Christopher Hinz’s Liege-Killer was originally published in 1988 and won the Compton Crook award for best first novel. In the intervening years, Hinz has expanded the universe with two additional novels and comic books. Most recently, through Angry Robot, a new “remastered” edition was published in October 2021.
Two hundred years after a nuclear apocalypse forced humanity to flee earth, humans still remember the most feared warriors of that planet – the Paratwa. These are genetically modified killers who occupy two bodies controlled by one vicious mind. The legendary Paratwa named Reemul, known as the Liege-Killer, was the strongest of them all. Now someone has revived Reemul from stasis and sent him to terrorize the peaceful orbital colonies of Earth. Is this an isolated incident, or has the one who unleashed this terrible power announced a gambit for control over the entire human race?
Much of humanity is still reeling from the nuclear apocalypse two centuries prior to the start of the novel. Life on Earth is largely thought of and spoken about in mythic terms. One of the most fear-inducing “myths” are the Paratwa, unstoppable assassins genetically engineered to near perfection. The Paratwa were “tways,” a single mind in control of two bodies and are the most efficient killing machines the world has seen, a “single” paratwa could decimate an army of men without breaking a sweat. In the 24th Century “present” of the novel, these apex predators are thought to be extinct, as were the highest of the order, the Ash Ock. Of course that isn’t the case, or else we wouldn’t have a story.
Rumors swirl of an awakened Paratwa and the defacto ruling company, E-Tech – in the person of Rome Franco, and governing body, Irryan Council, decide their best course of action to quell this threat is to waken two men from cryogenic freeze. Men who have successfully brought several Paratwa threats to an end in the past – a man named Nick and his partner Gillian. Is it also possible that the highest of the Paratwa, the Ash Ock, is still alive? The Ash Ock and Paratwa were known in the past to kill high ranking members of the government (or powerful organizations) and assume the identity of the people they killed.
Nick and Gillian work very closely with Rome to devise their strategy to take down the Paratwa. Perhaps the highlight for me is Nick’s snarky attitude. Although the depth of the character of Gillian, Nick’s partner is equally impressive. What these three men discover is that a reawakened Paratwa is just the tip of the iceberg of a conspiracy that has embroiled humanity since the nuclear apocalypse centuries earlier. So, we’ve got a murder mystery, shades of post-apocalyptic fiction, block-buster thriller, smart future SF all rolled into one expertly crafted package of a novel.
Hinz has created an enormously fun SF action film of a novel that has a great deal of intelligence within its pages. This “remastered version” is well over 500 pages, but Hinz’s electric pacing didn’t allow for any real pauses for breath in this brisk, yet thick novel.
As I was engrossed in Liege-Killer, I couldn’t help but find resonance with one of my favorite novels of all time, Heroes Die by Matthew Stover. Both novels take place in dystopic world in our future that is more-or-less governed and run by corporations; features ruthless, extremely efficient killers; set after a collapse and rebuild of society. That is, of course quite high level and simplistic. Given Liege-Killer was published about a decade prior to Heroes Die, I wonder if one influenced the other. There’s more than enough to separate the two fantastic novels as their own, unique stories, but both novels are hitting some of the same notes. I don’t think this is a bad thing, at all.
It is nice to see Angry Robot bringing back some of the classics especially when they are as relevant today as when they were first published.
Recommended
© 2021 Rob H. Bedford
Angry Robot Books | October 2021
Trade Paperback | 541 pages
Excerpt: https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/2021/09/exlusive-liege-killer-excerpt/
Author Web site: http://www.christopherhinz.com/index.html
Review copy courtesy the publisher
