A Philosophical Investigation - Philip Kerr Book Review

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Review Summary

In the year 2013, capital punishment has been outlawed, but serious criminals may be sentenced to "punitive coma" -- drugged into a temporary and reversible or utterly permanent vegetative state. England has been chosen for a pilot project to identify and track male citizens who are genetically predisposed to be aggressively violent, called the Lombroso program. A serial killer appears to be stalking and killing these individuals in London, though their anonymity was supposed to be guaranteed, and sealed into computer records. Detective Chief Inspector Isadora Jakowicz, a gynocide expert and incidental man-hater known familiarly as "Jake," is assigned to the case. Kerr creates an excellent, whole society of the near future, and gives us the killer's journal excerpts as he and Jake (also a marvelous fictional character) work their way toward their inevitable showdown. Since his Lombroso-assigned code name is "Wittgenstein," the killer takes on some of the ideas of his namesake, and Jake brings in a philosophy professor to help her on the case. Kerr also likens his two antagonists to each other in various ways (at one point, each quotes Eliot's "Prufrock," at another Sherlock Holmes). This 1992 novel is a highly thoughtful, complex, and rewarding science fiction techno-thriller.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of A Philosophical Investigation

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - finding a killer (criminal)
Repressive society story Yes
Repressive because: - drugs you
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric: Yes - eccentric
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - killer
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - mentally ill - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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