The Great American Betrayal is the second volume in an SF/PI series by Scott Stein. Released 13th Sept 2022, it's 220 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a fun romp. It's witty and irreverent and clever. There's a solid beating heart under the glib exterior - a good character driven plot with a well constructed and quite competent mystery inside the central working mechanism.

Although it's not at all derivative, there's a definite Douglas Adams - Grant/Naylor vibe about the whole. The author is adept at the same type of zany off-the-wall humor and I could absolutely -hear- some of the voices from Red Dwarf up in my head during this read and it was absolutely delightful (and nostalgic). The use of footnotes is Pratchett-esque and again, will give readers who love the aforementioned giants of the genre the warm fuzzies.

This is a winner. It's short and very very funny. I especially love Arjay as PI Harken's Dr. Watson. The fact that Arjay is a sentient coffee-bot makes nary a whit of difference. Despite being the second book, it works perfectly well as a standalone. I sincerely hope this will be a continuing series.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

With humor and quirkiness, this story will appeal to those seeking a light, fun story. I didn't always enjoy this, but that's just me. Those that like humorous sci-fi will likely enjoy this one.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

Take Douglas Adams and Mickey Spillane, throw their styles in a blender (or a sentient coffeemaker), and you get The Great American Betrayal. It’s a fun detective sci-fi mashup that takes place in the mall of the future, which is a bit of a utopia/dystopia mashup of its own. The book is very funny, and the footnotes are more so.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Tiny Fox Press and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Quirky and entertaining, a true joy to read.

The great American Betrayal is wickedly funny, action-packed Sci-fi thriller. The twists are like wow. And the characters explosive. It makes you yearn for the other books.