Overall a good, solid read. This book suffers the most from what I've seen in other Harry Harrison novels; namely that he gets people spot on but is way off with future prediction. In the Stainless Steel Rat books he has punchcards on spaceship computers. In this book he has birth control completely abolished in all forms. Granted, they way it's talked about in the book is very close to how we discuss abortion, but that would be reading in a false metaphor to switch the thesis like that.Other than the cause of the future strife this is a solid read. While it really is more of a "slice of life" than a mystery it moves along at a pretty good clip and there are diverse enough characters that you can really get a feel for the world Harrison has created.