DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

At the heart of this novel is a device that can indicate with 100% reliability whether a speaker is lying. Extrapolating from this simple concept, Halperin remakes the world, imagining huge changes to politics and the judicial system. (If laywers and politicians could no longer willfully deceive, the world would be a very different place, and Halperin describes a plausible version.)

I had two minor complaints about the book. One is that the narrator is a semi-sentient journalism computer. I may have overlooked some value-add, but it seemed to me this device detracted from the flow of the story.

The other quibble is that Halperin didn’t take on the advertising industry the way he did the lawyers and politicians. I’d have liked to see marketing execs get skewered the way lawyers do.

I strongly recommend the book to legal and political scholars, sociologists, criminologists, fans of science or speculative fiction, or really anyone with a few hours and seven dollars to kill. Although the story is aware of, and even embraces technology, it is not really science fiction — although if you enjoy SF you are likely to enjoy this for its similarities to the genre.

Patronize these links, man:

• Amazon (paperback)