http://www.amazon.com/Helen-Twice-Again-Outsider-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00VPDSWDI
The story: It’s 2097 and you’re a homicide detective living Outside in the nearly abandoned Nation of Texas. You’ve seen a lot of bodies stuffed into half-clogged storm drains or simply thrown into mesquite thickets for the coyotes to chew on. You’re very good at solving those murders. But, none of that expertise does a bit of good when Insiders begin using the portal in the old San Antonio post office as a body dump.
That’s when you find yourself forced to deal with Inside — the high-tech world of portals where you walk from the living room to the kitchen without knowing you’ve gone from a stack in Texas to one in the Kamchatka peninsula.
You’re an Outsider, not a fan of modern tech, but find yourself burdened with a talky robot equipped with artificial intelligence who won’t shut up.
You’re a loner, so you don’t appreciate the lady who walks through your door saying she’s now working with you. You complain to your captain who tells you she’s your new partner — shut up and live with it. He needs the budget money that comes with her. You worry about the hidden strings she pulls and the secret money sources she taps. It makes you wonder, who does she really work for?
And, everywhere you go — Venice, Angola, Delhi — women who share DNA with one woman, Helen Anderson, are dropping dead. Is Helen next? You’d like to help her stay alive but does she want your help? Not so’s you’d notice.
And, then there’s the little matter of Athena, a smart stubborn Helen look-alike who dodges killers in unlikely places. It takes you a while to figure out Athena holds the key to finding who’s killing the look-alikes. And when you figure it out, you find yourself in deadly danger from the ice-miner bots of the Temple of Gaia.
But, if you’re Texas homicide detective Shelby Darnell you grit your teeth and get on with it.