Bibliophile Stalker interviews A. Lee Martinez (The Automatic Detective): "[The Automatic Detective is] a combo of old sci fi sensibilities combined with film noir crime thrillers, plus a little bit of superhero type action thrown in for extra measure. I wrote it because I love old weird science pulps, crime pulps, and I wanted to write a novel featuring a robot that didn't suffer from either Pinnochio syndrome or Destroy-All-Humans! syndrome."