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Jaguar Addams #1
The Fear Principle: Jaguar Series
Dr. Jaguar Addams knows about fear. On a satellite prison called Planetoid Three, she establishes a telepathic link to her subjects. She confronts their demons. And makes them her own . . . They were known as the Killing Times, when serial murder reached epidemic proportions. Victims of hard-edged crime demanded hard-wired punishment, and the new prisons were born. Now one determined woman, a survivor of that dark age, tries to rehabilitate killers by tapping into the source of their obsessions: their worst fears. Her name is Jaguar Addams, and she is about to face the most challenging subject of her career. The ultimate assassin. A dangerously disturbed woman who will teach Jaguar the true meaning of fear.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 12, 2012
I don’t think I have ever fallen so quickly and completely in love with a world an author has created. The worlds, the backgrounds, are something we readers so often take for granted. And yet, when it’s done so well, we can’t help but notice and appreciate.
In a world of empaths and using fears to rehabilitate prisoners, Dr. Jaguar Addams comes across her most difficult prisoner yet. While I won’t give away why this particular prisoner is so difficult (I loved that reveal) and the other things working against Jaguar, I will say that this is a match that had me wondering at once how Jaguar was going to overcome it.
I love the characters that Chepaitis has created. For instance, Jaguar is a strong woman, a survivor and someone who doesn’t take any crap. And yet, Jaguar is up against people who do rattle her and challenge her. Chepaitis creates no Mary Anns in her writing – everyone is gritty and everyone gets challenged. Those who challenge Jaguar tap right into her fears in different ways, also strumming the theme of fear that runs through this book.
What makes the story truly intriguing for me is that it approaches people struggling against each other not so much with weapons but with minds. As a reader, it’s a relief to not have to read about physical violence and to get to see what it would be like if minds could battle minds. (Not always pretty, but that’s the sort of thing that kept me turning pages.)
Like I fell in love with the world, I have never wanted to read the next book so quickly after starting the first book. Not even halfway through reading this one, I was very happy I already had a copy of The Fear of God to dive into as soon as I was finished. And to think, there are even more to read! Happy day for this reader.
In a world of empaths and using fears to rehabilitate prisoners, Dr. Jaguar Addams comes across her most difficult prisoner yet. While I won’t give away why this particular prisoner is so difficult (I loved that reveal) and the other things working against Jaguar, I will say that this is a match that had me wondering at once how Jaguar was going to overcome it.
I love the characters that Chepaitis has created. For instance, Jaguar is a strong woman, a survivor and someone who doesn’t take any crap. And yet, Jaguar is up against people who do rattle her and challenge her. Chepaitis creates no Mary Anns in her writing – everyone is gritty and everyone gets challenged. Those who challenge Jaguar tap right into her fears in different ways, also strumming the theme of fear that runs through this book.
What makes the story truly intriguing for me is that it approaches people struggling against each other not so much with weapons but with minds. As a reader, it’s a relief to not have to read about physical violence and to get to see what it would be like if minds could battle minds. (Not always pretty, but that’s the sort of thing that kept me turning pages.)
Like I fell in love with the world, I have never wanted to read the next book so quickly after starting the first book. Not even halfway through reading this one, I was very happy I already had a copy of The Fear of God to dive into as soon as I was finished. And to think, there are even more to read! Happy day for this reader.
March 18, 2011
This book kept me reading from start to finish. Fast paced, and the main character is a lot more complex than you'd imagine. I particularly like it that she has complex relationships with women as well as men. The plot is tight, and the language use is also really interesting, as the author explores what it's like to translate different levels of consciousness to language. This is first in a series, and I can't wait to read more.
May 18, 2011
The Fear Principle is science fiction thriller with moderate to heavy expletives and violence.
After the "Killing Times", a time in human history where serial killing became an epidemic and barely a soul came out of the period unscathed, the government created a program of rehabilitation off-planet, by using the fears of the individual as a control technique. Some corporations, such as DIE, work in the shadows, creating super toys for the elite at the cost of everyone around them.
Dr. Jaguar Addams has empathic abilities which she uses with her prisoners on Planetoid Three, to confront their basic fears, she takes their fears into herself and uses them to heal her subjects. With smoke, mirrors, actors and empathic mind push, she can make anyone stand up to their real selves and face that which most makes us shudder. Most times she is successful and for this reason she is given one of her toughest assignments yet.
Clare Rilasco is an elite assassin, emotionless, hard and very driven. She has been captured and everyone wants a piece of her, some want the answers locked inside her brain and some don't wish for her to share what she knows. She is given to Jaguar to unlock, but Clare isn't without tricks of her own and soon the doctor becomes the student in a power struggle for the ultimate mind control.
Alex Dzarny is the director of the facilities on Planetoid Three, he is also an empath who uses his abilities to control the situations on the planet. He has a special spot for Jaguar and does all that he can to protect her.
Nick Lyola is an ex-lover of Jaguars, who saved her life when she was a child during the "Killing Times". He is a renegade empath and the abilities he is learning could cause him to lose himself forever, as we watch his personality change for the worst as the story progesses. He is jealous of Alex and Jag's "friendship" and will stop at nothing to control Jaguar and make her his again.
I liked the main plot, even though it was very slow paced and I quite enjoyed the empathic abilities of the characters. I enjoyed the mind games, the smoke and mirrors of the set up for the prisoners. I liked the character of Adrian and found him to be well written and was a nice surprise in the story, as well, I equally enjoyed Alex, Nick, Terrence and The Looker. I wasn't overly fond of neither Jaguar nor Clare, I found both of them to be confusing and quite similar in nature, meaning, their wasn't much distinction between their personalities, and you really had to pay attention to their dialogue or you'd miss who was saying what and had to back track your reading.
I didn't like the back story very much, it just wasn't believable, though I did like all the dead guy scenes, they were extremely well written and spooky to read. I wasn't impressed with having to read over half of the book for it to begin to get interesting, if I had borrowed from the library, I'm not sure if I would renew it to see how it had finished, however, after you get thru a large portion of the book, then things begin to come together and a bit more interest ensues. I, myself, wasn't overly fond of the read, the dialogue was disjointed in places and often got away from the writer, leaving a book that required more Planetoid Three and Killing Times back story to make it thoroughly interesting. Playing on your fears and connecting with them thru empathic abilities is a very neat idea but more examples could have been shared with the reader so that you can truly appreciate the Jaguar/Clare storyline.
After the "Killing Times", a time in human history where serial killing became an epidemic and barely a soul came out of the period unscathed, the government created a program of rehabilitation off-planet, by using the fears of the individual as a control technique. Some corporations, such as DIE, work in the shadows, creating super toys for the elite at the cost of everyone around them.
Dr. Jaguar Addams has empathic abilities which she uses with her prisoners on Planetoid Three, to confront their basic fears, she takes their fears into herself and uses them to heal her subjects. With smoke, mirrors, actors and empathic mind push, she can make anyone stand up to their real selves and face that which most makes us shudder. Most times she is successful and for this reason she is given one of her toughest assignments yet.
Clare Rilasco is an elite assassin, emotionless, hard and very driven. She has been captured and everyone wants a piece of her, some want the answers locked inside her brain and some don't wish for her to share what she knows. She is given to Jaguar to unlock, but Clare isn't without tricks of her own and soon the doctor becomes the student in a power struggle for the ultimate mind control.
Alex Dzarny is the director of the facilities on Planetoid Three, he is also an empath who uses his abilities to control the situations on the planet. He has a special spot for Jaguar and does all that he can to protect her.
Nick Lyola is an ex-lover of Jaguars, who saved her life when she was a child during the "Killing Times". He is a renegade empath and the abilities he is learning could cause him to lose himself forever, as we watch his personality change for the worst as the story progesses. He is jealous of Alex and Jag's "friendship" and will stop at nothing to control Jaguar and make her his again.
I liked the main plot, even though it was very slow paced and I quite enjoyed the empathic abilities of the characters. I enjoyed the mind games, the smoke and mirrors of the set up for the prisoners. I liked the character of Adrian and found him to be well written and was a nice surprise in the story, as well, I equally enjoyed Alex, Nick, Terrence and The Looker. I wasn't overly fond of neither Jaguar nor Clare, I found both of them to be confusing and quite similar in nature, meaning, their wasn't much distinction between their personalities, and you really had to pay attention to their dialogue or you'd miss who was saying what and had to back track your reading.
I didn't like the back story very much, it just wasn't believable, though I did like all the dead guy scenes, they were extremely well written and spooky to read. I wasn't impressed with having to read over half of the book for it to begin to get interesting, if I had borrowed from the library, I'm not sure if I would renew it to see how it had finished, however, after you get thru a large portion of the book, then things begin to come together and a bit more interest ensues. I, myself, wasn't overly fond of the read, the dialogue was disjointed in places and often got away from the writer, leaving a book that required more Planetoid Three and Killing Times back story to make it thoroughly interesting. Playing on your fears and connecting with them thru empathic abilities is a very neat idea but more examples could have been shared with the reader so that you can truly appreciate the Jaguar/Clare storyline.
February 24, 2016
It is a total mystery to me why this series has not yet been snapped up by television scouts. It's got it all: richly layered both main and minor characters, will-they-won't-they love story that only resolves quite late in the series, extremely compelling world-building complete with detailed, jarring flashbacks, gorgeous scenery, plots that actually vary greatly and explore the consistent world premises.
I've loved Jaguar Addams since I first discovered Chepaitis' first two volumes while a nerdy grad student craving escapism. (Naturally the university setting in Learning Fear really appealed to me.) It was only years later that I realized she had continued the series under different publishing houses, and settled in recently to feast on the subsequent four. They did not disappoint.
What I love best: the character creation is psychologically accurate; their internal dialogue is explored realistically and well. The books are ... emotionally mature, for lack of a better phrase? People have more chewy layers in these books than is usual for mass-market science fiction series. Sex is also handled deftly and well. There are as many diverse female characters as male, and a number of appealing female friendships. It's entertaining, of course, not Freud, but done so well I'm honestly surprised these aren't more well-known.
The background is brilliant: in an era following The Killing Times, in which people in Western society basically ran beserk in horrific ways and began decimating one another, criminals are now remanded to a planet where they are assigned Teachers who either help them face their deepest fears in order to rehabilitate, or else .. die. Either way, they are not simply locked up to wither. It's an appealing conceit.
Teachers, by the way, are often psychically gifted, despite there being a lot of prejudice against them (another fine spin). Jaguar Addams, our reluctant hero, was raised partially Native American and has some unique psychic abilities of her own that (of course) often confute the other Teachers, including her love interest and mentor Alex. She's a perfect headstrong, flawed but extremely attractive protagonist.
Try them! If you're a genre fan, I doubt you'll be disappointed unless you require lots of spaceships and guns.
I've loved Jaguar Addams since I first discovered Chepaitis' first two volumes while a nerdy grad student craving escapism. (Naturally the university setting in Learning Fear really appealed to me.) It was only years later that I realized she had continued the series under different publishing houses, and settled in recently to feast on the subsequent four. They did not disappoint.
What I love best: the character creation is psychologically accurate; their internal dialogue is explored realistically and well. The books are ... emotionally mature, for lack of a better phrase? People have more chewy layers in these books than is usual for mass-market science fiction series. Sex is also handled deftly and well. There are as many diverse female characters as male, and a number of appealing female friendships. It's entertaining, of course, not Freud, but done so well I'm honestly surprised these aren't more well-known.
The background is brilliant: in an era following The Killing Times, in which people in Western society basically ran beserk in horrific ways and began decimating one another, criminals are now remanded to a planet where they are assigned Teachers who either help them face their deepest fears in order to rehabilitate, or else .. die. Either way, they are not simply locked up to wither. It's an appealing conceit.
Teachers, by the way, are often psychically gifted, despite there being a lot of prejudice against them (another fine spin). Jaguar Addams, our reluctant hero, was raised partially Native American and has some unique psychic abilities of her own that (of course) often confute the other Teachers, including her love interest and mentor Alex. She's a perfect headstrong, flawed but extremely attractive protagonist.
Try them! If you're a genre fan, I doubt you'll be disappointed unless you require lots of spaceships and guns.
August 12, 2012
B. A. Chepaitis wove together an intriguing tale of the search for justice, the survival of betrayal, and the principle fears of the main characters. Ever had a really good dark smoky whiskey? Yeah. That’s what this book was like. Sometimes I would sit for hours savoring this book, and sometimes I had way less time, yet each dip into this novel left me wanting more. I was fascinated with the main characters from the beginning because each of them had a past to unravel in relation to the current drama that was unfolding. While Jaguar nearly gave everything in her attempt to help others face their principle fear, in the end she had a fear of her own to face. I found myself relating to several of these characters as they were not wholly evil or good.
It took me a little while to get used to Diane Havens as the narrator. Speaking principally from Jaguar’s point of view, most of the book is done in a sultry tone and once I got to know Jaguar a bit better, I found this to fit. The narration started off a little stilted, but cleared up into a nice pace and distinct characters within 40 minutes. By the end of the book, I felt Havens was Jaguar’s voice and I look forward to listening to the next in the series.
It took me a little while to get used to Diane Havens as the narrator. Speaking principally from Jaguar’s point of view, most of the book is done in a sultry tone and once I got to know Jaguar a bit better, I found this to fit. The narration started off a little stilted, but cleared up into a nice pace and distinct characters within 40 minutes. By the end of the book, I felt Havens was Jaguar’s voice and I look forward to listening to the next in the series.
June 30, 2013
The Fear Principle is a science fiction fantasy with a splash of dystopian and creepiness.
The Killing Times, serial killers ran rampant and reached epidemic proportions. So the government decided they needed to be punished...elsewhere. They created Planetoids, small planets that orbited the earth, out of sight and mind.
On Planetoid Three, Dr. Jaguar Addams uses her gift of empathy to connect to the killers. She urges them to confront their own fears and takes them within herself, cleansing the criminal. She is very good at her job but she has never had an assassin as her subject, until now.
Clare Rilasco is a new inmate, who claims to have killed over a hundred people professionally, but namely the Governor of Colorado. While on Planetoid Three, not only will she face her fears, but they are also hopeful she will reveal who hired her.
However, it is not as easy as Jaguar thought it would be. Clare turns the tables on her, and the two begin a powerful mind struggle. Who will win? What will be revealed?
The Fear Principle is a page-turning novella with compelling and gritty characters set against a hard-core prison system. The world-building is unique and sent goosebumps up my arms. I'm really looking forward to the next in the series, The Fear of God.
The Killing Times, serial killers ran rampant and reached epidemic proportions. So the government decided they needed to be punished...elsewhere. They created Planetoids, small planets that orbited the earth, out of sight and mind.
On Planetoid Three, Dr. Jaguar Addams uses her gift of empathy to connect to the killers. She urges them to confront their own fears and takes them within herself, cleansing the criminal. She is very good at her job but she has never had an assassin as her subject, until now.
Clare Rilasco is a new inmate, who claims to have killed over a hundred people professionally, but namely the Governor of Colorado. While on Planetoid Three, not only will she face her fears, but they are also hopeful she will reveal who hired her.
However, it is not as easy as Jaguar thought it would be. Clare turns the tables on her, and the two begin a powerful mind struggle. Who will win? What will be revealed?
The Fear Principle is a page-turning novella with compelling and gritty characters set against a hard-core prison system. The world-building is unique and sent goosebumps up my arms. I'm really looking forward to the next in the series, The Fear of God.
April 7, 2010
I grabbed this book off the shelf in the used books basement at Brookline Booksmith because I was in Coolidge Corner and expected some epic waiting-for-the-66-bus shenanigans to ensue. Which is sort of like saying "I bought this book because it was the only thing I could find at the airline terminal, when I knew my flight would be delayed ... by several days."
So standards were set low. And it was okay, but not great. Vaguely interesting premise (criminals are rehabilitated by social workers who force them to confront their greatest fear) with clunky execution. For some reason, these therapeutic encounters take place in the real world (complete with staff pretending to play parts in fictional simulations) instead of in futuristic virtual reality. Kind of like a criminal rehab Truman Show. Since the technology existed to to put these prisons in space orbit satellites, I don't understand why they didn't use VR. I saw The Cell, man.
So standards were set low. And it was okay, but not great. Vaguely interesting premise (criminals are rehabilitated by social workers who force them to confront their greatest fear) with clunky execution. For some reason, these therapeutic encounters take place in the real world (complete with staff pretending to play parts in fictional simulations) instead of in futuristic virtual reality. Kind of like a criminal rehab Truman Show. Since the technology existed to to put these prisons in space orbit satellites, I don't understand why they didn't use VR. I saw The Cell, man.
July 14, 2011
This book was sent to me for a honest and fair review. This is the second book about Dr. Jaguar Addams who is a doctor on Planetoid Three who deals with criminals by making them see their fear. In the Fear Principle she gets handed a double case one investigating a con man, the other is the case of an assassin, who they are trying to figure out who hired her. What Jaguar learns is shocking. Also she mounts a rescue for her boss Alex who has been kidnapped. A great read and wonderful adventure
June 9, 2016
Couldn't really connect to the characters. Jaguar, though with a dark past, just seemed to be too perfect.
Also every villain she encountered was a little bit too easy to kill.
What's the difference between The Serials and the Killing Times??? Doesn't become clear at all.
Also every villain she encountered was a little bit too easy to kill.
What's the difference between The Serials and the Killing Times??? Doesn't become clear at all.
November 7, 2014
"But science pays, and artists starve."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews