Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Techno Thriller

  • A BLANKET Of STEEL: The Rise of Oceania Book 6 by Timothy S. Johnston – Techno Thriller, Global Thriller, Sci-fi

     

    In the year 2131, some people are now living in large underwater cities. They are free from the surface world’s rapidly deteriorating climate, overpopulation, rebellion, and dictatorships—but not its violent powers. In Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel, the fledgling marine union Oceania might be crushed from above, if it isn’t torn apart from within.

    Most of the great upper world countries want to maintain a tight yoke on the water world, hungry for their mining resources and advanced technology. Massive warships from the world’s top terrestrial nations—China, Russia, and others—are assembling on the surface.

    Truman McClusky, mayor of Trieste City off the Florida coast, declares the formation of Oceania to bring the 14 underwater cities together. Defense is their top priority. But within minutes of the announcement, a massive power blackout strikes Trieste. Is it an accident or an opening salvo?

    A war with the upper world is only one of McClusky’s problems, as subtler enemies circle him in the water.

    His chief of security, Cliff Sim, undertook a top-secret mission to a mysterious stretch of Oceania, and is murdered in a brutal fight. His murderer may be one of the world’s most ruthless killers, known as Steel Shiv—but why? Answering the questions of Cliff’s death might take dredging up the true nature of his mission.

    Speculation about the murder turns to Ivan Arkady Ventinov, the captain of a Russian dreadnaught, one of the largest undersea subs in existence. He has vowed to reap vengeance on McClusky at any cost for the destruction of his former vessel.

    Closer to home, three representatives from other undersea cities join McClusky in his upcoming fight with the land-based powers. But with Cliff’s death, and the dawning realization that information from inside Trieste is being leaked to the city’s enemies, McClusky suspects that one of the three city representatives is a spy. They could even be the Steel Shiv himself.

    The tension builds when Cliff’s mission is uncovered—he was searching for a substance called “graphene.” As a coating for the exterior of undersea vessels, this super-substance could allow them to brave further into the ocean’s depths than ever before.

    Warring nations, rogue international forces, would-be assassins; McClusky must battle with all of these forces at once.

    Fast paced and fully imagined, Timothy S. Johnston’s tale of underwater cities illustrates political dynamics only a few small steps from our own. But it’s also a personal story of trust, friendship and betrayal. A Blanket of Steel marries its science fiction setting and human conflicts to create a complex and rapidly changing world.

    A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston won Grand Prize in the 2024 CIBA Global Thriller Awards.

     

  • THE SPILL by Keith Abbott – Terrorism Thriller, Techno-Thriller, International Crime

     

    In Keith Abbott’s thriller, The Spill, an intelligent, well-funded, politically connected organization of Arab Terrorists precipitates an environmental catastrophe meant to have world-shattering consequences – in their favor, of course.

    But the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray. Their plans are uncovered, giving their opposition a chance to mobilize all of its forces. Those terrible consequences may be too late to completely thwart, but there is just enough time to channel the disaster in a way that could save the world rather than end it.

    All it will take is one lawyer who refuses to let the villains win and one crackerjack scientist willing to go where no one has gone before – and come back to tell the tale.

    The gripping story of The Spill begins with a well-planned and thoroughly executed environmental disaster – along with a couple of less well-planned actual executions. From there it’s a breakneck race, as American oil company executive Jesse Ford struggles to contain the oil spill itself, the political and economic fallout, and dig deeply into the causes that set this whole mess up in the first place.

    Set against Jesse and his colleagues is a hidden cabal of scientifically-minded terrorists who plan to take the West down by a combination of stealth, bioterrorism, and fanaticism. The first stages of their plan go almost flawlessly, but it begins going off the rails once Jesse and company start digging into their network of secrets.

    The characters on the two sides of this conflict, Jesse Ford and Aran Lassiter, are forceful and driven, and yet opposite in every way.

    Much of the story is told through Ford’s first-person perspective. From inside his head, we see a pragmatic man, but one who cares about his people and has lines he never thought he would cross.

    Aran Lassiter is his perfect foil, a man broken and reforged in pain. He has been molded into a weapon, willing to cross any line and break any rule – or person – to share his pain with everyone in his path – friend and enemy alike.

    The Spill is a techno-thriller that’s compulsively page-turning from the very first word.

    The plot to destroy the West is chilling in its execution – all the more so because it feels entirely too plausible. Readers will get close to Jesse and his team, to the point where each victory is a moment to cheer, and each loss heartbreaking.

    To thwart the villains, these heroes turn to a solution so far out of the box that it’s sourced in science fiction – but the story is so riveting that even non-SF readers will be pulled along to the conclusion.

    The ending manages to plant the seeds of later destruction in its victorious moment, leaving readers hungering for more of this absolute thrill ride of a read!

     

    5 Stars! Best Book Chanticleer Book Reviews

     

  • ASTROLOGER’S PROOF by David John Jaegers – Metaphysical Techno-Thriller Fiction

    ASTROLOGER’S PROOF by David John Jaegers – Metaphysical Techno-Thriller Fiction

    David John Jaegers’ Astrologer’s Proof is all about the steps leading to utopia, involving both ephemeral and cosmic mechanisms, balancing on the edge of an ethical paradox.

    The science fiction/fantasy author Orson Scott Card wrote a book titled “Characters & Viewpoint” in which he posited that all novels divide broadly into four different story types: Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event. He dubbed these categories the “MICE” Quotient, and each sets up specific expectations in the reader.

    Within that framework, Astrologer’s Proof qualifies as an Idea novel. It is Book 2 of the Astro-theologian Series, a metaphysical techno-thriller trilogy in which a Big Idea is explored.

    What’s the Big Idea? Simply put, it’s the search for an empirical proof that astrology is a valid science that defines and guides human nature and destiny, dovetailing with all religions into a unified cosmic truth that can positively change the world.

    That’s a lofty promise which author David John Jaegers delivers.

    Of course, proving the premise takes serious work – and a lot of illegal maneuvers to gather the necessary data. Astrologer’s Proof thus becomes an end-justifies-the-means story, where honest, moral, well-intentioned philanthropists break laws, invade privacy, deceive their loved ones, and establish front organizations, all to gather the information they need to demonstrate they’re right—in scientific, indisputable terms.

    Some series fiction forms the continuing adventures of one or more characters. Astrologer’s Proof, conversely, is the middle segment of a grand epic covering the Big Idea. Book 1 (Astrologer’s Apprentice) establishes the situation and players; Book 2 (Astrologer’s Proof) describes the process of making the Big Idea happen, and Book 3 (A Virtual Life) will reveal the repercussions. In other words, this book is the fat juicy middle of a delicious Po-boy, worth every bit of effort to digest.

    In Astrologer’s Proof, Jaegers unfolds the Big Idea and patiently tells us how it is transformed into action. Here the author demonstrates his depth of knowledge with the material and impresses the reader with the story’s thoroughness, technical veracity, rationality, and fascinating possibilities.

    In many ways, this book is an experimental novel, with the traditional elements of storytelling over-arching the trilogy, spreading across multiple characters in the telling. Jaegers brings his skill to the forefront here and invites his audience deeper, into a complex world that he skillfully weaves.

    For sophisticated readers who yearn for a multifariously inspired scenario that stretches the psychic mind and challenges beliefs, look no further. Astrologer’s Proof is your perfect match. This is a story with exceptional intelligence and visionary quality. It cleaves to the author’s heart, and those who read the book will be affected by its positive energy.

  • An Editorial Review of “Measure of Danger” by Jay Klages

    An Editorial Review of “Measure of Danger” by Jay Klages

    This techno-thriller pitches “The Chapter,” a high-tech, well-organized, and ruthless para-military organization, against a former intelligence officer with a behavioral disorder that makes him an unpredictable anomaly to all sides.

    In Measure of Danger by Jay Klages, The Chapter has infiltrated every level of government, and their financier, a drug cartel, has upped the ante and their demands. The United States is in imminent danger, but no one knows from whom or from what, and the clock is ticking.

    Kade Sims feels he has been unfairly dumped from his former position in Army Intelligence because of out-of-control behavior due to a condition called hypomania. He’s bored, out of shape, and stuck working part-time at Home Depot instead of at the Pentagon. So when the FBI knocks on his door of his Virginia apartment and asks him to go undercover in Oregon to infiltrate a mysterious quasi-militia group called The Chapter, he’s eager to go to work for his country again.

    His training goes well, but on his initial scouting mission into The Chapter’s territory, the plan goes awry when his Jeep hurtles off a muddy mountain road. Kade wakes up strapped to a bed in The Chapter’s compound. He is now inside The Chapter sooner and with a lot less control than he or the FBI planned. To make matters worse, his brutal guards know not only who he is, but where his beloved sister goes to school. When they can’t break him, they decide to use his skills to their advantage, confident they can control him at every step with a computer chip they implanted into his head.

    But Kade’s hypomania proves to be a benefit when it gives him resistance to The Chapter’s hi-tech mind-control methods. He finds creative ways to communicate with the FBI, his roommate, and family, and the game is on as each side seeks to control the situation.

    But there are more than two players in the deadly game. The Chapter is hiding under the banner of an agricultural biotech company called AgriteX, whose most popular crop is bio-engineered marijuana. A drug cartel is its biggest client. However, the cartel believes that AgriteX has violated their contract to supply supercharged marijuana seeds, and the AgriteX leaders are now on the cartel’s hit list.

    The Chapter is dangerous both to its recruits and to the American government along with just about anyone they come into contact with.  As Kade becomes more involved in the shadowy organization, his contacts with outside parties and his resistance to being controlled make The Chapter’s leader suspicious of his loyalty. Will he survive his assignment with mind and body intact? As the suspense builds to a fiery nationwide conclusion with all weapons drawn, thriller readers will be glued to the pages to find out what happens next as the plot twists and spins with unrelenting action and surprise as the pieces and clues come together.

    Measure of Danger, Jay Klages’ debut novel is a page-turning techno-thriller written by a former military intelligence officer and a West Point graduate. Klages experience and expertise is revealed with his believable dialog, details, and operative descriptions. The work features military trained Kade Sims, and his accountant sidekick, Alex Pace; we can’t wait to read what other dangerous puzzles this unlikely dynamic duo will be called on to solve.