The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse

The one where America is so culturally divided that there are Wiccan schools as well as Baptist ones. Drew Parker is a gay private detective, and his partner, Jen, a witch, is missing, and someone digs up a corpse and does something very strange with it. The future world is drawn in such broad, exaggerated strokes; it might work as an article-length parody, but at novel length, I don't believe it, and as a result, I don't believe most of the characters, either. It doesn't help that the book is m [...]

Liked this a great deal. Well written, clever, fast-paced, a real nail-biter at times. There are moments of genuine darkness, and moments of profound emotion. The very complicated plot could be off-putting if you don't like that sort of thing - as could the multiple first-person POVs. But I was captivated and grew to like all the characters, except for one, who was hateful all the way through. Set in the future, but not too far in the future, we see an America not unlike what we know today, but [...]

I read this a good 15 years ago, and felt like reading it again. It's kind of a novel-length political cartoon, and very prescient in how possible it is to live in an echo chamber. There are actual Wiccan neighbourhoods and private schools, and these exist for other religions, and sects of same. Like ethnic neighbourhoods, only here it's deliberately constructed subdivisions. It was amusing seeing references to the Microsoft Network, which of course now absolutely exists. So some things are date [...]

Batshit crazy! If you broke this book down you'd go mental. Far too many grammatical errors and at one point the years and ages don't add up. Also, due to the large amount of narrators in the book, its tough even for the sharpest of memories to remember what happened a particular characters in their previous chapters 100 pages back. BUT, if you go with the flow and just enjoy the slightly fantastical/futuristic murder mystery then you'll have a blast!

Cleverly written, with characters I cared about.

In the year 2033, in this near future mystery with elements of both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, the various cultures and subcultures in America are so divided, the country is ready to erupt into civil war. Religion has found a strong foothold in politics. Wiccan has achieved a level equal with Christianity. Abortion is legal. The gay gene has been found. And since Catholicism is the last major religion to believe abortion is wrong, most young gays are Catholic. It's a world that feels like it's on the b [...]

Just how did the author keep them all straight? I bet he had a wall chart or something, with cross indexing. I'm impressed. This book is full of interesting characters. We get first person perspectives from the Gumshoe Drew Parker, his partner, Jen late into the book, the Chosen Benji, his girlfriend Summer, her mother the Witch (whose name escapes me), the Reverend Senator Zacharia Stonewall, the Artist, the Singer, the Cherokee Shaman, the Police you get the picture. Each has his or her own c [...]

"The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse" by Keith Hartman gives a fun look into the near future, where cultural differences have created a segregated society that is sitting on a powder keg. Keith Hartman has created a colorful cast of characters, and it's fun to see how their various stories come together. I was a little disappointed at how little Drew Parker had to do with the actual story, and I was sad to see a certain character die so suddenly. The story has LGBT characters and them [...]

Enjoyable dialogue and convoluted, yet somewhat witty scenarios throughout the book made up for some of the clumsy writing. However, the overall *mystery* wasn't all that intriguing or engaging and at times it was hard to believe the 'Gumshoe' was some sort of seasoned and 'skilled' undercover detective. Although the chapters in the book tell the story from the point of view of (too) many characters, it still all felt somewhat like the same voice to me. Part Sci-Fi and part mystery, it felt lack [...]

I have had the Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse on my "to read" list for a while now, and I'm very glad that I finally got around to reading it. The story is very inventive, the characters are fully rounded and interesting, and the multiple POV storytelling really allows the reader to truly understand the full depth of the mystery.I think my only criticism would be that there was one POV character too many. Considering the title, I would have expected most of the tale to be seen throug [...]

This story was well written, with a few grammatical errors (not enough to make you crazy if that sort of thing bothers you). It was clever and fast-paced which helped considering the length. It was very exciting and intense at times. I kind of liked all of the P-O-V's and found it easy to keep track of who was who (you are actually told at the beginning of each chapter). No graphic sex, (view spoiler)[infact the mc doesn't even really have a love interest, more a "it-would-be-nice-but-wouldn't-w [...]

Oh, I adore this book. It's such glorious fun, written with love and conviction and sharp, dorky humour. Perfect for curling up with to reread when the world outside is getting me down.Set in a thoroughly balkanised 2024 America, it follows its much put-upon characters through a week of serial killers, riots, court cases and, of course, embarrassing crushes. Clearly a first novel, but I find the rough edges charming; they make the earnestness that occasionally bursts through a lot easier to enjo [...]

Mystery set in a future conceived in the 90's. So far, 8 different first person narrators and counting. Possible time travelers have appeared. You wouldn't think it would work at all, but it did, all the way through. Finished in one fabulous afternoon. I totally enjoyed this. Not for anyone who takes their Moral Majority, New Age witchcraft or gay private eyes seriously, and there were no time travelers after all, just psychics. I figured out at last that it was like a comic book in prose, that' [...]

This book kept showing up on automated "recommended" lists for me. I finally gave in and really enjoyed it. It is physically large, and it takes a little work to get into. The entire novel is told in first-person perspective, but who that person is changes from chapter to chapter. The stories really do cross each other, you just have to hang in there. Among the narrators of this future-Atlanta whodunnit are a police detective, a gay private detective, a Wiccan mom with a husband and two daughter [...]

OMG. Best first novel, ever. Hartman comes out with a leading book that at first seems disjointed. Each chapter is set in a slightly-future Atlanta, told from the point of view of the character archetype: The Gumshoe, The Witch, The Artist, etc. And slowly about 8 or so distinct characters and viewpoints are twisted together, with increasing rapidity to a singular moment of "Holy Fuck. Plot twist!" that I found brilliant. Re-read it again recently and it just reconfirmed how awesome it was.

A reasonably intriguing gay SF mystery set in the near future, in which the US is basically Baptists versus Wiccans and there are some grotesque murders going on. Not my favorite thing ever -- I think it has a few too many POV characters -- but the execution is really well done. Hey, I might even read the sequel someday.

A bizarre and entertaining mash-up of speculative fiction, urban fantasy, and noir mystery that takes a number of current issues to their absurd extremes, from televangelism to Native American rights to psychic detectives. Much wittier and better plotted than many of the supernatural genre-benders that have recently flooded the market.

An amazing book It ties together all the characters as magnificantly as 'A Confederacy of Dunces' And each character tells their story in the first person - which i see is a new trend with writers but Hartman was the first! This was a brilliant mystery that is considered SF because it takes place in 2024.Give it a shot you wont be disappointed!

Full review here:jamesgenrebooks/2The mix of Sci-fi, urban fantasy, magical realism, and just plain humor is a heady mix, frosted with themes that are close to my heart, was just what I needed to get 2016 off to a good start.

This is the oddest book I have read in a while. Part sci-fi, part mystery. Imagine a society with three main factions: the Baptists, the Gays, and the Witches. I didn’t like it after I finished reading it, but now looking back, I would recommend it.

Turned out much better than I expected. Though the multiple first person thing did take a bit to get used to. Would have liked to see more of one particular character, but can understand why we didn't gt as much time with them.

I couldn't finish this book jumped around too much for my tastes. I wish the author would have stuck with one plot and set of characters, instead of so many. It was hard to follow if you didn't read it all in one sitting (I assume).

According to the owner of Borderlands (the SF/fantasy bookstore in SF) this is one of only three books (along with World War Z and Little Brother) that everyone on the staff read, liked, and recommends.

I love this book. I'm not normally a fan of multiple POV switching like this, but this book is just so much fun that I don't mind. It's clever and interesting; definitely a must for sf and mystery fans.

A bit too lengthy in my opinion, a lot of details but overall, a decent book!

Just awesome, it took me four days to finish it, I couldn't stop reading.

It was fun to read. The story was complex and you needed to pay attention to the chapter names, but over all it worked very well.

I'm re-reading this one and appreciating it even more than I did the first time I read it. Hartman is genuinely brilliant.