The bad part? He's seen it all, literally. Having the memory he does means that he remembers every pattern, every basic human behavior. He's lost the ability to be surprised.
But then the Bonjours walk in, with a case the likes of which he's never seen before.
Their daughter, Jennifer, has disappeared after being involved with a cult that believes that the earth is five billion years older than it is, and that the sun is about to expand and consume the earth. And things only get stranger from there.
A novel by R. Scott Bakker (of the Second Apocalypse and Neuropath fame), featuring the same nihilism of the others, though it's pushed to the background, allowing the mind games, cults, sarcasm, and Nazis to take the foreground. Intended to be the first book in a series about Manning, but Bakker intends to finish Second Apocalypse first.
This work features examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Xenophon Baars is in the same cult as Jennifer Bonjour, being investigated by Disciple Manning.
- Cult: The Framers.
- Cursed with Awesome: Disciple's memory is very useful to him, but the bad side shows later in the book.
- Driven to Suicide: Disciple has attempted it in the past, but not actually during the novel. Jennifer and Xenophon are better examples.
- First-Person Smartass: Very very much.
- Jerkass: Disciple is a clear example of this.
- Meaningful Name: Averted. Despite the main character being called Disciple, there is no connection between him and religion.
- Parental Incest: Jennifer's father sought out a less-than-stellar P.I. for a reason...
- Pet the Dog: Disciple gets few of these. The book ends with one.
- Private Detective: Disciple Manning
- Sherlock Scan: Played with: Disciple reviews memories, finding out more details after the fact.
- Those Wacky Nazis: The Church of the Third Resurrection
