KOP - Hardcover

Hammond, Warren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765312727 ISBN 13: 9780765312723

Publisher: Tor Books, 2007

Synopsis

Juno is a dirty cop with a difficult past and an uncertain future. When his family and thousands of others emigrated to the colony world of Lagarto, they were promised a bright future on a planet with a booming economy. But before the colonists arrived, everything changed. An opportunistic Earth-based company developed a way to produce a cheaper version of Lagarto's main export, thus effectively paupering the planet and all its inhabitants.

 

Growing up on post-boom Lagarto, Juno is but one of the many who live in despair. Once he was a young cop in the police department of the capital city of Koba. That was before he started taking bribes from Koba's powerful organized crime syndicate. Yet despite his past sins, some small part of him has not given up hope. So he risks his life, his marriage and his job to expose a cabal that would enslave the planet for its own profit.

 

But he's got more pressing problems, when he's confronted with a dead man, a short-list of leads, and the obligatory question: who done it? Set up for a fall, partnered with a beautiful young woman whose main job is to betray him, and caught in a squeeze between the police chief and the crooked mayor, Juno is a compelling, sympathetic hero on a world that has no heroes.
 
An exciting science fiction adventure and a dark, gritty noir thriller told in taut, powerful prose, this is a remarkable debut novel.

About this title

About the Author

Warren Hammond lives in Denver, Colorado, where he's working on a sequel, EX-KOP.

Reviews

Acorrupt policeman, an overgrown jungle city that gets only five hours of sun between 17-hour nights, and battling crime gangs set the extremely noir scene for Hammond's solidly constructed, fast-paced SF debut. In 2787, the impoverished colony planet Lagarto is a dead end, its economy destroyed by a trade imbalance that favors rich offworlders while natives go hungry. In Koba, Lagarto's largest city, aging street cop Juno Mozambe clings to the power and bribery gained by strong-arm tactics in his youth. His friend Paul Chang, chief of the Koba Office of Police, senses that rivals want them removed. As Juno teams up with new partner Maggie Orzo to investigate a murder by an apparent serial killer, he and Paul must also stop their long alliance with the Bandur cartel from being exposed. Hammond's writing is workmanlike with occasional terse highlights, offering rewards to fans of both crime novels and science fiction. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hammond's gritty, futuristic detective story is full of morally gray characters, ambiguous alliances, necessary betrayals, and a lot of heart. In 2762, cops Juno and Paul harnessed the idea of organized crime to bring a kind of peace and prosperity to their impoverished colony planet, Lagarto. Working with the Bandur crime family, they took control of Koba and the Koba Office of Police (KOP). More than 20 years later, Paul, now chief of police, assigns Juno to a murder case that lands him in danger with the newly elected mayor. Behind a facade of purging corrupt government officials, starting with those at KOP, his honor is planning the worst crime of all. Lagarto is a vivid setting for this tale of hope borne of despair, a fully realized world as important to the story as the characters. Juno, the focal character, is a sympathetic, desperate hero trying to do what is right in a world where right is often criminal. Although the story sometimes becomes convoluted, it's a thrillingly dark read. Hutley, Krista

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

 

June 28, 2787

 

The place was almost empty. There were two boozers splitting a bottle at the far end of the bar and a gray-haired woman with her head on a table, out cold with an empty glass in her hand. The windows were closed up tight. The aircon was blowing full.

 

Bensaid and I were standing face to face, the bar standing between us. Bensaid was the owner of this rat hole. He ripped off his patrons by cutting his brandy with water. He kept a bottle capper in the back room that he'd use to seal the bottles back up so you couldn't tell.

 

"You better not be holding out on me," I said as I pocketed the thin wad of bills, too thin.

 

"You don't trust me? You know I wouldn't short you." Bensaid tried to look offended.

 

"Bullshit. Where is the rest of my money?"

 

"Son of a bitch!" He slammed his drink glass on the bar, splashing brandy up onto his bushy arm. "I'm sick of your bitchin', comin' in here every month 'cusin' me of this shit. It's all there. Count the fuckin' money yourself you don't believe me!"

 

The pair at the far end of the bar looked our way. Gray-hair didn't flinch.

 

I should've smashed the glass into the side of his face. Forced him to count aloud as I laid out one bill at a time--prick thought he could cheat me! When I was younger, I wouldn't have hesitated. I used to be KOP's ass-stomper supreme, but that was a young man's game. These days, I'd just make my collections and try to stay out of trouble. Besides, I wasn't as quick as I used to be.

 

I patted his cheek, all cool. "Why didn't you just tell me it was all there? That's all I need to hear."

 

Bensaid glared at me, pissed times ten. First I'd accused him of cheating, and now I was pulling this fake nicey-nice shit on him, saying, "Why didn't you just tell me it was all there?" If I wasn't a cop, he would've jumped me already or pulled out that shockstick he kept back there for bouncing rowdies out of his dive when they got carried away.

 

"See ya next month," I said, grinning in his face . . . extra long . . . then I turned my back on him and walked out of the bar snail-slow. I dare you to jump me, you fuck.

 

The truth was I wanted to count the money as soon as he forked it over. My right hand shook, and all I needed was for a bastard like that to see and start thinking I was old and weak. I'd first noticed that I couldn't hold it steady a few years ago. When I'd gotten it checked out, I learned it was a degenerative thing, caused by a twenty-five-year-old injury. Nowadays, I'd keep my right in my pocket most of the time. People around here would walk all over you if they saw you had a weak spot.

 

The heat hammered me when I hit the street. Lagarto's sun had been up for a couple hours. The thin cloud cover didn't do much to minimize the late morning sun scorch. I could feel the prickle of sweat breaking out on my forehead as I headed down the block. I should've started my rounds earlier. I was getting too old to be out in this shit. One of these days, I'd have to face facts and hang it up, turn in my shield, and take Niki out of the city. She'd been after me to quit. We had all the money we'd ever need, but I just couldn't get the job out of my system. What else would I do?

 

I crossed the street, weaving between the puddles and piles of rotting garbage. Geckos scattered out of my way, running for cover under green weeds that had pushed up through the rippled pavement. Every few months, the city would come through on a slash-and-burn. They used to poison the encroaching jungle growth until people started to notice tumor-ridden fish belly-up in the Koba River. Citizens' groups got worked up over their health and forced the city to change methods. Now, they blasted the streets with flamethrowers, crisping anything green, leaving only the smoldering stench of burned trash and vegetation in their wake.

 

I rounded the corner and strode into Li's Parlor to hit up Li for my cut. The entryway was done up in Asian silks, reds and golds. The aircon was blowing in my face. I fanned my shirt to get some of the cool inside. One of Li's women led me back to the lounge. On the left was a bar where the johns would knock back a couple before heading upstairs; on the right, velvet sofas were backed against the wall. They were used to display the merchandise.

 

Li's Parlor was one of a thousand snatch houses on this planet. We were experts at drawing tourists down to Lagarto from the Orbital and the mines, feeding them some hot tail, and relieving them of their offworld dollars.

 

Li was counting pesos at the bar. Rouge and caked-on lipstick both feminized and anglicized his Asian features. His hair was in a net, too early for the wig.

 

"Juno!" He singsonged my name.

 

"Hello, Li."

 

"It's so nice to see you. Would you like to join me for some tea?"

 

"Not today, I'm running behind schedule."

 

"Why are you always in such a rush?"

 

I shrugged a response.

 

"You must come back this evening. I have two new girls. One is just your type . . . tall and quiet with a real wild streak. You have to let me earn back some of the money I give you every month."

 

"Sounds interesting, but I don't think the wife would let me."

 

"Oh, stop it!" He mock slapped me. "Mr. Tough Cop turns into a little kitten at night? I don't believe that. My mother used to tell me stories about you."

 

Li's mother used to run the joint before she'd died.

 

"That was a long time ago," I said.

 

"That wife of yours won't mind if you get your main course at home and get your dessert at Li's." His eyelids fluttered. "Are you still worried she'll be upset? I'll tell you what, if she feels left out, you can bring her along. You can still handle two women at a time, can't you, Juno?"

 

Smiling, I said, "I'll have to ask her, Li."

 

"You tell her first-timers are free."

 

"How's business?" That was my usual signal; it said I was done with the small talk.

 

"You know how it is." He passed me an envelope. No need to count, Li always played it straight . . . so to speak. "I have to let Ramona go. You know how offworlders are. They keep wanting them younger and younger."

 

I shook my head in that what-can-you-do way.

 

"I just can't make sense of it, Juno. Those mines are booming, and I still have to let her go. I'm telling you, the market for mature women is dying. More than half my girls are in their teens now. You know how old Ramona is? She's twenty-seven. She started here when she was nineteen. That's only eight years, Juno. How's a girl supposed to earn enough money to set herself up after only eight years? It used to be, a girl could have a fifteen- or even twenty-year run."

 

I nodded my head in agreement.

 

"It's not fair," he said like a spoiled kid. "I don't know how Ramona's going to make it."

 

Christ, here we go. Li wants me to lower his rate. "So slip her a bonus before you kick her out."

 

"If I had the money, I would, but I'm just barely making it as it is." Li leaned in close. "Ben Bandur is squeezing me dry, Juno." Benazir Bandur was Koba's kingpin, the top dog in this town. The Bandur cartel took a piece of all the rackets . . . just like us cops.

 

I grinned at him. "So it sounds like you need to talk to Bandur, get him to cut you some slack."

 

He knew I was screwing with him. The Bandur outfit had never been known to show mercy. He put his hands on his hips. "Be serious."

 

"Just raise your prices," I said.

 

Li poo-pooed. "I've already tried that, but I started losing customers. You don't understand how fierce the competition is. Heck, you know what they always say about this planet?"

 

"What's that?"

 

"'Come to Lagarto, where you'll be welcomed with open legs.'"

 

I smiled as if it were the first time I'd ever heard it.

 

Li said, "It's so true, Juno. You've seen it. You know how bad things have gotten. Shoot, these days, an offworlder can go into just about any bar and get a roll with the owner's daughter or some skank runaway for a cut rate. Sure, the service isn't anywhere near as good, but you know how offworlders are. They've spent five or ten years flying in from some star or another. They're already popping erections when they get off the shuttles."

 

"C'mon, Li. It's not that bad."

 

"Oh, yes it is! After five years, they'd bang a beehive."

 

"But you said yourself that the mines are booming. Those guys come down from the asteroid belts every year. Every year. And there's more of them all the time. You can't expect me to believe you can't make your payments. We both know you've got plenty saved up. You could set Ramona up for life if you wanted to."

 

"It's not like that, Juno. Do you see this place? It's falling apart." Li lifted one of the silks, showing the molded-over wall that stood behind it. As he poked at the soggy parts, crumbling clumps of plaster fell to the floor. "I'm telling you, I'm flat broke. You've always been fair to me and my mother. Just tell me you can help my girls. It's ...

Edition details

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0765312727
• ISBN 13: 9780765312723
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336