Good Looking Out

Looking Out (Hic & Hoc Publications): Philippa Rice’s futuristic metropolis is bustling with a subdued post-9/11 paranoia amid 2,000 foot tall skyscrapers. We meet-cute would-be love interests Lori and Daniel, navigating the plump lines they’re composed of and the crystalline environs surrounding them. In this futurescape, space travel has become de rigeur and the more interesting aspect of exploration is the slow flirtation between our two main characters in a world were texting is still ubiquitous. Rice’s warm and utterly compassionate rom-sci is one of the most pleasant things I’ve read in a really long time. I was engaged from the first page on, but by the end it takes an absolutely beautiful turn, dropping a twist that simultaneously explains the very first sequence and provides a hopeful answer to the age-old question of balancing career and personal relationships, which is good lookin’ out indeed. Grade A+.