it thanks to an article over at Tor.com, kept my eye out for a copy, but never saw one in the wild. As is often the case, US marketing does not equate to UK distribution. It was brought to my attention more recently as an audiobook included in the Audible Plus catalogue, so I decided to give it a try.

If you’re a fan of small-scale space opera, there’s a good chance you’re going to like this one. It’s got action heroes, intelligent spaceships, clones, aliens, rebellions, and unlikely abilities oozing out of every pore, but it never dives to deeply into any any particular idea. It’s surface-deep, but that surface is broad enough to tell a compelling story. We’re in the territory of Star Wars, John Scalzi and Gareth L. Powell here, and it’s a very comfortable place to be.

I think what works best about Finder is that the protagonist, while well-experienced, is ultimately just a regular person, trying to do job. Repo men exist in the real-world, after all, even if their work is a little more prosaic than it is in Palmer’s future. Comparing a real repo man to Fergus is akin to comparing a delivery driver to the protagonist of the Transporter franchise. Fergus is a great everyman, but he’s not an audience stand-in, something that becomes apparent during a detour to Mars halfway through the book.

If I had one complaint of this book, it’s that it’s choppy. The aforementioned trip to Mars feels oddly disconnected to the rest of the book, even if it is possibly the strongest part when taken on its own terms. Palmer’s action sequences are frenetic and well-written, but the book jumps from one chase to a shootout to the next, only rarely pausing for breath. There is some interesting worldbuilding going on in the background, but the scant descriptions get lost in all the action.

Continuing my ongoing transformation to full-blown audiophile, Joe Hempel’s narration is a strong choice for Finder. Clear even in the most frantic of scenes, and with a good range of voices, I have no complaints when it comes to the narrator. Even if I do still have a preference for UK narrators, it’s people like Hempel who are bringing me around to the other side of the Atlantic.

On a final note, perhaps the most exciting part for me is that Finder is only the first in a series. There are some leftover mysteries after this one that bare surely given consideration in the next three volumes, but Finder works well as a self-contained introduction. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for more by Palmer though. As I wrap up several series this year, an ongoing space opera series is exactly what I’m looking for.

Audio Stats

• Narrated by Joe Hempel
• The Finder Series (#1)
• Published in 2016
• 11hrs 45mins