18. Traitor to the Living by Philip José Farmer

This was a really bad book.  I have read a few clunkers in the last year or two, but objectively speaking, I think this is probably the worst.  It's just boring, badly structured, full of lame ideas and unfunny sexist sexuality.  It honestly feels like a self-published e-book by a prolific 17-year old male who didn't have a social life.   Ostensibly, it takes place in the future and is about the invention of a device called MEDIUM that allows people to talk to the dead.  There is a mystery/detective/thriller about how the supposed actual inventor died and the man who claims the invention.  There is some wishy-washy debate over whether or not it really is the dead that are being contacted.  There is some supposed social commentary on the controversy this technology causes.  There are a lot of gunfights and explosions, all of which are boring, excessively violent without any real emotion and inconsequential.  Every woman is described in terms of her sexual features (which tend to be exaggerated in most cases).  Just really fucking bad.  It's a bummer, because I remember really enjoying the Riverworld books in high school.  Let's hope this is an aberration and represents one of his worst efforts.