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Review: Two Truths and a Lie by Cory O’Brien

January 22, 2025 by A.J. Calvin Leave a Comment

Rating: —/10

Synopsis:

In a mostly underwater near-future Los Angeles, aging combat-drone veteran Orr Vue now lives a simple and small life, trading snippets of what’s become the most valuable currency: information. So when the cops show up at his door looking for data on a murder he’s not even aware has happened, things get interesting for the first time in 25 years.

At first, Orr is happy to exchange whatever he knows about the demise of InfoDrip’s top exec to buy booze and pay rent on his memory storage, but that plan goes to hell when Orr’s old boyfriend, Auggie Wolf, shows up as the number one suspect. Forced to stretch his atrophied spy skills and take his illegal horde of drones out of retirement alongside his busted knees, Orr finds himself in the crosshairs of the militarized police, a family of megarich corporate heirs, a clan of emancipated AIs, and a cult. Barely avoiding getting killed with every clue he collects, Orr realizes he’s uncovered not just a murder, but a conspiracy that threatens Auggie’s very existence. Ahh, the things we do for love… 

But in a world where memories can be bought and sold, how can you truly know who anyone is—or what you yourself are capable of?

Review:

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story I’ll be thinking about for a while. In a world where data is currency—and memories are considered data—how much would you be willing to give away?

For some, the answer is nothing, but for others? They’re willing to give up everything in order to forget. Enter the Brotherhood of the Uncarved Block, an organization that exists to allow people to give up all their memories in order to forget and live in “blissful” ignorance. But what does the Brotherhood do with all that data they’re draining from people?

That question comes into play as Orr Vue investigates the murder of a wealthy exec who died within one of the Brotherhood’s monasteries. I don’t want to get into his investigation too much (I’ll let readers uncover the surprises themselves), but I will say this: Orr’s investigation becomes so much more than it was on the surface. There are plenty of plot twists and revelations, and as much action as a 68-year-old man in poor physical health can handle (which is a lot more than you might think.)

The backdrop to his investigation is a future version of Los Angeles, where the levees have broken and a large portion of the city is underwater. Almost everyone has cranial implants (kortikos) that allow them to send messages, store data/memories, and interface with artificial realities. Orr’s kortiko is a bit more sophisticated; his is military-issue and allows him to interface with his army of drones. Drones are supposedly illegal, but Orr is good at circumventing the law. AIs are common in Orr’s world too, but most are easily tricked if someone like Orr confounds their programmed responses with a string of nonsense (which he does on occasion, to comedic effect.)

This was a fast-paced, entertaining read with a ton of worldbuilding packed in, not to mention the twisted mystery at its core. It took me a couple chapters to really get into the story, but once I was there, I was invested until the end. And what an end it had… It was a great read!

Two Truths and a Lie is currently on preorder and will be available March 4.

Filed Under: Cyberpunk, Dystopian, Murder Mystery, Reviews, Science Fiction, Technothriller

About A.J. Calvin

I'm a fantasy author and an avid reader of all things sci-fi/fantasy/horror. When I'm not immersed in something literary, I like to hike, scuba dive, and play video games. You can learn more about my writing at ajcalvin.net.

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