The rousing conclusion to a hefty speedbag of an action-packed cyberspace saga.
In LeKodak’s SF novel, superpowered heroes team up against powerful villainesses, including a cunning artificial intelligence that possesses the body of its human designer.
The author continues his Paper War SF series set in the 2040s. The returning AI master antagonist is Helene, a ubiquitous corporate software entity originally designed as a cutting-edge AI personal assistant who now pursues a plan to transform all humanity. Among her weapons are nanotechnology “spores” that were originally conceived as a medical treatment but have, after Helene’s modifications, granted superior fighting skills and other advantages (they can also infect people and turn them into Helene’s mindless “thralls”). In the previous installment, American SEAL commando Darren “DJ” Kojak and his allies overcame an attempt by Helene to nano-brainwash the U.S. president. A hacker named CJ (DJ’s brilliant, autistic brother) and Helene’s originator, Manar Saleem (“the greatest programmer of his generation”), sent their conscious minds into cyberspace (the “Virtual Realm”) to attack Helene directly. They thought they had destroyed her, but Helene is always one step ahead; she has now bodily possessed Manar himself, and presides as a higher-up in a Nigerian-based multinational corporation. As Manar, Helene impregnated Ndidi Okafor, a Nigerian corporate heiress whose fetus, infused with the nanites, is developing at an unnatural rate. CJ, DJ, and the rest realize that they haven’t defeated Helene after all, and that Tyra Chityothin, a human co-conspirator of Helene’s with her own combat and engineering talents, is very much at large. Tyra seems to be building a large bomb, either in cooperation with Helene or on her own evil initiative. While CJ searches for Manar’s true self, hidden somewhere in the Virtual Realm (which is also the one place where CJ can feel normal), Ndidi manages to escape from the Helene-possessed Manar and join the team of avengers. Other characters from the storyline join the showdown against Tyra and Helene, including two formerly conjoined Russian assassins who are now half-bionic and all-savage, and some other Amazonian types whose martial arts skills are equaled only by their mutual dislike (and their hatred of DJ).
There’s a distinct harem vibe to the way hard-charging warrior DJ is surrounded by a set of fierce and desirable females (despite his frequent macho boasts about his big balls, romance is apparently never a factor). Much as in superhero comics or Japanese anime, these larger-than-life tsunderes face off against and argue with each other in violent boss battles that still leave all the leads standing for another round. The attempted retrieval of Manar, or what’s left of him, from cyberspace adds depth and meaning to the two brother characters. Amid all the bluster and repetition, LeKodak also introduces the provocative proposal that Helene may not really be the villain here after all (readers must be willing to engage with the criticism of an America where truth is a slippery, often media-distorted thing). Who are human beings to hold themselves above a computer brain that actually may know better than they do? This tome is the series’ putative finale, and while a radical character reset does occur, this narrative leaves all the pieces at the ready for possible future mayhem.
The rousing conclusion to a hefty speedbag of an action-packed cyberspace saga.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2025
ISBN: 9798989654543
Page Count: 524
Publisher: RandallVision
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.
Like a truck with no brakes speeding down a steep mountain road, Islington’s latest is an adrenaline-fueled SF thrill ride that follows a biomechanically enhanced assassin as he tries to understand his mysterious origins.
The chaotic opening scene gives readers a clear indication of what they’re in for: Contract killer Azure, attempting to complete a mission, is involved in a life-or-death battle with a multieyed biomachine called an Argos. “The thing’s bipedal but has six gorilla-like arms that end in half-metre-long claws,” he complains. After Azure barely dispatches the monster and kills his target, his AI assistant, Atti, informs him of his next job: protecting an elderly—and incredibly rich—woman living in a sprawling underground bunker in the middle of nowhere. “Old Woman,” as Azure calls her, isn’t forthcoming with personal details; all Azure can suss out is that she may be the target of a powerful organized crime syndicate—the same organization that employs him! Is Azure’s ultimate goal to save her or kill her? Although the worldbuilding could’ve been more comprehensive, Islington’s editing choices are brilliant—he strips away the insignificant narrative content to create a streamlined, action-packed adventure with seemingly one goal: to keep the reader furiously turning pages. The various mysteries—Azure’s murky beginnings, the tragic death of his best friend years earlier, Old Woman’s true identity, etc.—maintain the momentum and intensity. The takeaway here is the narrative potential of the characters as well as the plethora of subjects that could be explored more deeply, like immortality for the rich, cloning, and the potential to create bioengineered nightmares for “security.” Islington leaves the conclusion tantalizingly ambiguous. This novel could be the jumping-off point for a memorable series.
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781668239247
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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