Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fictional Supermen or Genetically Created Killers?

Patricia SoltysikImage via Wikipedia
"Everyone on the floor!" the first one shouted, waving
his gun. The second man barred the front double doors
with a crowbar. "Get down I said!" he screamed, shoving
one of the bankers to the floor.
Rage crouched down, his eyes moving to the elderly
couple, huddled against each other on the floor, both
terrified. He swiveled his head back toward the woman,
whose eyes met his...He closed his eyes and thought
about his gift. He had used in only once before, years
ago. Since then he'd sworn to her he would never use it
to harm another...
Bang! The shotgun went off. Startled by Rage's sudden
move, the large man had fired it inadvertently, right into
Rage's stomach...




Code of Darkness


Chris Lindberg






He was a superhero in many ways, but there was also blood-lust in him that resulted in his being over-zealous. A purse snatcher or a robber or a rapist...justice would only be served by death to those who committed a crime! It had all started when he visited the bank that Saturday morning...

Rage had noticed the woman in line, their eyes had met and briefly they had connected. So when the robbers took her hostage, Rage had offered to go in her place. Later he had been shot...

But being shot didn't stop him and as the cops were surrounding the bank, Rage followed the men who had taken the woman.

"In one blinding motion, the newcomer ripped the gun from the small man's hand then spun into a kick that connected with the large man's jaw. Larry could hear the sickening crunch as the jawbone shattered. Completing his full spin, he rounded up on the small man and punched him square in the chest, sending him flying into a brick wall. As the large man fell, he turned back to pull the woman free while kicking the shotgun from the robber's limp hand...Then before Larry could utter a word, the man leapt all the way up onto the adjacent building's roof, and was gone..."

The amazing thing about Code of Darkness is that it begins with action--all the above occurred in the first chapter--and is ongoing throughout the book! Action-packed, however, does not even begin to describe the exciting intrigue of what will occur!

Consider chapter 2, for instance, that immediately takes you into the world of Elias Todd...For most of the book, he will be referred to as Asset One, which lays the foundation for the underlying story...

Enter the Federal government...


Elias Todd was a mercenary, an assassin whose services were available to anybody that could pay his price. He was very rich...

Todd was just back from his latest job, merely slipping poison into the victim's drink, while the autopsy would show that the man had died of a heart attack. "Two hours of work, netting a half-million-dollar payout."

But they were waiting for him...and though he fought with his great strength, they had come prepared for him and filled him with three shots, connecting with Todd's neck and upper chest...he began to feel consciousness slipping away.

Colonel Nolan Hayes declared that Todd was definitely one of them as he examined the wounds from the tranquilizer darts. Asset One had been secured. And before he began to stir they began to Assemble the Box to to get him inside immediately.

Super-soldiers is not a new concept--some readers may even believe that such research has or is taking place right now. What I found compelling about Lindberg's novel was that he took us directly into the lives of three men, all of whom had been genetically altered. Now the research funding had been renewed and two assets were being hunted...

And while these three men had been living their lives, Larry Parker was living as a homicide cop in Chicago and Mira Givens was doing good work as a social worker. Both had been at that bank robbery; both had been drawn into what would become one of the worst violent events that had occurred in Chicago, and later, Virginia...and one of the best "actions" that had been covered up by those government bureaucrats who  created...plausible storylines... What impressed me most was that it was Parker and Givens, just regular people, who used their determination and intelligence to wade through everything and wound up there at the climatic end, because of their love and commitment. You'll have to read it to understand why!

A touch of fantasy and science fiction, with lots of action and suspense will ensure that readers who choose Code of Darkness will be totally wrapped up from page 1 through many hair-raising, scary, and extremely graphic scenes of what is created and done in the name of science...Not for the squeamish! I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend!

Book Received Via
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GABixlerReviews

"Dressed in full military garb, he walked with a powerful air toward the table,
ignoring all others around him, his eyes fixated on Todd the entire way, as if sizing up
a target...Todd instinctively struggled against his bindings, again to no avail...
"My name is Colonel Nolan Hayes...I am the head of Operation...Chief Asset Recovery;
part of a larger undertaking by the Pentagon called Project Safeguard."
..."Dr. Ingramov," he bellowed to his right. "You may commence with testing...
Electric shocks. Continuous currents. Pressure points. Needles, large and small.
Probes, Biopsies. All without anesthesia. Through all of it Todd kept his pain
inside of him, gritting his teeth through the agony, letting his anger build within
him. He would get an opening, he knew he would; and when it came, he would
kill them all. First Polosky, then Ingramov, and finally Hayes..."

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