The first story, "Death by Ecstasy", is essentially a classic locked-room mystery. Another advancement in technology is the ability to implant a jack directly into the brain, allowing one to send electrical current which directly stimulates the pleasure center. Gil is brought in to look into the death of his old mining partner, who spent a month locked in a one-room apartment while plugged into such a device, apparently committing suicide. Gil is certain his old friend wouldn't have killed himself, and has to unravel who killed him and how it was done in what is essentially a locked room. The answer brings him into conflict with a notorious West Coast organlegging gang, and a heart-stopping ending. (Note: This story has been adapted into a graphic novel.)

The second story, "The Defenseless Dead", involves the harvesting of organs from cryogenically frozen people. Years ago, legislation allowed those who had no means of support should they be "woken", to be carved up. Now, a new scheme aims to allow harvesting from even those who do have estates to support them. This threatens not only to undercut the illicit organlegging trade, but also to make a number of people very wealthy, as their ancestors' legal lives are ended. The story involves organleggers, the discovery of two bodies on a moving sidewalk, and a mysterious attempt on Gil's life, but the focus is really medical ethics theme.

The third story is "ARM", and is another locked-room murder, this time involving a famous genius inventor and what appears to be some kind of time-accelerator. While the puzzle is pretty interesting, two locked-room stories out of three is a little much. By the end of it, I had had pretty much my fill of Gil the Arm, and having heard bad buzz about them, I didn't read "Patchwork Girl" or "The Woman in Del Rey Crater." In a certain sense, the stories almost read like something some conspiracy-theory libertarian nut might come up: how the world government is going to come along and dictate everything and then outlaw everything and institute the death penalty for even minor offenses. And yet, some elements (state enforced birth control, organ harvesting from executed prisoners) can be found in modern China, there is a worldwide illicit trade in organs, and advancements in medicine are certainly making some of the questions Niven raises uncomfortably real.

The character of Gil the Arm is an interesting one, well set out, and less of a shell for ideas than many of Niven's characters. This one seems to have a multidimensional personality, and does not just serve as a vehicle for the authors interesting new concepts. There is an unusual degree of sympathy evoked for a man who struggles over the ethics of his job and society at large, leaving the reader puzzling the same issues as the character - how far will society go to preserve its own life, and how flexible are societal ethics?

Of course all of this philosophising is wrapped up inside a grand society within the earlier part of Niven's Known Space, and then surrounded by exciting action sequences and fascinating puzzles. If you're just breaking into Niven, I'd probably suggest this as the book to begin with; it contains many well thought out tales, with characters and plots perhaps more accessible to a newcomer than his more recent work.

In brief: buy it if you enjoy mysteries and science fiction in combination, or if you think you might, and if you're a fan of Known Space.

Actually, the only thing I found wrong with the book was the cover, which shows Gil missing his arm. In fact, not only is his imaginary arm his left arm, but he got his arm replaced before he joined the ARMs. Call me a completist, but I think Niven should have picked up on that and had them change it.

But, the story. They are all mysteries, which is quite a departure for Niven, who normally deals with spaceships and stars and in that vein. Here, he shows his flexibility by combining the grand scope of his future history, with the personal side, showing Gil solve murders of friends, deal with touchy moral issues (should the frozen dead be assumed dead so they can go to the organ banks?), and through all of it having confidance in what he is doing, but not arrogance.

We need more Gil the Arm stories. Actually, it would be fun to see if Gil and Beowulf Shaeffer could meet (I'm not sure if they existed at the same time chronologically, but Niven could make it happen). Either way, we need more. How about it, Mr. Niven?