Denver author Warren Hammond is well known for the gritty, futuristic detective novel KOP, and its sequel Ex-KOP. By taking the best of classic crime noir, and reinventing it on a destitute colony world, Warren has created some uniquely dark tales of murder, corruption and redemption.In his recent hardboiled science fiction thriller, Ex-KOP, former colony policeman Juno Mozambe is barely getting by as a low-level bagman and photographer for the scandal rags. But it gets worse: his wife is in critical condition and Juno doesn't have the money to pay her bills. Desperate for cash, Juno agrees to help his ex-partner, Maggie Orzo, solve a difficult case. A young girl sits on death row, accused of brutally murdering her own parents. She's confessed to the murders, but Maggie isn't buying it, so she sends Juno out to get some answers.
The decision to mix noir and sci-fi is a bold one, born of Hammond's love of both genres. The classic movie Blade Runner is the poster child for this hybrid, but surprisingly there aren't many books in this vein. The KOP series immediately gratifies readers looking for this particular fix, while also making them thirst for more.Hammond's characters were put through the ringer in his first novel, a trend he continues with Ex-KOP. Even though the second book addresses the repercussions from KOP, it can be enjoyed without having read, or spoiling, the first in the series.
An avid traveler, Warren and his wife are always up for a new adventure. Whether it's trekking in the Himalayas or camping in the game reserves of Botswana, Warren finds much inspiration for his writing in the world's most remote corners.
They've been to Nepal, Peru, Poland, Morocco, Botswana, and Cambodia, among other places. When asked how being a world traveler has helped his novels, Hammond acknowledges that his colony world of Lagarto is a a melting pot of the places he's been and the people he's met along the way.
"The future world I invented was settled by Earth's poor who came looking for work, but arrived after the planet's economy had already crashed, so my fictional setting has a very "third world" feel. It can be tricky to write science fiction that feels real, I mean, you make up so much of it, that you always run the risk of turning off the reader. I know lots of people who don't read science fiction because it's just too far out, but by presenting a world that's exotic and dangerous, yet at the same time very real, most mystery readers are willing to take the leap with me. Walk the street markets of Marrakesh and that's exactly what you get: exotic, dangerous, and all too real."
An avid reader as well as a writer, Hammond enjoys contemporary thriller masters James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, Joe Lansdale, as well as the old school authors Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, and Dashiell Hammett.
Thankfully, more KOP books look to be on the horizon.
"We're negotiating the sale of KOP Killer right now," Hammond said, "and we're talking about a fourth KOP book as well, but we'll have to wait and see how it all shakes out."
KOP and Ex-KOP come highly recommended for all thriller and sci-fi collections. You can visit Hammond at www.WarrenHammond.net.
Contributing editor JA Konrath is the author of the Lt. Jack Daniels thrillers, the latest of which is Fuzzy Navel. You can visit him at www.JAKonrath.com.
