Read it or Ditch it: The Automatic Detective

 

“Read it or Ditch it” is a new weekly feature I’ll be doing each Monday on the blog. The goal is to force myself into making a decision regarding some titles on my TBR pile. Each week I’ll select a book that has sat unread on my shelves for longer than a year and ask the question “Read it or Ditch it?”. If I still want to read it, then by posting it here I’m claiming that I’ll read it by the end of the year. If I’m no longer interested in the book, then this is a send off to the title since I’ll either be donating or selling it.

At the end of the year, I’ll do a round-up post to see how I did. If there are any titles that I said I’d read, but still didn’t, then I’ll either donate or sell those. Hopefully, doing this will help me reach my goal of only 100 books sitting unread on my TBR pile by the end of 2016.

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The Automatic Detective
Author: A. Lee Martinez
Published: 2008
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length of Time on TBR Pile: About 5 years.
Read it or Ditch it?: Read it

I love A. Lee Martinez’s stuff, but it takes me forever to get around to reading his books, despite owning quite a few. I’m curious about this one since it seems a little different than his usual fantasy and urban fantasy stories. I’m definitely looking forward to reading this one.

Back Cover Description: 

Even in Empire City, a town where weird science is the hope for tomorrow, it’s hard for a robot to make his way. It’s even harder for a robot named Mack Megaton, a hulking machine designed to bring mankind to its knees. But Mack’s not interested in world domination. He’s just a bot trying to get by, trying to demonstrate that he isn’t just an automated smashing machine, and to earn his citizenship in the process. It should be as easy as crushing a tank for Mack, but some bots just can’t catch a break.

When Mack’s neighbors are kidnapped, Mack sets off on a journey through the dark alleys and gleaming skyscrapers of Empire City. Along the way, he runs afoul of a talking gorilla, a brainy dame, a mutant lowlife, a little green mob boss, and the secret conspiracy at the heart of Empire’s founders—not to mention more trouble than he bargained for. What started out as one missing family becomes a battle for the future of Empire and every citizen that calls her home.