The Last Resort

Jen Lu Mysteries, Book 2

By: Michael Kaufman

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus, Joe Sanfelippo

It’s March 2034, six months after D.C. police detective Jen Lu and Chandler, her sentient bio-computer and wannabe tough guy implanted in her brain, cracked the mystery of Eden. The climate crisis is hitting harder than ever: a mega-hurricane has devastated the eco-system and waves of refugees pour into Washington, D.C. Environmental lawyer and media darling Patty Garcia dies in a bizarre accident on a golf course. Of the seven billion people on the planet, only Jen thinks she was murdered. After all, Garcia just won a court case for massive climate change reparations to be paid out by oil, gas, and coal companies.

Jen is warned off, but she and Chandler start digging. Signs point to Garcia’s abusive ex, a former oil giant, but soon Jen turns up more suspects who have an even greater motive for committing murder. Soon Jen is in the crosshairs of those who will ensure the truth never comes to light, no matter the cost, and has to move quickly before she becomes next on the killer’s list.

©2023 Michael Kaufman (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

inventive, Hard To Put Down, Fun Book

The primary point of view character is a sentient artificial intelligence computer system implanted into the brain of a female police detective. The AI is named Chandler and can almost be Humphrey Bogart in Raymond Chandler's Big Sleep, a great character. His Audible reader, Joe Sanfellipo, does a fantastic job with him. Overall, the book is a very good police procedural about a rather ingenious murder, and follow-up murders, that involve climate change and billionaires who buy enormously expensive drugs that stop aging. With all that, it is fun, thought-provoking, and a pleasure to listen to.