The Labyrinth of Dreams

By Jack L. Chalker

Brandy and Sam Horowitz are private investigators but they aren't doing very well. In fact, they have pretty much admitted that it's over. Sam has even looked into getting a job. So when a small time hood hires them to track down a man who stole several million dollars of mob money, they think twice about it, but end up taking the job, since it comes with a hefty advance and two credit cards to use for their expenses.
It isn't too far into the investigation before it becomes clear that something hinky is going on. Because it seems that there are way too many Martin Whitlocks, the man they have been hired to trace. And that maybe Martin Whitlock isn't even a man or he is possibly a cross-dresser. Just when it looks like they are on to something, their client calls and cancels the deal. Tells them to back completely off the case. But Brandy and Sam have had their curiosity peaked and they follow the investigation on their own time out to Oregon where G.O.D., Inc has their distribution center.
G.O.D., Inc. stands for General Ordering and Distribution and they specialize in selling gimmicky stuff on TV like table top ovens, over-priced juicers, and blankets with sleeves. Whitlock's trail leads to the small Oregon where the company's plant is located. The Horowitz's follow along and Brandy shoots and kills one Whitlock when that Whitlock tries to kill the two Whitlocks that the Horowitzes trailed to Oregon. The Horowitzes find themselves legally trapped in the small Oregon town, but despite that they inflitrate the G.O.D. plant and that's where it really gets weird.

This is another entry in the alternate universe stories that have become so common in science fiction now. Turns out that all but one of the various Whitlocks are from different versions of our Earth, with similar but slightly different histories and that the G.O.D. plant is a station with connections to these alternates. This book is basically a murder mystery with an organized crime slant with a little science fiction thrown in just to complicate things. What with various doubles popping in and out of the story and with double agents and turncoats behind every door, things get a little convoluted.
So basically, this is a mystery story with a sci-fi twist and I didn't really care that much for it, finding it pretty slow-going. Too many doubles, too many traitors, too hard too follow, I can only rate it fair.