After a few seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner (Data on the show) and his fellow cast members are enjoying the success of a hit series. However, being a celebrity poses its own set of challenges, and Spiner finds himself the target of a deranged fan or two who don’t seem to be able to separate reality from fiction.

The inability to separate reality from fiction is exactly what this book does to its readers, as it’s not always clear what is autobiographical and what is invented. I tend to think that details about Spiner’s own life, from his childhood to his time on TNG, are real, whereas the plot about the crazed fan is mostly fiction. Again, this is just my guess. Unfortunately, as a mystery or thriller story, the plot about the crazed fan is only okay. In fact, I think it’s a stretch calling it a thriller. Multiple suspects are dangled in front of us, but in the end, there’s no real surprise about who the stalker turns out to be. I take that back—I was surprised, but only in that the reveal was pretty anticlimactic. I kept expecting a twist that never came. I take that back too—there was a little twist at the end of the climax. It was bizarre, though, and really never explained satisfactorily.

As for the rest of the book, which is a good amount in itself, the possibly fictionalized view of Spiner’s past and present life was a lot more interesting to me. The book is meant to be funny, but I think it’s a kind of humor I don’t really get (and not the first time that’s been the case). Not that I never got a chuckle, but mostly I felt fascinated and sometimes even sad at the author/narrator’s reminiscences. I actually think I wouldn’t mind giving this book another try, but the audiobook this time. I think that knowing how the mystery part of the story is going to go might give me more of a chance to enjoy the rest of it, especially when read by Spiner himself and including contributions by most of the main cast of TNG at the time that the story takes place.

As for whether or not you will like the story, I would say that if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, give it a try! If you’re a fan of TNG, you might enjoy it for that reason alone. As for me, it mostly gave me the urge to watch the whole series again.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review. ( )

I no longer remember where I heard about this book--I hadn't been aware that Brent Spiner had written a book prior to that though. Having enjoyed Star Trek:The Next Generation, I thought I'd try reading it.

I'm not an avid reader in the Noir genre so I can't say for sure if the plot (which I found odd) is typical of the genre. The storyline isn't the best. The writing isn't the best. But yet there was something that pulled me in and kept me reading.

I know little of Brent Spiner beyond his portrayal of Data in the Star Trek series and movies and his appearance on The Big Bang Theory as himself (a portrayal that at the time I didn't question but now after reading this makes me wonder if he really is someone who acts that way in real life).

Perhaps I should have stuck to my "don't look into the lives of people because you'll probably find things that disillusion you". ( )

As the author, Brent Spiner, points out, this is not a memoir. It's a mem-noir - a fanciful whodunnit inspired by some real-life incidents. But it's not real-life. And that's a shame, because I really want to know which of the nicknames for himself and his Next Gen co-stars are really used: Dorny (Michael Dorn)? Burt (LeVar Burton)? Also, although they're obviously no longer shooting, where did they gather for drinks at the end of the week?

I found the writing to be engaging, lighthearted and entertaining. To label this 'noir' is not really that applicable, even when the fictionalized Brent is portrayed as getting a bit depressed and paranoid, it's shrouded in humor and self-deprecation. On the other hand, this is not quite the madcap adventure I had hoped for. It's not entirely over-the-top and not always funny. But it does provided a bit of mystery and diversion. Recommended for fans of Star Trek and celebrity.

Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. ( )

During the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, actor Brent Spiner attracts a stalker, a fan from the lunatic fringe who sends disturbing packages and threatening letters to him under the name “Lal.” Trekkies know that Lal was an android created by Commander Data in an episode titled “The Offspring.”

Spiner contacts the LA police only to finds himself dealing with an eccentric detective who seems more concerned about getting his Star Trek script produced than investigating the case. The FBI becomes involved when “Lal” sends razor blades to Spiner through the mail and a postal worker is injured. The female agent assigned to the case just happens to have a twin sister in the bodyguard business and she's hired to accompany Spiner everywhere…and I do mean everywhere. The action heats up as “Lal” closes in. Along the way, Spiner veers off on several odd tangents about his stepfather that loosely relate to the plot. As for the ending, no spoilers here, only that it was rushed and contrived (the kind of "riveting" finale we've seen in a hundred other thrillers).

Nevertheless, this amusing noir-comedy blends fact and fiction to deliver a fast-paced and suspenseful tale that includes the main cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as Gene and Majel Roddenberry and even a cameo by Ronald Reagan. ( )

This is a humorous take inspired by real events in Brent Spiner’s life while he was shooting Star Trek: TNG. I wasn’t going to bother with grabbing the ARC but someone I follow on social media said it was really funny, so I decided to give it a shot. Brent is being stalked by a fan obsessed with him and calling herself Lal after an episode that data creates a daughter for himself by that name. Everyone you meet in the book seems to be over the top, his costars, staff on the set, and law enforcement. Brent is not spared this either with his reactions to the letters and the constant bad dream flashbacks he has that combine the current events with his troubled childhood. The mystery is solved in the end and over the top as the rest of the book. For me personally the humor was way over the top and I got a bit tired of it by the end of the book. Maybe if I hadn’t read most of it in one sitting it wouldn’t have felt that way to me. But each to their own and I can see where lots of people would enjoy this more than I did.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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