What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Quake Zone
Time-quakes are disrupting Los Angeles in the sixties. A soul-scarred Vietnam vet takes a job as a time-raveler, sewing up the loose threads of unraveled lives, but now he's on a case that threatens to unravel his own life. Why are young men are disappearing from West Hollywood? Is there a serial killer preying on the nascent gay community? Or is there some darker force at work? A brilliant and disturbing short novel, gritty and realistic, filled with recognizable details. This crossover mix of science fiction and noir mystery evokes a not-yet-forgotten time and place on the threshold of change. Selected by Gardner Dozois for inclusion in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection (2006) and winner of the 2007 Spectrum Award for Best Short Fiction, it's a stunning depiction of a forgotten slice of gay life before Stonewall. In The Quake Zone is a journey into one man's heart of darkness and what it takes to come out the other side. This is David Gerrold writing at his passionate best. Contains mature material.
106 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2011
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2015
This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece of science fiction. Initially, it comes across as dystopian, but the ending lifts it from that generic genre into something apart.
The central character is so well-drawn and involving. It's easy to empathise with this disturbed but sympathetic character. The way the story plays with time is engaging and the complexities are handled very well. The whole is utterly believable and the story moves with good and varied pace through its various stages.
I thoroughly enjoyed this considered work and recommend it to all those who like their scifi to be more than battles and deep space adventure.
The central character is so well-drawn and involving. It's easy to empathise with this disturbed but sympathetic character. The way the story plays with time is engaging and the complexities are handled very well. The whole is utterly believable and the story moves with good and varied pace through its various stages.
I thoroughly enjoyed this considered work and recommend it to all those who like their scifi to be more than battles and deep space adventure.
February 2, 2018
One of the most powerful pieces of short literature I've read. I'd say this book has the power not only to bring out new ideas and thoughts, but to actually sway the opinions of the reader about subjects upon which their mind is already made up. The not-yet-forgotten setting does a lot to expose how selective we can be about remembering the past.
February 25, 2021
I think this was different than anything I've ever read. I couldn't guess where it was going and I've still got a lot of questions about what happens after it ended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews