In the Cube: A Novel of Future Boston

In late 21st-century Boston, the sea has engulfed much of the present-day city, leaving its citizens to live in a gigantic cube-shaped megastructure of corridors twisting through the layered town. Having seceded from the U.S., Boston is now a bustling interplanetary spaceport. Private detective Beverly O'Meara and her alien partner, Akktri, whose inhumanly sharp senses allow him to find otherwise undetectable clues, have been hired to locate the missing daughter of a high-ranking city official. Their adventure-filled search takes them among aliens and humans of every description, from the highest (literally), wealthiest levels of Boston society to its lowest, poorest stratum in ``Boston's Basement.'' The detectives make an appealing team; Akktri, though thoroughly alien, is especially sympathetic. The real star, though is Smith's ( Homecoming ) painstakingly constructed future Boston. If occasionally the plot is swamped by the wealth of evocative detail, Smith's city is interesting enough to compensate for the descriptive overflow. Readers will find this enjoyable, well-crafted book in the tradition of Asimov's The Caves of Steel. (Aug.)