TrulyObscure - article - gadgeteer - words - The Manual of Detection Meets The Camera Pen

Posted by Greg May May 5, 09:58 PM to gadgeteer : words -

Not too many novels aim to channel Kafka or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil- but Jedediah Berry’s novel The Manual of Detection manages to deftly capture some of the spirit and style of the influences while standing on its own merits as a mystery, with a bit of the flavor of the Thursday Next novels mixed with Dark City. And Hammacher Schlemmer has brought to the world an actual, real-life, working spy device- a pen camera- but prospective James Bonds might want to look elsewhere for their surveillance needs.

Creativity can be exhausting and overwhelming sometimes. We mention this because The Manual of Detection doesn’t follow conventions and sometimes those old tropes and standards serve a higher purpose, allowing readers to enjoy the formula while musing over the twists. The author blends fantasy and noir fairly well, and the characters and descriptions manage to grab, but slowly the complexity causes some of the freshness to unravel and instead repel readers trying to stay engaged. Fans of Michael Chabon should like Berry’s style, and even if it does get the better of the substance at times, it still makes for a fun, worthwhile read.

It’s a slightly bulky pen! But, surprise, it also hides a tiny color camera and mediocre microphone, perfect for secretly getting that blurry footage of your Monday morning staff meetings that you always wanted. Not to be too harsh- it is pretty simple to use, with a built-in USB 2.0 connector that was a definite bonus over needing to use some extra cable that is easy to lose (though an extension cable is handily included). You can turn it on and off without removing it from your pocket, using the top power button, and the rechargeable batteries/internal 4 GB of memory lasts for about 2 hours or so. But even though the 352×288 resolution video quality is OK if the pen is set on a desk or something very stable, we found that it was almost unwatchable when moving or shaking- a big problem for a recording device that seems meant to be setup in your shirt pocket. Further, the audio quality is quite bad, but then what do you expect- this miracle of modern technology only costs about $40 on Amazon right now.