by Terrance Mc Arthur

Details on how to enter to win a copy of Havoc at the end of this post along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL.

What do you do when you get rid of the death penalty, but you want to get rid of the people you would have executed? How about…put them on a space station? Send them supply ships, and if they kill each other, they solve the problem for you. That’s what happened on the Perdition station in Ann Aguirre’s Dred Chronicles. Havoc is the second book, and the excitement is as high as the body count.

Dresdemona (“Dred”) is the Dred Queen of Queensland, one of Perdition’s territories. She does her best to keep the sub-human cannibals and the ninja-like clan of assassins-with-their-tongues-cut-out from taking over, aided by her not-quite-human lover Jael (a spin-off from another series), spymaster Tam (Can you truly trust someone with a mind that devious?), techno-fixer Ike (think MacGyver with a life sentence) and the sharp-toothed Martine (she’s not just temperamental and sarcastic; her teeth are filed to points). The next supply ship is loaded with highly-armed mercenaries who start killing everyone in sight and turn the factions against each other.

Things get brutal (nice people don’t get sent to deep-space lifer colonies), and there are some major battle sequences. The soldiers seem a bit ineffectual after their initial surprise attack, but they are using no-longer-accurate maps against an enemy using traps, re-purposed weaponry, and guerrilla tactics. It’s a lot like the Redcoats vs. the Colonials in the American Revolution…or echoes of Vietnam…or Afghanistan…or Iraq…or…

Anne Aguirre has a strong following, based on solid series characters like Sirantha Jax and Corine Solomon (and the A.A. Aguirre books co-written with her husband). Havoc plays to her strengths. For the romance-SF-inclined, there is the Dred-Jael relationship, two people who have avoided commitment and trust, and have doubts that they can be loved. There is a group of aliens who were victims of a xenophobic hatred and were rounded up and relocated to the prison station. Although it deals with mercenaries and inter-group warfare, this doesn’t really fit the military-SF model, as the goal here is to outwit, outmaneuver, and outlast the military.

Set aside some time for mayhem, subterfuge, betrayal, loyalty, and love. Read Havoc!

To enter to win a copy of Havoc, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Havoc,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen November 8, 2014. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.

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Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL:

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Community Librarian for the WoW! (WithOut Walls) Division of the Fresno County Public Library, roaming the Valley to meet the public’s information needs.