Titanium Noir

A Novel

By: Nick Harkaway

Narrated by: Davis Brooks

A virtuosic mashup of Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler by way of Marvel—the story of a detective investigating the murder of a Titan, one of society’s most powerful, medically-enhanced elites. • “Cross-genre brilliance from the superbly talented Nick Harkaway.” —William Gibson, New York Times best-selling author of Agency

"An exemplar of its genre, Titanium Noir twists and turns between excellent fun and deep melancholy." —The New York Times Book Review

Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he’s called in to investigate a homicide at a local apartment, he’s surprised by the routineness of it all. But when he arrives on scene, Cal soon learns that the victim—Roddy Tebbit, an otherwise milquetoast techie—is well over seven feet tall. And although he doesn’t look a day over thirty, he is ninety-one years old. Tebbit is a Titan—one of this dystopian, near-future society’s genetically altered elites. And this case is definitely Cal’s thing.

There are only a few thousand Titans worldwide, thanks to Stefan Tonfamecasca’s discovery of the controversial T7 genetic therapy, which elevated his family to godlike status. T7 turns average humans into near-immortal distortions of themselves—with immense physical proportions to match their ostentatious, unreachable lifestyles. A dead Titan is big news . . . a murdered Titan is unimaginable. But these modified magnates are Cal’s specialty. In fact, his own ex-girlfriend, Athena, is a Titan. And not just any—she is Stefan’s daughter, heir to the massive Tonfamecasca empire.

As the murder investigation intensifies, Cal begins to unravel the complicated threads of what should have been a straightforward case, and it becomes clear he’s on the trail of a crime whose roots run deep into the dark heart of the world.

©2023 Nick Harkaway (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Titanium Noir [is] a funny, voice-y book full of fantastic sentences that, as the youths say, absolutely slap. It’s the kind of writing that reminds you that poetry and detective fiction have a lot in common. . . . An exemplar of its genre, Titanium Noir twists and turns between excellent fun and deep melancholy." —The New York Times

“Cal Sounder crashes like a wrecking ball through a world of privilege and secrets. . . . If Titanium Noir turns out to be the first book in a series of Sounder’s adventures … I’d welcome more.” —The Washington Post

“A detective tries to investigate a killing in a dystopian city where the haves and have-nots are divided by more than just money. . . . Surprising and gratifying." —The Wall Street Journal

darn good entertaining listen

A fun pulpy story that doesn't insult your intelligence. Looking forward to more like this.

Davis Brooks ROCKS!!!

Davis Brooks has so many voices, you'd think it was A PLAY happening. Great story.

Main character depth

The backstory of sounder was great and I really enjoyed how every part of who he is played part in the case I would recommend this one

Down the rabbit hole

Loved the twists, turns, and backflips as our detective weaves between the haves and have nots while unraveling the mystery.

Amazing detective story with great twists

Just fantastic writing and well narrated adding a level of weight to the noir angle with cool sci-fi

One of the most tremendously

Fun romps I’ve ever heard, plotting is perfect, concept is compelling and well controlled. Brilliant

Hawkaway's most disappointing novel

As a big Harkaway fan, I was happy to see this new title. I do not read detective and crime fiction so I cannot say how this fits the tradition. The book is very linear, moving from episode to episode, without Harkaway's brilliant shifts of story and context (think Gnomon). The characters were not deeply drawn, although some of them were amusing (Doublewide, Sam). It would have been interesting to know more about the history of the Titans and the nature of the nearly miraculous genetic treatment, and why the Titans coexist with ordinary society, but this might not fit in the point-to-point narrative. There are some very violent fight scenes that are so bizarre and creative as to become horrifyingly funny. The resolution left me flat - oh, yeah, so that's it. Hoping for better from this very talented author.

Great plot, narration, and characters

What more is there to say. Buy it! Wonderful. Detective noir with a twist. Great character development. I am waiting for a sequel

Just an absolutely terrific vocal performance!!

A superb sci-fi noir that is tremendously brought to life by an A+ vocal performance!

A great book but is it a Harkaway novel?

Titanium Noir is basically a Harkaway novel with the 'Harkaway' knob turned down to 3 and the 'have an actual plot that you stay focused on' knob turned up to 9. Which is both a good and bad thing. I think this would be a great introductory novel to his work but if you follow him it's probably unexpected. There are no 'pencilneck' diatribes here, the book will not randomly deviate for large portions of it or bounce around seemingly randomly - but it is an odd and interesting world (really just a city) that explores inhumanity through a murder case.

I really enjoyed it but would like to see him balance those knobs just a bit better.