Shadow Ops: Control Point
Myke Cole. Ace, $7.99 mass market (400p) ISBN 978-1-937007-24-9
In Cole’s vision of near-future America, magic and superpowers have become a terrifying and often lethal feature of everyday life. Army lieutenant Oscar Britton enforces America’s draconian, inflexible magic regulations, but when he himself develops prohibited abilities, he flees rather than face summary execution. His eventual capture leads not to his death but to lifelong military-industrial slavery. Previously a morally conflicted cog in a brutal legal mechanism, Britton soon finds himself outraged beyond tolerance, with open rebellion the only way out. Though clearly a debut, the novel shows promise; the rather Spartacusesque protagonist is not an infallible combat machine but a man who is able to learn from his errors, and Cole’s apparent disapproval of state-sanctioned brutality, slavery, and torture even in the face of possible existential threats is a welcome novelty in the era of 24. Agent: JABberwocky Literary Agency. (Feb.)
Details
Reviewed on: 12/05/2011
Genre: Fiction
Downloadable Audio - 978-1-4640-0981-5
Mass Market Paperbound - 368 pages - 978-0-425-25636-7
Open Ebook - 368 pages - 978-1-101-61924-7
Open Ebook - 400 pages - 978-1-101-55439-5
Open Ebook - 400 pages - 978-1-101-55360-2