Although this book was publsihed as a sci fi book, it has very little in it for hard-core sci fi readers. Set in the near future, it follows the life of one Toronto policeman who is in danger because of an extra-legal action he took about a year earlier. The book is well-written, in a brooding sort of way, and the characters are well developed through their dialogue. The only sci-fi elements are the advance in technology for both police and criminals -- lasers, phones with video screens, etc -- and the "Blue Limbo" concept: modern medical technology can now access a person's brain after his death and use a computer to communicate with him. He'll live for a couple of weeks max, and can 'talk' to others, but 'sees' his world as a blue haze. Police find it useful for crime-fighting ("who killed you Fred?") and family can say their goodbyes.

One of the reviewers calls this a "slick fast read." True, but I think the book will appeal more to crime buffs than sci fi fans.

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Green can write good action, but a menacing gloom seems to hang over this novel. I put it aside about a third of the way in.

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A novel of the near future.

Mitch Helwig is a renegade on the street with some heavy-duty hi-techh weaponry and a not quire sane determination to get revenge...even if he has to go beyond death to do it.
Green isn't the sort to flit among a thousand little ideas. He takes a couple of startling big ideas and develops them wonderfully well. His vengeful cop, Helwig, is a moralist in a Phil Dick world: no wonder he goes over the edge.

From Library Journal
In early 21st-century Toronto, ex-policeman Mitch Helwig tracks down his partner's killer. Except for some high-tech weapons and the medical breakthrough of reviving dead people for a maximum of four weeks (known as the "blue limbo"), very little of this book could be considered science fiction. It's more like one step into the future for Joseph Wambaugh. This crime thriller will appeal to fans of Sylvester Stallone's futuristic movies. Recommended for crime fiction and sf collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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