Submitted by Laer Carroll (Apr 17, 2009)

I echo the review 100%. Shepherd with this book enters the SF writers arena at the highest levels. He extrapolates both the technical and the social reality so well I felt that I knew Tanusha, and yet did not slow the action one whit more than it should. Um, one nit - in the sentence "Shepherd’s protagonist, Cassandra Kresnov, is a defective operative from ..." DEFECTIVE should be replaced with DEFECTING.

I've read, and enjoyed, all three of Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov books - they were published here in Australia a couple of years ago, well before compatriot Marienne de Pierres' novels (and, I would say, far exceeding them). My only complaint is that Shepherd seems to be too fond of getting his heroine's clothes off. Gratuitously. I can't say, though, that I found the Kresnoz books anywhere near as *deep* as the reviewer appeared to! Nonetheless: good yarns.