WARP ANGEL

Travel by spacewarp allowed humans to spread through the galaxy but also tore holes in the fabric of spacetime; as a result, warp travel was abandoned, leaving the far-flung colonies isolated. The Draconian system is run now by large commercial organizations, or ``bods,'' dominated by the Slavers Bod. Young assassin Magen was commissioned to kill Jewish zealot and reformer Adam Hirsch; but in the process of worming her way close to Hirsch, she not only rediscovered her Jewish roots but fell in love with Adam and married him. So after Adam is snatched by the Slavers, Magen contrives single-handedly to harass and attack the Slavers Bod in an attempt to force them to yield Adam up. Indeed, in freeing many slaves and attempting to take care of them, Magen accidentally hits upon a method of deprogramming them, a feat hitherto considered impossible. Injured after one such daring raid, she's sheltered by rich heiress Amelia Strados. Chev Carson, an assassin dispatched to deal with Amelia, ends up in her bed instead. Together, Magen, Amelia, and Chev, aided by powerful psychic Veil, think up a plan to force the Slavers to reveal Adam's whereabouts. After various adventures, they learn that Adam is being held on Abaddon, a planet so badly affected by spacewarps that it resembles a black hole—and one from which there is no escape. A swift-moving, imaginative debut, not too seriously damaged by its mad patchwork of themes, erratic plot, and unconvincing windup.