The Cassidy Chronicles (The Cassidy Chronicles Book 1)

The most interesting thing about this book is probably what has happened to the USA by 2113, but very little is really said about that, just enough to allow the story to function. The USA has broken into ten pieces, you see only one in any detail. There are three states in 'no man's land' that aren't in any of them. A huge hurricane has wiped New Orleans off the map completely. The New Confederacy does not include Texas but is just as racist anyway. The People's Republic of Massachusetts has a lot of paper work going in and out and probably for other things, but you don't spend much time there. Some of the countries have no appreciable law enforcement.

The plot is based on a possible invention by one of the characters, a Star Trek style transporter. I'll only briefly mention that I don't feel they preserve the soul. This doesn't enter into the story at all, it just provides an excuse for her company trying to kill her. They chase around the country after that, lot's of action, quite a bit of violence and all of it by women who have trained in various special ops and martial arts skills. I've used the female action hero a bit myself (Antidote, Acolyte, Abomination) but not as extreme as this. There's a pretty massive twist near the end that I didn't see coming until the hints. If it wasn't for the hints it would have been really shocking.

It was fun though, in spite of being a bit contrived. There's a bit of lesbian sex, nothing explicit, you aren't in the room for more than a few kisses. There's too much violence but what else is new in sci-fi today. There's some typos only occasionally bad enough to make you stop and try to figure out what word is missing or extra.

I have read both this book and the two next volumes. It feels like the author is enjoying himself writing about string women and future technology as much as I like reading it.

This was a really fun read! Lots of hijinx and conspiracy and 007 stuff, along with a heartwarming love story. The world building was great, the characters were well developed, and the plot was fabulous, with a twist I didn’t see coming. When I first started the book, I wasn’t sure I’d get all the way through, but about 1/4 of the way in I could barely put it down. Thanks for letting me read it!