Consequences by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

So Scott Card, when he reviewed the Retrieval Artists series as a whole, said (or at least implied) that they didn't have to be read in any particular order; that they stood alone. That may very well be somewhat true, but without the background from at least the first novel, I think you'll be lost. In fact, when I read the third, Consequences, without reading the second, it left me wondering if I had perhaps missed some significant events in the lives of its main protagonists, who were introduced in The Disappeared, former detective turned Retrieval Artist Miles Flynn, and former detective turned assistant chief of police for Armstrong Dome (on the Moon), Noelle DeRicci. I had actually hoped to run onto a reasonably priced copy of the second book, Extremes, but never did, so I finally jumped into this one feet first.

If you've ever heard the line, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", I think you've found the single foundation upon which the whole story is built. Representatives of the new government of Etae, who began as the rebel forces toppling the repressive and brutal government of the planet, have arrived at Armstrong Dome to begin meetings with the Assembly?? to determine whether they will be allowed to join this group of "civilized" worlds and races and enjoy the flow of foreign aid to their impoverished and starving citizens. Some of the diplomats arriving at the conference are strongly opposed to the Etaens recognition, while others are more sympathetic, hence plenty of room for some rather topical discussions about how former terrorists turned statespeople should be treated.

There are also dangerous enemies of the Etaens in the mix, people who, for various reasons, would rather see them dead than successful, and DeRicci's and Flynn's involvement begins when a trio of Flynn's former clients are murdered in a very odd fashion. DeRicci is made chief investigator on the case, and Flynn decides he needs to figure out what's going on both to protect himself and avenge the Disappeared who has been killed.

Multiple POVs, well handled, some good suspenseful mystery, a bit of danger, and some deeper political questions posed - if not answered. Rusch delivers a good tale once again.

The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Retrieval Artist books, by Rusch, came highly recommended by Orson Scott Card, one of my favorite authors. I've had the third one on my shelves for a while, and finally broke down and bought the first one in the series for my Nook just before Christmas. In The Disappeared, we are introduced to a world where humans have spread out into the solar system and beyond, occupying Mars, Luna, and some enclaves in other solar systems already inhabited by several races of aliens.

From a hard science fiction standpoint, there's nothing really interesting in this novel, just the usual space yachts and laser guns, and people seem to live on the Moon in more or less the same manner as more mundane locations. The interesting concepts here relate to how our society relates to the alien societies with which it must interact.

The timing of my reading the book ended up somewhat topical, as the Iraqi government's refusal to allow our military and contract personnel immunity from prosecution under their laws had a great deal to do with the timing of our troop withdrawal there in the waning days of 2011. In The Disappeared, the real conflict is generated by seeing what happens when our ideas about justice, crime and punishment come into conflict with the legal systems of alien cultures.

On various worlds where humans have been allowed to settle, there are at least three different races who, first, consider different acts to be criminal than we do, and second, punish those acts in ways we seldom, if ever, consider. The Disty punish crimes by brutal acts of murder and dismemberment (in a sort of pour encourager les autres way). The Rev require repayment for a crime by the criminal working at slave labor for twenty years or more. The Wygnans take, by force if necessary, the first-born child of the offender, who is then raised as a Wygnan, not a human, and will never return to human culture nor see her family ever again.

Understandably, people who run afoul of the justice system of these races will go to great lengths to avoid punishment, sometimes taking advantage of a disappearance agency, which relocates them and establishes a completely new, untraceable identity for them. The Disappeared is the story of what happens when the largest of those agencies is sold to new owners who decide that there's a great deal of money to be made by selling the information about the people in their files to the aliens, and turning the perps over to them.

A pretty good start, and worth following up on.