This week I read M.G. Herron’s “Culture Shock.” It is the first in the Gunn Files science fiction series featuring bounty hunter Anderson Gunn.
It is said that if it is weird, you can probably find it in Austin, Texas, and Anderson couldn’t agree more. The last year has been rough. Just when his Gunn Bounties was taking off, his personal life went haywire.
The money he’d borrowed to expand went toward his mother’s medical expenses and bounty work dried up. Now Gunn is deeply in debt with no idea how to proceed. The sweltering heat of summer only deepens his malaise.
He is relieved when his friend and regular employer, Alec Ludwig, arrives with a high dollar recovery. Cameron Kovak didn’t show up for his DWI hearing. Bringing him in will net Gunn 10% of the bond money.
Before he can get started, he learns that Kovak’s power and light co-worker, Dale Edwards, was found dead. Now Kovak is wanted for murder. That means the Austin police will be searching for him, too. Could the death be related to the sudden fluctuation in the power grid?
When Gunn arrives at the murder scene, he notes that the ditch is closer to being a crater gouged deep in the soil. Gunn is shocked to see Detective Sheila Gonzales in charge. The two have a long history, but she’s not happy to see him.
After some cajoling, she shares that Dale Edwards’ death wasn’t normal. It looked like everything has been sucked out of his skin. How could that happen? While talking with Gonzales, Gunn notices a man and woman near the “ditch.” He assumes that they are FBI but can’t shake the feeling that there is something odd about the pair. Seconds later they disappear.
Gunn is determined to find Kovak and get to the truth and the bounty money. He returns to his office and finds Alec’s accountant, Annabelle Summers, going through his pile of overdue bills.
During the conversation, Gunn notices that the computer screen is on a blog called Weirder than Weird written by Marsha Marshall. It is a site dedicated to the unexplained and paranormal. This one features the Kovaks/Edwards case with surprising detail.
During the next power outage, Gunn sees what looks like Kovak’s body moving up the street. Gunn grabs his high-powered rifle and takes off. He manages to shoot it in the leg before something knocks him cold. He wakes up to find he’s with the man and woman he saw at the crime scene.
After a bit of arguing, they explain that they are “bounty hunters” Dyna and Kilos from the planet Lodi. They are on Earth to retrieve a dangerous creature called a pharsei, which is pulling energy from the electrical grid. It appears that Gunn is one of the very few who can see them, and they want his help.
Suddenly Gunn is entangled in capturing the pharsei without involving the police and surviving to collect the money he’s been promised. Along the way he makes a questionable deal with a creature called The Gatekeeper. Not surprisingly, Gunn is now in the middle of the weirdest stuff Austin has ever seen. I look forward to his adventures in book two.
Murder, madness and aliens spur sci-fi mystery
