Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton Part 1

Synopsis:
A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family - composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone "brothers" have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.

Or maybe not so friendly. At least that's what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who'd like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he'll make enough enemies to ruin his career. Yet Sid's case is about to take an unexpected turn: Because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood.

The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime. Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.

Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world's political and economic elite...all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.

Event Information:

As this book is rather long, we slit it in two sessions. In this first session we will discuss the book until chapter "Tuesday 19th March 2143".

In some situations with big groups it may be necessary for the organizer to request a deposit for the cafe booking. This will be communicated in the week before the meeting.
Participants are expected to read the whole book or at least most of it, so that we can have a good discussion.
I will also PM all registered attendees through the Meetup chat function to confirm their attendance closer to date, and if you do not respond, and/or if you have a history of late cancellations/no-shows, I reserve the right to move you off the confirmed list to let a waitlisted person in.
If you require accommodations for disabilities, let me know when you RSVP.