From the outset, this is a good modern pulp thriller with an abundance of interesting (as well as chilling) ideas and extrapolations, especially in the area of genetics. In the forward & prologue we are introduced to Betty Marsh, developer of a "smart" vaccine for a Retro T-cell virus and, in the year 2014, head of a genetic design facility that creates a group of super-children. Terrorists attack the facility and, although many working there are killed, Betty is able to escape with four of the surviving children, as well as a super baby that is inside her.

Here we jump forward 20 years in time to the main body of the story. Nina Steel, daughter of the world's richest man, is a highly effective bounty hunter, capable of extraordinary physical feats and stunning men with both her looks and fists. She just completes a mission when she receives a summons from her father at the Steel Foundation building in Chicago.

We are also introduced to four other well endowed characters: two equally beautiful women, Monique Randalls (Director of Fusion Thermal Dynamics at Berkley Univ.) & Romana Traski, world renowned psychiatrist; Sir Mark Richards, political advisor to the Crown of England & Dr. John Weber, a Dir. at Princeton and a computer genius.

They all have received summons from their fathers' to meet at the Steel Building in Chicago, were they are reunited with Betty Marsh, and learn for the first time that they are the genetically engineered children who escaped from the terrorists 20 years previously, had their minds altered to forget the earlier ordeal, and who are still being hunted by the same fanatical group of terrorists. Eventually, the group of super humans set out to take care of the terrorists, whose base is found to be in a demilitarized zone in a bizarre jungle in Israel. This area is generally off limits to outsiders due to the fact that during the last war there, a deadly man-made virus was let loose in the area, killing many, and thus giving the group one more thing to worry about. Although a reader might see shades of Dark Angel in the book, Reunion was originally released in 1993, well before the TV show appeared.

I called this a "modern pulp thriller" at the start of this review as I believe it has as much, if not more, in common with Doc Savage then as Dark Angel, with Nina as Doc in female form. While this comparison is inevitable, the characters are obviously not a simple copy, even without gender changes, since in Reunion the characters, are for the most part, siblings and all super-human to a degree. However, with the concentration in the book on action, the skills and teamwork of the main characters, and etc., the two stories have a lot in common. What sets it apart from such earlier stories is in significant, part the well crafted extrapolations of the disturbing use of genetic engineering and bioweaponry. The latter is mainly in the form of an ethnically focused, artificial virus called the Yellow Flu, which is shown to be not without precedent and all the more credible. Also credible are the results of using such weapons.

In today's world, of almost weekly terror attacks, this book really hits home.

I am a long time Sci-fi lover and a believer that women can do anything men can. So when I heard about Reunion, the first book in the Nina Steel Adventure series I couldn't wait to read it as I was told it had a strong female lead. I was not disappoint. WOW, what a story. Reunion is written with a very fast pase at grabs you and won't lit you go. The character a wonderful, so full of life. And I just love the main character, Nina Steel. She a strong female lead who does not need to depend on a man to save the day. Much like Xena. I would highly recommend high adventure Sci-fi!