Set in Chicago, M-theory, revolves around two murders in all of their profundity and anonymity. Using elements of noir and romance Cates successfully nests deeper philosophical and societal considerations into a tight, brilliant plot that expertly braids three separate narrative threads: the investigations of Detective Lesley Powell, the love life of one Donovan James, and the liaisons of Mrs. Emily Monroe. The result is a fast-paced novel that contains all the thrills of a police procedural¿while scrutinizing those procedures¿and titillates, while exploring the dangers of love. Timely in its considerations of the abuses of power inherent in the culture of corporations and law enforcement, M-theory is an engrossing, accessible, yet formally complex, study in human emotion, psychology, and motivation that will leave readers considering their own conceptions of reality.