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Just Cause Universe #4
Deep Six
When criminals are convicted, they go to jail. When they have parahuman abilities, they go to Deep Six, the most secure prison facility in the world. Six thousand feet underground, nobody has ever escaped from the maximum security facility.
Until now.
A parahuman terrorist called Misrule engineers a mass breakout, and it falls to a pair of prison guards to stop the world's most dangerous criminals from reaching freedom, and Just Cause won't be able to help them. Despite being overmatched and underpowered, the two guards must find a way to prevent the escapees from their ultimate goal.
Until now.
A parahuman terrorist called Misrule engineers a mass breakout, and it falls to a pair of prison guards to stop the world's most dangerous criminals from reaching freedom, and Just Cause won't be able to help them. Despite being overmatched and underpowered, the two guards must find a way to prevent the escapees from their ultimate goal.
315 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2013
3 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Ian Thomas Healy
97 books100 followersIan Thomas Healy is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. His superhero novel Deep Six: A Just Cause Novel was a Top 100 Semi-finalist in the 2008 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award. He’s a seven-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.
His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy.
Ian lives in Colorado with his wife, three children, and a plethora of housepets. When not writing, which is rare, he likes to take road trip, enjoys watching football and hockey, and listening to or playing music. His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.
His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy.
Ian lives in Colorado with his wife, three children, and a plethora of housepets. When not writing, which is rare, he likes to take road trip, enjoys watching football and hockey, and listening to or playing music. His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 1, 2013
Super Heroes are my thing. My usual book of choice is a graphic novel, often Captain America and usually from Marvel. So even though I'm not much of a novel reader, I was happy to give this a go.
The synopsis of this book was of interest to me. How do normal humans imprison people with Super Human abilities? Better still how do they put them back in the cells when they get out? It's not a storyline I've ever read or seen in a film. It's also very rare to have a story about Super Heroes viewed through the perspective of normal (or virtually normal) people.
The story begins with one of the most powerful 'Parahuman' villains being put into Deep Six (an underground prison specifically engineered for convicted Parahuman criminals) after surrendering to the authorities. He is called 'Misrule' and claims to have cancer. As he is tired of running from the authorities and Just Cause (a Parahuman collection of heroes protecting America), he decided to hand himself in. At this point we're introduced to Katie Malone. A prison officer who transferred to Deep Six by request. She's our protagonist and the focus of a good deal of the story. She arrives at the same time and is part of the prison staff who take custody of him.
The first 3 chapters help us get to know Katie, learn why she's chosen to work at Deep Six. We also learn a little about the Antagonist Misrule and some of the other key characters. They are expositional and not action packed, but equally they are eventful due to the arrival of both Misrule and Katie. They don't feel slow.
The prison break that the synopsis mentions happens in chapter 4. We know it's coming, but how it begins is a little unexpected. The book really begins to gain pace here. The action begins and goes on for a while. Things then calm at a later stage (I won't say why), but they pick up again to a full on adrenalin filled resolution.
I really enjoyed the story. In some places it feels more like a drama than an action story. Plus there's a lot of atmosphere and claustrophobia surrounding the prison setting.
The number of characters involved is just about right. You'd certainly struggle for me with having more and the writer possibly could have gotten away with less.
It's hard nowadays to come up with original special powers. Misrule is a memorable character. He isn't a replica of any other character (even though you've seen certain of his powers on other famous heroes). Plus there are some novel ideas for me. People with powers that are special but almost useless, like the ability to go almost but not quite invisible. I also think Stopwatch's powers are a great idea.
Maintaining a sense of reality is always going to be difficult with this sort of story. I never think that it goes too far over the top in what it asks for from you the reader, in terms of suspension of disbelief. It does come close at one point in the final chapters when things go a little "Mission: Impossible" but it's still good fun.
There are some great turns along the story. I wouldn't say there are any massive twists or surprises. A key story point is revealed to the reader before the characters. It's reveal is interesting but not a huge surprise. There's no big twist at the end either, although there certainly is a homage to Horror films/stories in one factor.
This novel is part of a series of novels. I haven't read any of the other novels. This didn't impair my ability to follow the story, the plot or the characters at all. I know that some of the less prominent characters in this story have appeared in the authors previous works, so will be a welcome addition. However, don't feel you need a back catalogue of books before reading this.
I always try and think about any downsides when writing a review to try to be impartial. There is a kind of will they won't they relationship between Katie and one of the officers that runs through the story. There's mutual attraction but they don't want to act on it etc. I don't feel that it hurts the book, but this is definitely something that you'll have seen before. Other than that, there was nothing for me I didn't like.
I'd recommend the book to anyone. If you're into super heroes I'm certain you'll enjoy the story. I also think people into a thrilling drama would like this too because of it's setting. Give this a go and you may not want to escape!
I was given this book for free in return for my honest review as part of GoodReads first reads.
The synopsis of this book was of interest to me. How do normal humans imprison people with Super Human abilities? Better still how do they put them back in the cells when they get out? It's not a storyline I've ever read or seen in a film. It's also very rare to have a story about Super Heroes viewed through the perspective of normal (or virtually normal) people.
The story begins with one of the most powerful 'Parahuman' villains being put into Deep Six (an underground prison specifically engineered for convicted Parahuman criminals) after surrendering to the authorities. He is called 'Misrule' and claims to have cancer. As he is tired of running from the authorities and Just Cause (a Parahuman collection of heroes protecting America), he decided to hand himself in. At this point we're introduced to Katie Malone. A prison officer who transferred to Deep Six by request. She's our protagonist and the focus of a good deal of the story. She arrives at the same time and is part of the prison staff who take custody of him.
The first 3 chapters help us get to know Katie, learn why she's chosen to work at Deep Six. We also learn a little about the Antagonist Misrule and some of the other key characters. They are expositional and not action packed, but equally they are eventful due to the arrival of both Misrule and Katie. They don't feel slow.
The prison break that the synopsis mentions happens in chapter 4. We know it's coming, but how it begins is a little unexpected. The book really begins to gain pace here. The action begins and goes on for a while. Things then calm at a later stage (I won't say why), but they pick up again to a full on adrenalin filled resolution.
I really enjoyed the story. In some places it feels more like a drama than an action story. Plus there's a lot of atmosphere and claustrophobia surrounding the prison setting.
The number of characters involved is just about right. You'd certainly struggle for me with having more and the writer possibly could have gotten away with less.
It's hard nowadays to come up with original special powers. Misrule is a memorable character. He isn't a replica of any other character (even though you've seen certain of his powers on other famous heroes). Plus there are some novel ideas for me. People with powers that are special but almost useless, like the ability to go almost but not quite invisible. I also think Stopwatch's powers are a great idea.
Maintaining a sense of reality is always going to be difficult with this sort of story. I never think that it goes too far over the top in what it asks for from you the reader, in terms of suspension of disbelief. It does come close at one point in the final chapters when things go a little "Mission: Impossible" but it's still good fun.
There are some great turns along the story. I wouldn't say there are any massive twists or surprises. A key story point is revealed to the reader before the characters. It's reveal is interesting but not a huge surprise. There's no big twist at the end either, although there certainly is a homage to Horror films/stories in one factor.
This novel is part of a series of novels. I haven't read any of the other novels. This didn't impair my ability to follow the story, the plot or the characters at all. I know that some of the less prominent characters in this story have appeared in the authors previous works, so will be a welcome addition. However, don't feel you need a back catalogue of books before reading this.
I always try and think about any downsides when writing a review to try to be impartial. There is a kind of will they won't they relationship between Katie and one of the officers that runs through the story. There's mutual attraction but they don't want to act on it etc. I don't feel that it hurts the book, but this is definitely something that you'll have seen before. Other than that, there was nothing for me I didn't like.
I'd recommend the book to anyone. If you're into super heroes I'm certain you'll enjoy the story. I also think people into a thrilling drama would like this too because of it's setting. Give this a go and you may not want to escape!
I was given this book for free in return for my honest review as part of GoodReads first reads.
October 12, 2018
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
The Book
I've not heard of this series before and was a little apprehensive about jumping in at book 4 but actually it turned out OK. I didn't feel like I'd missed anything in the story as what needed to be explained was and you could pick up the rest you needed as things went along. It was nice to see a superhero story set from the point of view of a more normal person, I say 'more' normal because she is a para-human but just without any major powers like the members of Just Cause have.
The story starts well with some nice character development before the main plot starts to properly kick in, when it does the pace kicks up a notch and the action is well written and has a feel of urgency. The ongoing takeover of the prison has a definite tense feeling that comes across well and the multiple viewpoints of different staff is nice as from the beginning it seemed as if there would only be Katie's viewpoint.
The bad guys are suitably menacing and on occasion suitably violent but dumb, the good guys are also written well and generally don't do anything stupid but still try their best to fix the situation while appearing to co-operate with their captors.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely check out more of the series as it combined superheroes, good action, tense drama and some well written characters. I've read a number of official Marvel e-books and quite honestly they we're nothing compared to this.
The Production
The narrator reads a well and her tone is good and the reading fits the character and story well, at first it seemed she read a little slowly but once I got used to her style It was fine. The quality of the recording is very good too although in Chapter 8 there's one slight reading error that's noticeable where the narrator reads "Each with their" twice.
The Book
I've not heard of this series before and was a little apprehensive about jumping in at book 4 but actually it turned out OK. I didn't feel like I'd missed anything in the story as what needed to be explained was and you could pick up the rest you needed as things went along. It was nice to see a superhero story set from the point of view of a more normal person, I say 'more' normal because she is a para-human but just without any major powers like the members of Just Cause have.
The story starts well with some nice character development before the main plot starts to properly kick in, when it does the pace kicks up a notch and the action is well written and has a feel of urgency. The ongoing takeover of the prison has a definite tense feeling that comes across well and the multiple viewpoints of different staff is nice as from the beginning it seemed as if there would only be Katie's viewpoint.
The bad guys are suitably menacing and on occasion suitably violent but dumb, the good guys are also written well and generally don't do anything stupid but still try their best to fix the situation while appearing to co-operate with their captors.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely check out more of the series as it combined superheroes, good action, tense drama and some well written characters. I've read a number of official Marvel e-books and quite honestly they we're nothing compared to this.
The Production
The narrator reads a well and her tone is good and the reading fits the character and story well, at first it seemed she read a little slowly but once I got used to her style It was fine. The quality of the recording is very good too although in Chapter 8 there's one slight reading error that's noticeable where the narrator reads "Each with their" twice.
November 13, 2018
While this is the fourth book in the series, it is mostly a departure from the main story of the present day incarnation of the Just Cause team with the focus being more on the villains and the people running the main prison for super-powered baddies, known as Deep Six. The premise and setting of this book allows the author to indulge some other references than the usual superhero ones, a number of times it evoked memories of Die Hard and not just because the main protagonist ended up in some air-ducts.
This approach of focusing on less powerful characters (regular humans or only minor powers) in an existing universe is an interesting one when it works well and in this case it does with the author quickly managing to establish the main characters and also adding some depth to most of the villains too, which helps to strengthen the overall story.
The performance of the narrator is a good one, giving life to the main female protagonist in particular and served to enhance the story very well.
Overall, this book stands on it's own merits without you needing to have read the previous ones in the series before it, but at the same time it helps to improve the just cause universe very well.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
This approach of focusing on less powerful characters (regular humans or only minor powers) in an existing universe is an interesting one when it works well and in this case it does with the author quickly managing to establish the main characters and also adding some depth to most of the villains too, which helps to strengthen the overall story.
The performance of the narrator is a good one, giving life to the main female protagonist in particular and served to enhance the story very well.
Overall, this book stands on it's own merits without you needing to have read the previous ones in the series before it, but at the same time it helps to improve the just cause universe very well.
[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]
October 18, 2018
Deep Six is a superhero jailbreak thriller with strong characters, a fast-paced plot, and is one of the best superhero books that I have read to date. Furthermore, the characters are excellent and exhibit depth and complexity. In particular, the villain is masterfully written. The author's writing style is creative and engaging, and easily draws you in to the story. The superpowers are fun and while the world building is typical for the genre, I believe there is plenty of room for expansion in other books.
Overall: A highly entertaining read and I plan to read more books in the Just Cause Universe.
I revived a free copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.
Morality rating- Deep Six contains and abundance of language, violence, gore, and sexual innuendos.
Overall: A highly entertaining read and I plan to read more books in the Just Cause Universe.
I revived a free copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.
Morality rating- Deep Six contains and abundance of language, violence, gore, and sexual innuendos.
November 10, 2018
My review is based on the audio book
I keep thinking this series can't get any better and then I listen to the next book and think OMG that is the best!! As with the other books in this series Deep Six is action packed with such descriptive world building you can see the action taking place. I really love the originality of the powers in this series - my fave in this book is etched man, I hope there is a book telling his story because I find his abilities fascinating and would live to know how they came about. The narrator does a marvelous job bringing these characters to life with great pacing and inflection. This can be read as a stand alone but I highly recommend reading the others to get the full story. I look forward to more in this series and from this author.
I keep thinking this series can't get any better and then I listen to the next book and think OMG that is the best!! As with the other books in this series Deep Six is action packed with such descriptive world building you can see the action taking place. I really love the originality of the powers in this series - my fave in this book is etched man, I hope there is a book telling his story because I find his abilities fascinating and would live to know how they came about. The narrator does a marvelous job bringing these characters to life with great pacing and inflection. This can be read as a stand alone but I highly recommend reading the others to get the full story. I look forward to more in this series and from this author.
April 21, 2014
This is really a 3.5 review. A thriller that has parts of Die Hard and parts of Executive Decision in it. This book is aboud an escape from a prison designed to hold super powered criminals, and two guards who get caught up in the events (like Willis in Die Hard). Not a deep story by any means, but I liked it. I'll check into other stories in the "Just Cause" universe.
November 22, 2015
Slow start, endearing book
The action takes a few chapters to get started, which felt about half a chapter too long, but is compelling once it starts.
Misrule is an excellent villain, with plans, power, intelligence, charisma, and malicious violence.
The heroes are underdogs all the way, and examples of the best of normal-ish people.
The action takes a few chapters to get started, which felt about half a chapter too long, but is compelling once it starts.
Misrule is an excellent villain, with plans, power, intelligence, charisma, and malicious violence.
The heroes are underdogs all the way, and examples of the best of normal-ish people.
March 5, 2014
My first book by this author and this genre. This was great fun and enjoyable. His characters came alive and I enjoyed the byplay among them. I'll read more of his books. Loved it
July 29, 2016
I received a free review copy from the author before publication.
Deep Six is #4 in the Just Cause Universe series, but it can also stand on its own. This is the first book that I read by the author, and I was pleased to find that without any prior knowledge of the characters or setting, I could get right into the story. I'm sure that readers who enjoyed previous books will enjoy to see previous characters like Mustang Sally appear again, but I never felt confused or out of place for jumping in the middle of the series. So, I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in the series, even if you haven't read any of the previous installments.
The story is about a world similar to our own, except some people have superpowers which seem to stem from genetic mutation. (There aren't multiple origin stories to keep track of like in comic books.) Some them choose to use these powers to help people, while others take a darker turn. What do you do with criminals if they have superpowers? In the Just Cause Universe, that means a top-security specialized prison called Deep Six. With such a powerful prison facility, staffed by superpowered guards, no one could possibly break out, right?
This book shows what happens when someone does manage to break out. Then the guards have to find a way to stop the inmates before they can kill everyone and escape. It's very action-packed, with something happening on almost every page. The story kept me turning pages from the beginning to the very end.
The only thing that I didn't like was how violent the book was. If I'd known the level of violence in this story, I would have skipped reading it myself, because it definitely turned me off. I would only recommend this book to mature readers who won't be disturbed by some very violent imagery. In the prison break, people die, often in rather horrific ways. Also, I would warn that one character in particular is a serial rapist and constantly threatens the female characters with sexual violence. So if you find graphic mentions of rape to be disturbing, this is not the book for you.
But if you like superheroes that play out in a logical way, with action scenes that play out in cinematic fashion, and strong female characters, then Deep Six is a book that you may enjoy. Ian Thomas Healy describes everything in a very vivid fashion.
Deep Six is #4 in the Just Cause Universe series, but it can also stand on its own. This is the first book that I read by the author, and I was pleased to find that without any prior knowledge of the characters or setting, I could get right into the story. I'm sure that readers who enjoyed previous books will enjoy to see previous characters like Mustang Sally appear again, but I never felt confused or out of place for jumping in the middle of the series. So, I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in the series, even if you haven't read any of the previous installments.
The story is about a world similar to our own, except some people have superpowers which seem to stem from genetic mutation. (There aren't multiple origin stories to keep track of like in comic books.) Some them choose to use these powers to help people, while others take a darker turn. What do you do with criminals if they have superpowers? In the Just Cause Universe, that means a top-security specialized prison called Deep Six. With such a powerful prison facility, staffed by superpowered guards, no one could possibly break out, right?
This book shows what happens when someone does manage to break out. Then the guards have to find a way to stop the inmates before they can kill everyone and escape. It's very action-packed, with something happening on almost every page. The story kept me turning pages from the beginning to the very end.
The only thing that I didn't like was how violent the book was. If I'd known the level of violence in this story, I would have skipped reading it myself, because it definitely turned me off. I would only recommend this book to mature readers who won't be disturbed by some very violent imagery. In the prison break, people die, often in rather horrific ways. Also, I would warn that one character in particular is a serial rapist and constantly threatens the female characters with sexual violence. So if you find graphic mentions of rape to be disturbing, this is not the book for you.
But if you like superheroes that play out in a logical way, with action scenes that play out in cinematic fashion, and strong female characters, then Deep Six is a book that you may enjoy. Ian Thomas Healy describes everything in a very vivid fashion.
April 13, 2021
I loved this book but then again I have enjoyed all the previous books in this super series. This time round we are introduced to some new characters and a very different situation. Most of the action or should I say story takes place at the prison know as deep six, which we have heard mentioned before in previous books. As the just cause team members don't really come into the book until towards the end of the book you don't need to worry if you haven't met them before but I love this series and would recommend that if you love the super hero films, that you start at the beginning and work your way through the series. The plot or blurb is interesting on its own, I mean just how do you break out of a prison that is especially made to stand up against the strongest power's or even block them? But then you add in all the planning and the twists and it becomes obvious the author put in a lot of thought of how it could be done, it also helps that he writes about such great characters that a prison break was child's play making for an entertaining adventure.
Katie after a bad break up with her husband which cost her, her job working at deep six the prison for parahuman prisoners was going to be a piece of cake. The prison has been especially built to dampen the inmate powers and in fact it works so well they have never had a prisoner escape. Until now. Misrule has hatched a plan to get his fellow super villains out before there parole. With the Just Cause team stuck out side the prison and no way of getting down to the underground facility it is up to the remaining prison guards to wrestle back control. Will Katie's first day on the job also be her last?
I liked the narrator. She is a pleasure to listen too and builds up the tension of the story nicely, with her laid back voice.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Katie after a bad break up with her husband which cost her, her job working at deep six the prison for parahuman prisoners was going to be a piece of cake. The prison has been especially built to dampen the inmate powers and in fact it works so well they have never had a prisoner escape. Until now. Misrule has hatched a plan to get his fellow super villains out before there parole. With the Just Cause team stuck out side the prison and no way of getting down to the underground facility it is up to the remaining prison guards to wrestle back control. Will Katie's first day on the job also be her last?
I liked the narrator. She is a pleasure to listen too and builds up the tension of the story nicely, with her laid back voice.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
October 26, 2018
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
This was the first story I've read from the Just Cause universe, and I really like the world-building this story did. this being book 4, I was concerned I was going to be missing stuff, but that wasn't the case here.
This is a superhero tale, but the story is not focused on the superheroes and they are not, ultimately, the heroes of the story which I very much enjoyed. The upside to that is that you get to see things from the points of view of the more minor characters (Det Montoya, opposed to Batman as an example) and the villains instead of just from the main big name heroes. the downside is that the actual protagonist of this story could use some more development. She felt a little flat. Part of that is probably due to the story starting as quickly as it did, with action getting going within the first few chapters. There wasn't much time to get to know what normal would have been before the crap hit the fan.
Overall, enjoyable. If you like superheroes, you'll probably like this.
This was the first story I've read from the Just Cause universe, and I really like the world-building this story did. this being book 4, I was concerned I was going to be missing stuff, but that wasn't the case here.
This is a superhero tale, but the story is not focused on the superheroes and they are not, ultimately, the heroes of the story which I very much enjoyed. The upside to that is that you get to see things from the points of view of the more minor characters (Det Montoya, opposed to Batman as an example) and the villains instead of just from the main big name heroes. the downside is that the actual protagonist of this story could use some more development. She felt a little flat. Part of that is probably due to the story starting as quickly as it did, with action getting going within the first few chapters. There wasn't much time to get to know what normal would have been before the crap hit the fan.
Overall, enjoyable. If you like superheroes, you'll probably like this.
July 23, 2017
Deep Six is an engrossing book and, I think, the best of the series thus far. Misrule and Etch were my favorite super villains. In this book the underdogs gain the upper hand and serves as a timeless reminder of how perseverance and determination in dire circumstances can bring out the inner superhero in us all!
I received this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review.
February 23, 2023
Totally involved,gritty and so well thought out,I would not put it down for long! A breakout at a maximum lockup facility leads to total mayhem and features the bravery of some who don't put on a uniform...So much better than your usual hero flying around and bashing people/things. This was a wonderful read.
January 3, 2026
I've read the first four of the Just Cause Universe books and so far this is my favorite. The villains are nuanced and not just stereotype bad guys. The heroes are well crafted, smart, and cunning. This was an enjoyable read from start to finish.
May 24, 2019
My very first superheroes audiobook!!!
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews