The Last Exit

 The Last Exit by Michael Kaufman  298 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Set in Washington D.C. 20 years from now, climate change has hit hard, fires are burning, unemployment is high, and controversial longevity treatments are only available to the very rich. Enter resourceful young police detective, Jen B. Lu, and her 'partner', Chandler, a SIM implant in her brain and her instant link to the Internet and police records, and a constant voice inside her head. He's an inquisitive tough guy, with a helluva sense of humor and his own ideas about solving crimes.

As a detective in the Elder Abuse unit, Jen is supposed to be investigating kids pushing their aging parents to "exit" so they are eligible to get the longevity drug. But what really has her attention are the persistent rumors about Eden, a black market version of the longevity drug, and the bizarre outbreak of people aging almost overnight, then suddenly dying--is this all connected? Is Big Pharma involved?

When Jen's investigations of Eden take her too close to the truth, she is suspended, Chandler is deactivated, and her boyfriend is freaked out by "the thing inside her brain." This leaves Jen to pursue a very dangerous investigation all by herself.

And here's what I thought: I liked this spin on the near-future with AI. The story is a combination of science fiction and mystery and I thought rhe main characters of Jen and her AI, Chandler were interesting. However, the story often didn't keep my attention and I put it down a few times before finishing it. Jen isn't super-likeable, which doesn't matter too much to me -- but the pacing sometimes lagged and I think that's where I would get stuck. So, interesting book and maybe I'll try it again at some point to see if I can more fully engage with it.