FINAL PROTOCOL is a stand-alone novella by the talented
J.C. Daniels, alter ego of author Shiloh Walker. I love,
love, love Daniels' Kit Colbana UF series, so I jumped at
the chance to read another work by her. Like Kit Colbana,
Silence is another strong kickass heroine with an
incredibly damaged heart. I adore heroines who can kick
butt and take names in their own right, and Silence is
incredibly capable. A tortured assassin, she's a
compelling figure who grabs my imagination from word one,
and keeps my heart racing.
Silence has no memories of her life until ten years ago.
She is owned by a sadistic bastard, Gold, who controls
many
assassins on one of the more depraved colonies of New
Earth. Silence kills whomever Gold tells her to, or he'll
kill her. Gold has told Silence many times that he took
her to serve in the stead of another man who owed Gold
money. Gold has embedded a bioseal in her brain that
allows him to access her thoughts in order to keep her
under his control. Silence is rebellious, and Gold
repeatedly tortures her to punish her for her vengeful
thoughts. Filled with righteous rage, Silence is plotting
to kill Gold, and is getting closer to her goal.
Until Gold tells her that if she makes one final kill for
him, he'll count the debt fulfilled and let her go free.
Silence is compelled to travel by dark-speeder starship to
the planet Hsain to kill her target, only to discover the
man she is to kill is the one she's told was responsible
for the debts that she is paying. But there's something
familiar about him, that doesn't mesh with what she's been
told...
Daniels does an excellent job of world building in the
short story format. The characters are well fleshed out
and compelling. The mystery is teased to a fine point,
keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire
read. The occasional flashbacks that Silence experiences
are a wonderful way of showing me glimmers of the truth,
but the ending is unexpected and very fulfilling. Daniels
has done it again with the FINAL PROTOCOL!
Tip #1: Don’t get on her bad side. Tip #2: There’s no good
side.
Her name is Silence. If she was ever known by any other
name, she doesn’t remember.
She is a killer. If she was ever anything else, she
doesn’t
remember.
She has an owner. If she was ever free…well, that she does
remember. She was free and then somebody gave her to a
madman to pay a debt that wasn’t hers. She’s his toy, his
pet…and his trained killer. She kills at his whim or she
dies.
She has a target. Her so-called owner…the man who makes
her
life a living hell. If she could kill anybody in the
universe, it would be him. But he holds her life in his
hands.
And she has a wish—to find a man she barely remembers. A
man
she knows she once loved. The man who betrayed her and
stole
away her freedom.
With one final target between her and the tantalizing
promise of freedom, she moves in for the kill. There’s one
problem. There’s something strangely familiar about her
mark. Something that echoes in the void where love used to
live.
Warning: One woman with a mission, one evil bastard who
lies
as often as he breathes, and a man who’ll stop at nothing
to
find what he lost. Be warned…some questionable consent
lies
within.
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