Rath’s Deception

Platt delivers an intrigue-filled first romp in the Janus Group series. Rath, a teenage dropout and petty thief with a difficult past, fends for himself on the unforgiving planet of Tarkis until a mysterious crime syndicate called the Janus Group offers Rath the chance to live a new life as a hired assassin, though it requires constant deception and secrecy. When Rath learns just what the Janus Group is involved in, the stakes for his life and his happiness become astronomically higher. Platt takes the conventional bildungsroman and infuses it with sharp wit and an eye for all the gritty details of a cruel, futuristic world. Where the novel falters is in the time spent on Rath’s training process, which just feels like filler. In spite of this, Platt’s world is inventive, with a strong protagonist that readers will undoubtedly root for. (Booklife)