22 Comments

"When you do not work you are miserable company."

That line made me laugh aloud enough that my wife noticed. Nicely done!

I love the noir feel of this, and you've got it down; the rain, the gal, the smoking even... beautiful. Can't wait till the next installment!

Expand full comment

Detective, bourbon, rain... the best start to any story!

Good stuff!

Expand full comment

This is such a fantastic start!! I don't read a lot of noir, but even I can recognize the conventions and I love the subversion of them in the scifi setting. The atmosphere is perfect, and I'm a sucker for snappy dialogue.

Can't wait for more!! ✨

Expand full comment

Bravo, Bravo, Bravissimo.

It was just perfect, @scoot. I got a strong Holmes/Watson vibe on this, or Spock/McCoy? But it hooked me. I can't wait to read the next installment.

Expand full comment

The vibe I got was Louis L’amour detective story x C3P0 . Can’t wait to read more.

Expand full comment

I love noir. So excited for more of this!

Expand full comment

This is a very fun read so far. I love the retro-future vibe.

Expand full comment

All the classic bits of a good noir! What I loved so much about Cowboy Bebop was the seamless futuristic-noir fusion. This scratches that itch! It’s fantastic and the hype is well-deserved.

Expand full comment

I despise McElroy! This is such a great start! I wished DBnumbers would engage in all out words warfare! "Yeah, but nobody likes your personality, DB. You're pretty much the worst droid any detective could hope for. Now move out of the way and don't solve this case before I can."

"Organic scumbag..."

Expand full comment

Great stuff! The droid is my favorite character so far, haha. I love his "personality".

Expand full comment

Nice job…kept me interested and I was sorry when it ended. Can’t wait for the next one!

Just one question…a pipe? Seems a little Sherlock Holmes-ish when I was picturing Mickey Spillane!🤣. But hey, Spillane with a pipe is an interesting image!

Expand full comment

Great stuff all the way through. I am looking forward to the next part. 🤓

Expand full comment

The name James will always intrigue me. Such a simple single syllable word that can hold such malevolence. It kind of forces your expression into a grimace with each pronunciation. Instant fan.

Expand full comment

Excellent start. Anyone hear some slow saxophone jazz playing while they read?

Expand full comment

I’m already hooked! The details perfectly set up the noir theme. I hate how James talks to Bridgett. Makes me wanna smack him with a chancleta 🩴 Looking forward to more!

Expand full comment

You had me at McElroy smokes a pipe. A proper investigator smokes a pipe.

Expand full comment

Noir--had to look that up Scoot. Yep, I like it! That 'noir' with a robot. . .is working!

Expand full comment