Author: Victor Robert Lee
Publisher: Perimeter Six Press
Rating: TBD
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration of any kind for this review. Since this is a new novel, this review is shorter you'll typically find on this blog!
This novel is a story about a guy named Cono, who is of mixed ethnicity, and who has extraordinarily fast reflexes. He's a good looking guy, fit, active and healthy, who has no problem finding female company whenever he needs it, but this addiction to women is what brings him endless grief. Indeed, the entire novel, whilst superficially about him single-handedly undermining a plot to steal enriched uranium, is actually about him staging one painful rescue after another of women with whom he has become involved in various convoluted ways.
Cono has led an interesting, action-filled and varied life. He has bad memories of something which happened to his mother in the bar she tended when he was a kid. He also has uncomfortable memories of being discovered as a "anomaly" and being tested in the USA. Through this testing, he meets someone who becomes a friend and partner in developing software based on his condition, which in turn brings him financial independence. This gives him the freedom to travel and do pretty much whatever he wants. In Istanbul, he gets a call from a Chinese woman he knows well, who is in trouble in Kazakhstan, and his feelings for her compel him to make two calls - one to issue a bomb threat to the hotel in which she's staying to stir things up, and another to a corrupt government official who has the power to protect her. But that request has put Cono in Timur's debt. Timur is now going to hold Xiao Li hostage until Cono uses his skills to set up an oil deal amongst several international players. But of course this is nothing but a cover, hiding Timur's real purpose.
Cono plays out his side of the deal, finding his situation becoming ever more complex and twisted. Eventually he reaches the end of his travels and travails, but things don’t quite turn out to be what he'd hoped for. This novel was not for me, but I cannot really fault the quality of the writing, the plot in general, or the story-telling. So while it just was not the kind of story I was looking for, I don't have a problem rating it as a 'worthy' because I'm sure others will find it very entertaining.
