When Jack Meter, a hard drinking private investigator, wakes up from another binge, he discovers he’s been kidnapped by aliens. Someone has stolen a device and they want Jack to get it back.
Jack would rather stay drunk. It's the only way he knows to forget Annie, his physicist girlfriend, who was blown up in her lab and died in his arms. But the aliens--the Thrittene--see things differently.
As Jack begins to piece the case together, he realizes that not only has he been lied to, but that Annie was also involved with the aliens. With the help of Annie’s girlfriend, Claire Foucault, Jack uncovers a deadly plot which threatens both his own sanity and the fate of the universe.
Excerpt
I examined the result, certain my knife had done some damage. The blade had made contact; it had felt like I was slicing flesh. I searched around me. I couldn't see any tear, cut or hole; and there were no traces of my knife or of blood. Could it be that Trebor was telling the truth? They'd brought me to a world other than Earth? I shook my head to dislodge the idea. I was in worse shape than I thought if I accepted that he was an alien.
"This tendency of your race toward violence is fascinating," Trebor said, "albeit unproductive."
"Let me give you a news flash. You got the wrong guy. I can't help you."
"You mean you won't."
"Can't. Won't. What's the difference? In case it didn't occur to you, my experience with alien life forms is somewhat limited. And what do I know about Trans-whachamacallits?"
"Transworld Portals."
Professional Reviews
Midnight Scribe Reviews
(Previously titled 'Til the Fat Lady Sings)
Rating: 4.5 Stars
An interesting challenge for a science fiction author is to so involve the reader so much that he/she suspends their own reality and accepts the events happening in the story as the new reality. If the author weaves a web that absorbs the readers into its coils, the author sighs and says "I've done it."
M. D. Benoit does this with skill, creating a world that touches as much on horror as science fiction. She grabs the reader's attention from the start, and refuses to let go until the last scene rolls off 217 pages later. I had intended to read the book over two days, instead I kept at it at one sitting, not turning my computer off until the very early hours of the morning.
This is a very interesting and enjoyable book and I recommend it to scifi, fantasy and horror fans that like tension and action coupled with a strong story line.
Reviewed by Alan M Brooker, http://www.igrin.co.nz/ambro, email at ambrook(at)mail.igrin.co.nz
Electric Review
(Previously titled 'Til the Fat Lady Sings)
'Til the Fat Lady Sings, by M.D. Benoit
reviewed by Shannon Mobley, Electric eBook Publishing
http://www.electricebookpublishing.com
Hold on to your seats! M.D. Benoit's 'Til the Fat Lady Sings takes you on a fantastic thrill ride through space and time.
Ms. Benoit's amazing imagery easily transports the reader from world to world as Jack Meter, an unemployed and depressed private investigator, attempts to solve an intergalactic mystery. Not only is this book cleverly written -- it's hilarious! Meter is the best "loveable loser" I have read in a long time. His endless sarcasm and quick wit had me laughing out loud, and wishing I had only a fraction of his perfectly timed comebacks!
I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to reading more from this talented Canadian author.
BeWrite.net
Had Ray Chandler and Ray Bradbury teamed up, they might have produced a novel of dark dealings, mystery, humour, suspense and sheer out-of-this-world fantasy as entertaining and gripping as Metered Space.
The Ray-Team never was, so M. D. Benoit has bravely stepped in to fill the gap with a unique, dazzling novel which, within its first few pages, shows the reader that absolutely nothing is beyond belief in the hands of a talented author -- not even the idea of a hard-boozing private eye with the scruffiest office in town, a time machine instead of a wristwatch and clients in the fifth dimension!
So cleverly does Ms Benoit create her main character that within two pages, I felt I was reading of a favourite old friend in a well-established series. Clicking off the last page, I was already itching to read what he gets up to in the next Jack Meter adventure.
Time Travel, Sacrifice, and the Fate of Humanity
He must give up his future to save it.
"A gripping tale of time travel, sacrifice, and the power of human determination."
