Very Hard Choices is a science-fiction/suspense-mystery novel from Canadian science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson

Spider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...

, released in June 2008. The novel, set in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, is a sequel to Very Bad Deaths

Very Bad Deaths

Very Bad Deaths , is a science-fiction/suspense-mystery novel from Canadian science fiction author Spider Robinson. The book was followed in 2008 by a sequel, Very Hard Choices...

and continues the story of the reclusive telepath known as Smelly.

Plot

In this novel, Nika and Russell discover that protecting the secret of Smelly's telepathic abilities has brought them into conflict with the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

, who have been pursuing him since his escape from the MK Ultra

Mk Ultra

Mk Ultra was an American alternative band that played between 1994 and 1999. The group formed in the Bay Area in the early nineties and went on to become a hit in local circles. Mk Ultra's career culminated in a national tour in 1999 but came to a rapid end when guitarist John Tyner decided to...

 Project in the 1960s.

Characters

• Zandor "Smelly" Zudenigo, recluse and telepath
• Russell Walker, newspaper columnist
• Jesse, Russell's son, an American public relations executive
• Constable
  Constable
  A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
  
   Nika Mandiç of the Vancouver Police Department
  Vancouver Police Department
  The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
  
  

Critical reception

David Gerrold

David Gerrold

Jerrold David Friedman , better known by his pen name David Gerrold, is an American science fiction author who started his career in 1966 while a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. He was invited to submit several premises, and the one...

has said "Spider Robinson is at his best when he is most passionate – and this is Spider Robinson at his very best. If you're expecting a nice polite distraction that you can put down and forget, you're going to be very annoyed. This isn't a story, it's a wake-up call. And it isn't over until you decide it's over."

External links

• Spider Robinson's "Spider on the Web" podcast – includes readings from this book