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!