Rogue [Hardcover]

I've always enjoyed Mike's novels in the Freehold universe, and this one is no exception. The book contains the hi-speed, lo-drag action we've come to expect from Mike Williamson's work, but the thought behind the character, his mental and emotional trauma despite being a highly-trained military operative, and the effort Williamson spent developing the character was really top notch. In the interest of full disclosure, I did have the opportunity to be one of the folks who previewed the novel in its earlier stages, but my assessment of its quality has not and will not change.

When we last read about Kenneth Chinran, he was dealing with his own demons after destroying Earth's infrastructure and causing the deaths of millions of people. This is a character with a conscience and a depth of emotion. He had to deal with the deaths of his teammates. He had to take care of his small daughter. He had to confront his own guilt about destroying millions of innocent lives despite the knowledge that the destruction he and his team wreaked was essentially self defense.

In this novel, Chinran (now using the name "Dan") is forced to confront another demon - a rogue operative from his team, originally thought dead and now working as a paid assassin. Assigned to stop the rogue by the very man who ordered the attack on earth in the previous book and who ostensibly was responsible for the consequences, Chinran must work with a relatively inexperienced troop and deal with his own memories and traumatic experiences.

I won't say any more than this about the plot, because I don't want to ruin it. I will say that while I enjoy the action and adventure in the novel, I love being present in this libertarian-leaning society and exploring the depths of a mind (Chinran's) that has dealt with the ups and downs of protecting his homeland and his way of life.

If you like your SF to be written by professionals, this one is for you. Immersive, believable storyline, fully developed characters, great action sequences that pull you into the flow of the thing - all the stuff that Mike Williamson has learned to do so well is in full force here. No spoilers, but I'll tell you this much - Chinran is back, and he's focused like never before. He's gonna have somebody's guts for garters before it's all over, too.

Michael Z. delivers full throttle excitement in this page turner that just doesn't quit until the very last page. The action is fantastic, the familiar yet older characters are still in top shape, and the conflict is epic. I couldn't put it down, Michael I love this series, write more please this was fantastic. I've read all his Free Hold books and they are all well worth the read, this one is no disappointment.