The Rasner Effect

by Mark Rosendorf

Published by L & L Dreamspell
Trade Paperback: 343 pp.
IBSN 978-1-60318-084-9
$18.95

Reviewed by Von Pittman

All spy/thriller novels that employ mercenary warriors feature ambiguity and betrayal, along with frequent reverses of fortune. The Rasner Effect amply exhibits these characteristics. The Duke Organization is a mercenary company in roughly the same sense that the James Brothers belonged to a company of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. More accurately, the Duke Organization is a gang of thugs and assassins, some of whom are psychotic. Colonel Duke, a former Army officer, recruited disturbed and criminally inclined children to train for murderous rampages. As he raised them, he taught them to kill without remorse or even second thoughts. However, his successful efforts to eliminate any sense of conscience among his charges took a toll. He died at the hands of his daughter’s boyfriend, who then led the gang to new heights of slaughter and mayhem until he in turn was gunned down during an operation.

As the novel’s action begins, the Duke Organization is inoperative. Jen, the Colonel’s daughter, and a few remaining operatives are largely dormant and ineffective. However, they learn that their former leader—Jen’s lover—had survived the failed operation. The Army, in the person of the odious Colonel Straker, had implanted a computer chip in his head to induce amnesia, and to keep him under control. Under the name of Rick Rasner, the government creates a cover for him as a therapist. It places him in a psychiatric facility for troubled children, many of whom are prone to violence. Under the control of a doctor in the government’s hire, he becomes the most sympathetic of all the institution’s employees toward the children incarcerated there.

The dregs of the Duke Organization decide to bust Rasner out of his cover, neutralize the chip in his head—and thus the government’s control—and restore him to his calling as the leader of a band of mercenary killers, at girlfriend Jen Duke’s side. In the process, Rasner brings along the most violence-prone adolescent in the psychiatric facility. The remainder of the plot has to do with settling scores and combating the government’s mercenaries, the chief one of which had to be brought out from his cover identity in the witness protection program. Reversals of fortune, bouts of moral ambivalence, and long hand-to-hand fighting scenes comprise the remainder of the narrative.

Fictional treatments of mercenary fighters are almost inevitably unrealistic. The Rasner Effect pushes the disconnect from reality even further. While it is unrealistic to expect a heroic figure in such a book, almost all of the characters—and all the combatants—are both brutal and banal. It is difficult to care which side—and which individuals—will win out.

While this novel is based on action, remarkably little actually happens. Too frequently, the antagonists step back and think about their motivation, their next punch, or the emotion they see in their opponents’ eyes. Such reflections have the unfortunate effect of interrupting the narrative flow. The Rasner Effect could have profited greatly from more intensive editing. While the requisite murky morality and treachery are present, a story that depends on action and violence requires a faster pace.

Copyright @ 2009 Von Pittman

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.

ISBN 13: 978-0-525-95125-4                                                    

Dutton, September, 2009
Hardcover, 406 pages
U. S. $26.95/ $33.50 Canada

Reviewed by Larry W. Chavis

Much has been written about the changes technology is bringing into the world of books and publishing, what with the proliferation of eBooks and readers, audiobooks, podcasts and ezines. LEVEL 26: DARK ORIGINS is presented as the next step in the union of old and new technology, the first “digi-novel.”

Perhaps it was inevitable that a television creator and producer, along with a writer of thrillers and comic books, would come up with the idea of combining “the best features of books, film and interactive digital technologies” into a single experience. Anthony E. Zuiker is the creator and executive producer of the popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV series and its Miami and New York spin-offs. Duane Swierczynski has written several thrillers and also writes the monthly X-Men Cable series for Marvel Comics. Together, these two have produced a work that is unique: as one reads the book, there appears every twenty pages or so a link and a password that takes the reader on line to a short video clip that  relates to the passage just read. Billed as enhancements to the text, they are not necessary to follow the story, but are meant to add to the intensity of it.

As for the story, Level 26 refers to a scale by which law enforcement agencies measure killers, with twenty-six being the highest level of evil, known only to the super-secret Special Circumstances Division of the FBI, and invented for a  killer code-named Sqweegel. Sqweegel has run amuck throughout the world for thirty years, killing at will, striking anyone he fancies, using any method that pleases, leaving behind no physical evidence at all. The only agent ever to confront him and live is Steve Dark, but even he paid an extreme price when Sqweegel targeted and destroyed his entire family. Resigning his job to pursue the murderer on his own, Dark finally gave up and dropped from sight, while Sqweegel continues to slaughter at will. The heads of the law enforcement agencies of the world are desperate to stop him. An ultimatum is issued: find Steve Dark and get him on the case at all costs.

Some interesting, if puzzling, twists occur in the story, and quite often one strains to maintain that suspension of disbelief necessary to the enjoyment most fiction. Certain high-level officials sometimes come off as evil as Sqweegel in their own way, and Sqweegel’s capacity ability to zip from one side of the continent to the other, appearing anywhere, is just a bit much. If one approaches the book much as one would, say, an illustrated story involving super-villains and -heroes, one gets the flavor of the action here.

As for the on line videos, I watched them all, was impressed by some, left cold by others. Some well-known actors took part in this project: Michael Ironside, for instance, does a creditable job of portraying Riggins, head of the Special Circumstances group. This format, though, will work better for those who have Internet access through an  iPhone or similar portable device. It is a bit tiresome to go to the desktop computer every few pages. Along with the videos, the Level 26 site also hosts an on line community, where one can take part in discussions, etc. LEVEL 26: DARK ORIGINS is meant to be the first in a series. It will be interesting to see how the “digi-novel” fares in the current market-place.

Copyright ©2009 Larry W. Chavis

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.

Review: DOUBLE EXPOSURE by Michael Lister

Tyrus Books, 2009
ISBN 13: 978-0-9825209-2-5
Trade Paper, 204 pages
$14.95, U. S. / $16.50, Canada

Reviewed by Larry W. Chavis

Remington James has a lucrative job in advertising, a wife he loves but from whom he is drifting, and an emptiness of soul he can not fill. When his father dies, Remington returns to his northwest Florida hometown to carry on his father’s business and see to the needs of his invalid mother. While there, he rediscovers his early love of photography, a love given him and nurtured by his mother. In seeking the perfect pictures of the native flora and fauna, Remington believes he is not only helping to preserve nature but finding himself in the bargain.

And so he ventures deep into the hardwood forest and swamps on the large acreage he has inherited, seeking his photos. Capturing great shots, he moves to his deepest camera trap, where he discovers that he has captured a brutal murder, minutes before he arrived. The killer is still in the woods, and has help. Remington’s quest for the perfect nature photo has instantly become a desperate chase for his own life. The story of his flight from the murderers makes for an intense night in the dark Florida woods that will not disappoint.

There is more to Lister’s book than a pulse-pounding thriller, though. Lister writes with a style and grace that makes some passages almost poetic in their feel, and the questions that his protagonist struggles with, as he struggles for life, are the deep questions that come to us all, sometimes in the dark midnight of  sleeplessness, often in the midst of a life crisis - what does my life mean, what is real and what merely window-dressing? In the course of the thrill-ride, Remington James comes to his own conclusion, as must we all.

This is my first book by Michael Lister. It won’t be the last.

Copyright ©2009 Larry W. Chavis

Russian Roulette: A Hannibal Jones Thriller

Austin S. Camacho
ISBN-13: 978-0979478840
Intrigue Publishing
Trade paperback, 264 pages
$14.95

Reviewed by Christopher Ryan

Austin S. Camacho’s new Hannibal Jones Thriller doesn’t start with a bang, an explosion or hot sex. The pace isn’t break neck, the prose doesn’t tingle the spine with a cliff hanger every three pages, and yet Russian Roulette keeps you coming back for more. This novel doesn’t pit its protagonist against the End of The World, a presidential assassin, or the germ that will kill everyone, and yet Russian Roulette insinuates itself into the reader’s mind with impressive ease.

That’s a neat trick. How does Camacho do it? Characterization. Hannibal Jones is likable, really easy to root for, and so approachable this novel feels like you’re hanging out with a friend, riding around the D.C. area with him as he handles some business before going for a beer. That’s striking in a way mass-produced best sellers just aren’t. Camacho has developed an easy pacing that slow cooks the mystery and intrigue, luring you further into his tale like an old friend recounting this amazing thing that happened just the other night. The result is a relaxing, engaging, entertaining read that satisfies like a long call from an old friend.

Known as the D.C. area’s “professional troubleshooter”, Hannibal is forced to take the case of a Russian assassin who promises to kill his beloved Cindy Santiago if help is refused. But the simple investigation into a wealthy Algerian who has apparently stolen the heart of the woman the assassin loves becomes ever more complicated, intriguing, and dangerous. We see some returning characters from Camacho’s previous Hannibal Jones thrillers, and the protagonist finds himself working with surprising new partners as layer upon layer of discovery is peeled back, the plot slowly simmers and the tension steadily rises to an action-packed climax. Hanging out with Camacho’s Hannibal Jones is time well spent, and as this is the fifth in a series, there is much to enjoy and recommend here.

Copyright ©2009 Christopher Ryan

Island Life

Michael W. Sherer

Five Star, an imprint of the Gale Group
Hardcover, 385 pages
ISBN-10: 1-59414-6330
ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-633-6

Reviewed by Marlene Pyle

Having a lousy week? Here’s what you do: Make no plans for Saturday. Turn down all invitations. Tell everyone you’re busy. Saturday morning, stay in your pajamas. Go out to the kitchen for coffee, then get back in bed with Island Life, by Michael W. Sherer, and stay there. If you’ve never read Sherer’s work, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. He’s good.

The story centers on Jack Holm, an average guy who works in marketing, married, two kids. When his wife disappears, Jack isn’t too worried at first. Their marriage has hit a rocky patch and he thinks maybe she has gone off to spend a few days alone. Besides, Mary’s a flight attendant, often out of town for days at a time, so this doesn’t seem too unusual. But when there is still no sign of her after three days, Jack goes to the police and quickly becomes the prime suspect in Mary’s murder. With the police convinced of his guilt, Jack is forced to investigate the crime in order to exonerate himself.

The story that evolves is deeply engrossing. Sometimes I read a book and think I could have written it better or at least as well. With Sherer’s novel, I found myself wishing I could write like that, and very jealous of his talent. Luckily, that didn’t keep me from enjoying his work.

Copyright ©2009 Marlene Pyle