Fabricated by Nicole Givens Kurtz — A Futuristic Noir Mystery That Blurs the Line Between Truth and Deception

“Step into the future of noir with FABRICATED. When private inspector Cybil Lewis partners with government agents to track an escaped criminal, she uncovers a web of political deceit stretching from the highest offices to the streets of The District. The deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes—everything can be fabricated.”

👋Welcome

Welcome to my stop on the Goddess Fish Promotions Review Tour for Fabricated by Nicole Givens Kurtz!

This science fiction mystery takes readers deep into the gritty, neon-lit streets of The District, where justice is a luxury few can afford and deception hides in plain sight. Cybil Lewis, a seasoned private inspector, teams up—reluctantly—with Territory Alliance agents to track an escaped violator. But as her case leads her into the underbelly of political corruption, drugs, and betrayal, Cybil discovers a truth she’s long suspected: in this city, everything can be fabricated.

With its cyber-noir atmosphere, strong female lead, and razor-sharp dialogue, Fabricated brilliantly fuses the classic detective vibe of hard-boiled mysteries with the futuristic intrigue of speculative fiction.

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📝 All About the Book

Fabricated
By Nicole Givens Kurtz
Series: A Cybil Lewis SF Mystery #4
Published by Mocha Memoirs Press on October 2025
Genres: Mystery, Science Fiction
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 352

Cybil Lewis, a private inspector in futuristic D.C., now The District, begrudgingly works with the Territory Alliance agents to track down an escaped violator, Nico Mars.

Almost immediately, Cybil is tossed into the District's gritty underbelly of political ambition, drugs, and betrayal. This case will take her and Jane deep into the reaches of The District's notorious Sector 12, where life is cheap and currency is king. When her investigation leads back to those responsible for protecting citizens, Cybil discovers she's in danger.

She's reminded once again that everything can be fabricated.

📜 Excerpt from Fabricated

Cybil Lewis’s voice is pure cyber-noir—witty, jaded, and unforgettable. In this opening scene, we meet her in the sweltering heart of The District as trouble quite literally walks through her door.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned in my nearly forty years is this—trust your gut.

If I had, things would’ve gone much more smoothly.

Who am I?

I’m Cybil Lewis. Private Inspector licensed in The District Territory. July felt like an oven left on high. The sun’s rays rebounded off the pavement, fiberglass, and metal, back into people’s faces. An energy nightmare, certain neighborhoods suffered frequent electrical and computer grid breakdowns, leaving thousands stranded without air conditioning, automatic doors, and other necessities. Bots stopped working. Generators and recyclable batteries helped. Still the more tech-rich you were, the greater the potential for damage.

Venture outside at your own risk. Summer snatched victims into its greedy hands and swallowed them whole. Each year an ever-increasing number of people died because they became trapped in their residences without cool air when the grid responsible for controlling the electric crashed or when the generators melted.

Which was why I was leaning over the air conditioning unit when the doors to my office yawned open. In walked two women, one whom I recognized the moment her sleek, dark blonde hair crossed the threshold. I got up to meet them before they came too far into my lobby. Midwest Territory Alliance Agent Lynn stopped. Despite wearing make-up, pockmarks spoiled her attempt at flawless. Cold blue eyes stared out. She grinned, calculated, and cool.

We had a complicated history due to a shared case not too long ago. She tried to get me shot, killed, and sent to the cradle for violations I didn’t commit. The entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

You can imagine my joy at seeing her again.

📚 Where to Find Fabricated

Available on Amazon

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🌌 Review: Fabricated by Nicole Givens Kurtz

Nicole Givens Kurtz has masterfully woven together elements of science fiction, noir, and mystery in Fabricated, the fourth installment in her Cybil Lewis SF Mystery series. Set in a futuristic Washington D.C. known simply as The District, this story is a taut and atmospheric thriller that delivers both style and substance.

Cybil Lewis is the kind of private investigator readers can’t get enough of—tough, cynical, and guided by a moral compass that hasn’t yet rusted away in the grime of her world. When she’s pulled into a case involving an escaped violator named Nico Mars, the situation quickly spirals into a tangled web of corruption, political ambition, and betrayal.

The story hums with tension and vivid world-building. From malfunctioning bots to blackout-prone grids, Kurtz paints a world that feels frighteningly plausible. Every sentence drips with grit, neon glow, and danger—reminiscent of Blade Runner’s aesthetic, but with a distinctly fresh voice.

Cybil’s dynamic with the Territory Alliance agents—especially her reluctant alliance with Lynn—adds layers of complexity and distrust that give this mystery its pulse. Kurtz’s ability to blend noir moodiness with speculative fiction’s boundless imagination is nothing short of genius.

The pacing is sharp, the dialogue crackles, and the moral ambiguity keeps readers guessing. For fans of strong female protagonists, genre-bending mysteries, or stories where technology and humanity collide, Fabricated is a must-read.

⭐ Review at a Glance

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 of 5)
Genre: Science Fiction Mystery / Cyber-Noir
Series: Cybil Lewis SF Mystery, Book 4
Themes: Justice, corruption, technology, trust, identity
Best For: Readers who enjoy Altered Carbon, Ghost in the Shell, or classic noir detectives reimagined in a futuristic world.
Quick Take:

A gritty, smartly plotted cyber-noir where truth and technology intertwine—and nothing is quite what it seems.

I received a copy of the book as part of this tour. This review reflects my honest, unbiased opinion.

Learn More About the Cybil Lewis Series

🖋️ Guest Post by Nicole Givens Kurtz

Today’s post features a guest article from author Nicole Givens Kurtz, who shares her thoughts on a fascinating topic—“What is Speculative Mystery?”

In her piece, Nicole explores how she blends two beloved genres—mystery and speculative fiction—into something new and compelling. She discusses the challenges of defining cross-genre work, how her love of noir anime and classic whodunits inspired her, and why she’s embracing the term “speculative mystery” to describe stories like Fabricated.

Whether you’re a mystery purist, a sci-fi enthusiast, or a reader who loves your fiction with a dash of both, you’ll find her insight into genre-bending storytelling as thought-provoking as her novels.

👇 Keep reading for Nicole’s full guest post!

What is Speculative Mystery?

By Nicole Givens Kurtz

I write mysteries.

There. I said it out loud.

For the last 25 years I've been writing with a secret in my heart. Yes, I love science fiction and fantasy.

But, I also adore mysteries.
All of them, noir, true crime, pulpy, cozy, romantic suspense.

If you've read my Cybil Lewis series, you know I enjoy a noir, cyberpunkish story. My anime loves are also around futuristic noir, like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, PsychoPass, Cowboy Bebop, Akira, and others. You can find a list of the top 25 noir anime at https://www.ranker.com/list/best-noir-anime-v1/ranker-anime.

I have struggled to find an appropriate label for the types of mysteries I write. In publishing, labels are important to help readers, reviewers, and other authors navigate the large swath of available titles. So, it's important to label the stories with the correct tags or else readers won't find your work or worse, they buy it thinking it is something else. Those lead to horrible reviews and frustrated readers. Two things authors don't want.

Which brings me to what to call my delicious mysteries. At their core, they're whodunits, PIs and police procedurals with female protagonists. That's what they are at their core. Yet, the settings and worlds they inhabit are very much situated in fantastic kingdoms (Kingdom of Aves) or the near future, post-war DC (The Cybil Lewis Series), or in a galaxy far, far away (The Minister Knights of Souls). This isn't unusual in and of itself. Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files are a prime example of these mystery fantasy blends. What label does one give to these types of stories?

So, I went to the 'ZON. While strolling through the many titles that are similar to mine, like Altered Carbon. They are just as confused as I am. Some of them are firmly planted in science fiction, fantasy, and those sub-genres like cyberpunk, and others were listed in mysteries and their various sub-genres.

My series are all placed in various genres to, but how best to market myself as an author. For 20 years I have labeled myself a science fiction, fantasy and horror writer. And I am. But almost most of my stories hold strong suspense, if not outright mystery elements.

Introducing a new label: speculative mystery writer!

Definition: Speculative mystery is a sub-genre of both mystery and speculative fiction that is a mystery set in a science fiction or fantasy setting.

What do you think? Does that label cover the series that I write and enjoy? I think so.

👩‍💻 Meet the Author: Nicole Givens Kurtz

Nicole Givens Kurtz is a prolific author, publisher, and genre-blending storyteller who moves effortlessly between science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery. Described by Book Riot as “a genre polymath,” she’s been twice awarded the Atomacon Palmetto Scribe Award and has more than fifty short stories and multiple series to her name—including The Cybil Lewis SF Mysteries, Death Violations, and The Kingdom of Aves.

Her short story “The Way Home” appeared in Marvel®’s Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson anthology from Titan Books, and her fiction has been featured in Fiyah, Apex, Baen, and White Wolf. Nicole is also the owner of Mocha Memoirs Press, an independent publisher championing diverse voices in speculative fiction.

She is a professional member of SFWA and HWA and has taught workshops for Clarion West, Writer’s Digest, and SAGA.

Connect with Nicole Givens Kurtz:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads |  TikTok | BlueSky  | Buy Nicole a coffee at Ko-fi/nicolegkurtz

🌟 Closing Notes

Thank you for joining me for today’s Goddess Fish Promotions Review Tour featuring Fabricated by Nicole Givens Kurtz.

A huge thank you to Nicole for sharing her insightful guest post on speculative mystery and for crafting such a riveting addition to the Cybil Lewis SF Mystery series. I’d also like to thank Mocha Memoirs Press and the Goddess Fish Promotions team for the opportunity to read and review this futuristic noir gem.

If you love your mysteries with a sci-fi twist and a fierce, complex heroine at the center, Fabricated deserves a spot on your reading list.

Don’t forget to enter the $20 Amazon/BN Gift Card Giveaway below before you go!

Good luck, and happy reading! 💛

🎁 Giveaway!

Enter below for your chance to win  a $20 Amazon/BN gift card—courtesy of the author.

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