TekWar began as an idea of William Shatner's. He turned to Ron Goulart, who took this idea and ghost-wrote nine TekWar novels. It was later adapted into four television movies, a video game, comic books, and a television series.
The 22nd century universe is centered on "Tek" — an illegal, addictive, mind-altering digital drug in the form of a microchip. The drug creates a simulated reality (and in the films and TV series taps into "the matrix" hyperspace). The protagonist, Jake Cardigan, is a former police officer framed for dealing the drug four years prior to the start of the first novel. Having been sentenced to 15 years' cryo-imprisonment, his release is brought forward by Walt Bascom, the head of private investigation agency Cosmos, who has uncovered the framed charges and exonerates him. In return Bascom wishes to employ him as an expert in a series of Tek-related crimes, mostly in Greater Los Angeles, referred to as "GLA". In the first few novels Cardigan is portrayed as a recovering Tek-user with several lapses, but this aspect diminishes as the novels progress — it is implied in later novels that to break the addiction for even a light user is impossible.
Partnered with the good-natured and charismatic Mexican Sid Gomez, the two make up a good cop/bad cop partnership with Cardigan's past continually being brought up as a foil for his new career — most honest people he meets distrust him, and most dishonest people attempt to kill him for perceived slights in the drug trade. However, the two prove an effective team and stay a core duo throughout the series, with input from a comprehensive list of informants, employees of both Cosmos, other detective agencies and Cardigan's son Dan and his girlfriend Molly - both of whom are enrolled in the GLA police academy and as such have access through an informant to police files.The 22nd century is populated with artificial intelligence such as integrated computer systems and "andies" which range from obvious metal robots to highly sophisticated simulacrums, some of which are accurate enough to deceive an observer into thinking they are human.
Each novel covers a specific case, all are Tek-related, but most include sub-plots which involve non-Tek issues and travel out of the GLA, occasionally to other countries or as far as orbiting satellites. A shadowy government agency known as OCO — the Office of Clandestine Operations — is a frequent antagonist in the novels, albeit usually keeping to the background and supporting the particular novel's villain.
Tropes:
- Aborted Arc: Jake's struggle with his Tek addiction is gradually dropped, even though it apparently never goes away.
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Jake's wife leaves him after he's sentenced to fifteen years in the freezer.
- Covers Always Lie: The book is a future detective series in Los Angeles. The first book's cover, uh, well see for yourself. Later corrected with a more stylistic cover.
- Cryo-Prison: Jake was frozen for four years in cryogenic storage. It was meant to be much longer.
- Dirty Cop: Everyone assumes that Jake Cardigan is a dirty cop due to his past Tek addiction.
- "Dear John" Letter: Jake's wife leaves him one in his apartment building.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Jake has a weird habit of saying his thoughts aloud that would otherwise be internal dialogue. This is first noticed on the cab ride from prison where the taxi driver comments on his saying everything is different and Jake is surprised.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: Beth Kittridge is unceremoniously killed in Tek Vengeance.
- Expy: Shatner admits that Jake was meant as a cross between Captain Kirk and T.J. Hooker.
- Fantastic Drug: Tek is a virtual reality drug that is created by programming in fantasies to a machine.
- Frame-Up: Jake Cardigan is framed for various crimes as a police officer and is only cleared after four years in prison.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Gomez peppers his speech with Poirot Speak and this is also a quality of robots in Mexico.
- Hardboiled Detective: What the books attempt to invoke. Jake is a private eye who investigates Tek related crimes and engages in all the tropes.
- Love at First Sight: Jake Cardigan becomes determined to find and protect Beth Kittridge after seeing her photograph.
- National Stereotypes: Weirdly enough, taxi robots in the future are programmed to act like stereotypical representation of their nationalities. The Mexican taxi driver is wearing a serape and a sombero while throwing in Gratuitous Spanish.
- New Neo City: The book takes place in the future Los Angeles (called "Greater" Los Angeles) but the word "Sector" has been added behind every district. So there's a Santa Monica Sector and so on.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Vargas outs himself by saying he didn't know the Professor when they mention Kittridge.
- Purple Prose: The book series makes use of a lot of this with a deliberate invocation of Private Eye Monologue with future things.
- Private Eye Monologue: The series is from Jake's perspective and he narrates his opinions on the world, his circumstances, and friends. Weirdly, much of this is said aloud to himself.
- Rape and Revenge: Warbride claims this is part of her motovation. She's lying.
- Red Baron: Warbride took this name to help create her legend.
- Ridiculously Human Robot: Averted. They are chrome and more like C3PO than androids. They are, strangely, very human in behavior like a racist cabbie.
- Space "X": Many things are common devices except described as being made of "plas" like plas glass, plas clothing, and plaslights.
- Suicide Attack: "Kamikaze" robots are methods for the Tek Lords to eliminate their enemies.
- Thinking Outloud: Jake actually speaks most of his Private Eye Monologue aloud or at least parts of it. For example, talking to himself about how he's having a good day on his second day awake.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Beth Kittridge strikes everyone dumb with her beauty.
- Zeerust: In the future, fax machines are in every home and every robot has a machine that allows them to print out paper receipts.
