Tek-lords

Jake Cardigan discovers the connection between a brutal murder and a synthetic plague that had killed his ex-wife, and it is all linked to the Tek cartel, purveyors of the computerized drug crippling the futuristic society.

Sequel to Shatner's promising debut, Tekwar (1989), now apparently having mutated into a series, with familiar ingredients: hard-boiled P.I. Jake Cardigan returns to battle the international evildoers peddling the addictive electronic drug tek. Called in to investigate the murder of a top drug-control agent by a reprogrammed human zombie assassin, Jake uncovers a connection with the release of an artificial plague virus now threatening San Francisco (among the victims is Jake's ex-wife). Again, Jake teams up with wisecracking sidekick Gomez and girlfriend Beth to track down the source of the plague and deal with the teklords whose blackmail plot the virus turns out to be. Agreeably tongue-in-cheek, cleverly inventive of future hardware and slang, but with a considerably weaker plot than before; the perfunctory windup doesn't help. Okay for existing fans, but won't win many new converts. -- ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP.