The Crime Studio

Steve Aylett. Thunder's Mouth Press, $14.95 (156pp) ISBN 978-1-56858-148-4

British author Steve Aylett depicts a world devoid of morality and consequence in his latest futuristic novel, The Crime Studio. In the stark world of Beerlight, ""crime is the last innovative art form,"" and a cast of characters with such comical names as ""Bleach Pastiche"" and ""Harpoon Specter"" practice crime as art, in a manner reminiscent of Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. Aylett injects his dreary vision of the future with biting sarcasm and eloquent wit. The influence of pop culture is strong, from the comic-book imagery to the introductory quote from Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Enjoyable and original, The Crime Studio will appeal to fans of graphic novels and science fiction.

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