Set in near-future Hong Kong, this novella fuses elements of police procedurals, crime thrillers, and SF tales.

Chronicling an aging homicide detective’s quest to apprehend a serial killer before the investigator retires (or is fired), the story begins with Zeki Pemburu, who is tasked with solving multiple murders in which the victims’ bodies have been ritualistically dismembered and rearranged. All of the killings have occurred in Lower New Kowloon, essentially the dark underbelly of a prosperous city where very little sunlight, money, or opportunities trickle down to the area’s impoverished inhabitants. With pressure mounting from his boss to stop the killer—and to use the cutting-edge technology that the department has embraced (cybernetic modifications and drones)—Pemburu decides instead to use highly illegal tech to identify the murderer. By accessing a recently deceased person’s neural chip, the detective can experience the victim’s last moments—but in doing so, he risks insanity or worse. While Pemburu is little more than a crime fiction stereotype, this narrative works in large part because of Todoroff’s exceptional worldbuilding and the story’s powerful thematic punch. The author’s focus on creating a rich and meticulously described setting makes for an undeniably immersive reading experience: Pemburu “stepped out of the alley into a torrent of people and traffic, all surging through a neon-bright canyon cliffed in steel and smartglass. Celebrities smiled down at the masses, endorsing hot ware that could sync and sex up anyone to be just like them. Holograms swam in a smog of bio-diesel and steam, spiced with curry and hot peanut oil, all buoyed on a hurricane of sound.” And for such a short work, Todoroff insightfully explores profound themes, namely technology’s influence on humankind and the power (or lack thereof) of faith: Pemburu “told her religion was an appendix, a vestigial organ from when humans tried to swallow the indigestible.”

Fans of cybernoir should enjoy this futuristic murder mystery—two (augmented) thumbs up.