Spin State is simultaneously a crime drama and science fiction novel. Set on the mining colony of Compson's World (a planet with importance to a mutliplanetary empire roughly similar to Arrakis of the Dune books), an investigation of the murder of a key scientist leads the hero, Li, to uncover the political and scientific mysteries of her planet. It is a well-written book that will drive you to finish it quickly.

Spin State often plays with the categories and expectations of separation that we normally perceive. A considerable amount of the action takes place in virtual reality, and the transitions between the real and virtual worlds are sometimes hazy. Likewise, a superintelligent AI is one of the central characters, but it often seems very human, with human wants, desires, emotions, etc. The heroine is also sexually ambiguous in her desires. Even the resolution of the book is left somewhat unclear in its meaning or effects. Ultimately, the blurring of categories and expectations is both a feature and bug of Spin State, in that the ambiguities involved are initially interesting, but often confusing as well.

For some people, the depth of characters and well laid plot of this book will be more than enough. However, for sci fi fans that look for books that solidly explore the ramifications of a few ideas, this is not your book. While there are a melange of sci fi ideas that come into play in Spin State, they are not explored fully to examine the differences with our current lives. This is particularly the case with the AI, who, except for some impressive computer abilities, is largely like any other human character.

Moriarty's Spin State is built on a premise that seems to be a cross of On Basilisk Station, James Bond, the Coal Miner's Daughter, and a John Grisham thriller. Well worn SciFi concepts like a world sentience, virtual reality a la the Matrix, wetware, and AI's more human than the biological characters a la the Caves of Steel make unsurprising appearances. And a web of contrived triple and quadruple-crossing is laid over the whole plot in order to keep it from spinning apart from the centrifugal force of the jagged and disjointed dialogue and scene setting. At least six competing interests dominate the book; that of the main character, Major Catherine Li, that of the United Nations, represented by a power hungry intelligence general, that of a breakaway syndicate of genetically created humans, that of the natives of the host planet, that of the murdered character at the center of the plot, and that of the collective mind of the planet itself. Not enough for you? How about several more minor subplots competing for mind space as well? Did I forget to mention occasional androgyny and homoerotica? Oh, and Earth is uninhabitable due to environmental irresponsibility? Really. The publisher did give Moriarty a contract for a sequel, so perhaps I'm missing something. Commercial viability offers some proof of entertainment value.