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The Weaponized Puzzle
In a blend of cosmic horror with weird science fiction and action spy adventure, The Weaponized Puzzle recounts the further adventures of Army Intelligence Officer, Major Harrison Peel, who travels the globe fighting the good fight against alien monsters wherever they appear threatening to destroy humanity.
Harrison Peel’s second collection of adventures features two novellas with an overarching storyline:
“The Weaponized Puzzle” – A Russian spy steals an alien artifact from the Australian Government which soon transforms into a prison, and Peel must solve its various puzzles and confront its captive horrors to escape again.
“Weapon Grade” – A secret US base barely imprisons a recently captured monster set on enslaving humanity, and if it has a weakness that can be exploited then Peel must travel to the desolation of Antarctica, and the monster’s origins, to find it.
Harrison Peel’s second collection of adventures features two novellas with an overarching storyline:
“The Weaponized Puzzle” – A Russian spy steals an alien artifact from the Australian Government which soon transforms into a prison, and Peel must solve its various puzzles and confront its captive horrors to escape again.
“Weapon Grade” – A secret US base barely imprisons a recently captured monster set on enslaving humanity, and if it has a weakness that can be exploited then Peel must travel to the desolation of Antarctica, and the monster’s origins, to find it.
- GenresHorrorLovecraftian
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2013
3 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
David Conyers
81 books58 followersDavid Conyers is science fiction author and editor from Adelaide, South Australia. He has a degree in engineering from the University of Melbourne, and today works in marketing communications. David’s fiction has appeared in magazines such as Albedo One, Ticon4, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Book of Dark Wisdom, Lovecraft eZine and Jupiter, as well as more than twenty anthologies. His previous books include the science fiction Cthulhu Mythos blended thriller, The Eye of Infinity published by Perilous Press and the prequel The Spiraling Worm co-authored with John Sunseri. Previous anthologies he has edited include Extreme Planets, Cthulhu Unbound 3, Cthulhu’s Dark Cults and Undead & Unbound. His e-books include The Uncertainty Bridge and The Impossible Object.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 21, 2014
If you haven't picked up on it yet, I am drawn to the Peel character and series by Conyers. It's a combination of a good character as well as solid writing. Time and time again I have been surprised by the stories that Conyers has put together and the level of detail in his plot. 'The Weaponized Puzzle' is another example of why I enjoy these books.
Conyers' strength within this book is his characters, first and foremost. From Peel to those who stand against or with him, each has a realistic set of goals and wishes that help to pull them into a more believable space for the reader. Even the main antagonist, be they human or other, have a certain level of depth to them that helps the reader to relate and understand why they are doing what they are doing. This makes their goals that much more terrifying in some degrees, simply because you can sympathize with why they are doing it.
Another element that was covered well was Peel's brush with radiation and its effect on him. Conyers' does an amazing job conveying a man's life when the end is in sight, and there's a lot of pain between the end and where he stands. It's painfully hard to watch Peel as he suffers through it and brings with it an uncomfortable level of intimacy.
'The Weaponized Puzzle' contains a fair amount of time hopping, which I could see being a bit confusing for some readers. It took myself a bit to adjust to it, and to actually start paying attention to the dates before each segment that told exactly when it was happening. It was an interesting way to present the story, and it actually works within the Peel-verse. I think if it was a longer work, the time hopping may not have worked as well as it did, but thankfully the story itself was short enough that Conyers never runs into that problem.
The only issue I can come up with in regards to this book was the lack of interaction in regards to a main antagonist. Now, that could be me, as I am used to the antagonist having a more direct roll in relation to the protagonist. That said, this is also more of Peel trying to go against the governments of the world and thus beyond a couple of people (Anderson being one of them), those opposed to him are more amorphous than anything else.
All in all, if you enjoy spy fiction with a touch of mythos, this is a series I would recommend to you. I look forward to the next in the series.
Conyers' strength within this book is his characters, first and foremost. From Peel to those who stand against or with him, each has a realistic set of goals and wishes that help to pull them into a more believable space for the reader. Even the main antagonist, be they human or other, have a certain level of depth to them that helps the reader to relate and understand why they are doing what they are doing. This makes their goals that much more terrifying in some degrees, simply because you can sympathize with why they are doing it.
Another element that was covered well was Peel's brush with radiation and its effect on him. Conyers' does an amazing job conveying a man's life when the end is in sight, and there's a lot of pain between the end and where he stands. It's painfully hard to watch Peel as he suffers through it and brings with it an uncomfortable level of intimacy.
'The Weaponized Puzzle' contains a fair amount of time hopping, which I could see being a bit confusing for some readers. It took myself a bit to adjust to it, and to actually start paying attention to the dates before each segment that told exactly when it was happening. It was an interesting way to present the story, and it actually works within the Peel-verse. I think if it was a longer work, the time hopping may not have worked as well as it did, but thankfully the story itself was short enough that Conyers never runs into that problem.
The only issue I can come up with in regards to this book was the lack of interaction in regards to a main antagonist. Now, that could be me, as I am used to the antagonist having a more direct roll in relation to the protagonist. That said, this is also more of Peel trying to go against the governments of the world and thus beyond a couple of people (Anderson being one of them), those opposed to him are more amorphous than anything else.
All in all, if you enjoy spy fiction with a touch of mythos, this is a series I would recommend to you. I look forward to the next in the series.
January 10, 2015
So I read The Impossible Object (the first book in this series of short stories) a month or so ago, and I liked it a hell of a lot. The Peel stories are a fun mix of spy novels and Cthulhu mythos with an appropriate mixture of thriller and flat out weird. I dove into the next collection of stories soon after, but I'm only just now getting around to reviewing them.
The Weaponized Puzzle continues the adventures of Harrison Peel the Australian Defence Force intelligence officer who has been sucked increasingly into the shadowy world of "Code 89" operations having to do with the mythos. The second book is broken into two novellas that see a further unraveling of something very sinister working behind the scenes ever since the discovery of the giant underground city in the first volume of stories. We also see the introduction of Peel's girlfriend, and Dixon, an American NSA agent who is being set up to be a long term ally of Peel's it seems.
The writing again is good, but not quite as slick as the first volume. There were a few more typos and there was a slightly rushed feeling at times. Nothing terrible, but I did notice it. The pacing is a bit slower as well, though there is no shortage of intrigue, action, or weirdness to be had for fans of the first book.
The story and characters are good too, I enjoyed the sub-arcs and plotlines that Conyers is beginning to develop in these books and the main story is also engaging enough to keep me entertained. I'm hoping for some more polish and some refinement of the techno-thriller aspects of Conyers writing in the follow on stories, but anyone who enjoyed the first volume will like this one.
http://apocalypseyarns.blogspot.com/
The Weaponized Puzzle continues the adventures of Harrison Peel the Australian Defence Force intelligence officer who has been sucked increasingly into the shadowy world of "Code 89" operations having to do with the mythos. The second book is broken into two novellas that see a further unraveling of something very sinister working behind the scenes ever since the discovery of the giant underground city in the first volume of stories. We also see the introduction of Peel's girlfriend, and Dixon, an American NSA agent who is being set up to be a long term ally of Peel's it seems.
The writing again is good, but not quite as slick as the first volume. There were a few more typos and there was a slightly rushed feeling at times. Nothing terrible, but I did notice it. The pacing is a bit slower as well, though there is no shortage of intrigue, action, or weirdness to be had for fans of the first book.
The story and characters are good too, I enjoyed the sub-arcs and plotlines that Conyers is beginning to develop in these books and the main story is also engaging enough to keep me entertained. I'm hoping for some more polish and some refinement of the techno-thriller aspects of Conyers writing in the follow on stories, but anyone who enjoyed the first volume will like this one.
http://apocalypseyarns.blogspot.com/
January 24, 2014
So I read the first book in this series this morning, and had only a fair-to-middling opinion of it. The characters are good and the plot was right up my street (I'm a pushover for anything Lovecraftian). But the technical issues -- typos, word choice errors, homophone confusion -- spoiled much of the fun for me.
This one, the second book, does not have nearly so many technical issues. Since I wasn't fighting the flaws, it was much easier to enjoy the story itself.
I like the main character, Harrison Peel. As it typical for spy thrillers, there is not a lot of character development or deep feelings for anybody. But that was okay; Peel is interesting enough to hold my attention. The secondary characters started to run together a bit toward the end, but that's a forgivable sin, for the most part.
Again, this was a collection of linked shorts, rather than one linear story. That appeals to me. I liked that the stories were more deeply linked than in the first book. They seemed a natural progression from one story to the next. And serious props to this guy's take on the Cthulhu Mythos. He took familiar names and concepts and fleshed them out in an exciting -- and creepy -- fashion.
I don't regret laying out the cash to get the second installment of this series. I may have to go looking for part three!
This one, the second book, does not have nearly so many technical issues. Since I wasn't fighting the flaws, it was much easier to enjoy the story itself.
I like the main character, Harrison Peel. As it typical for spy thrillers, there is not a lot of character development or deep feelings for anybody. But that was okay; Peel is interesting enough to hold my attention. The secondary characters started to run together a bit toward the end, but that's a forgivable sin, for the most part.
Again, this was a collection of linked shorts, rather than one linear story. That appeals to me. I liked that the stories were more deeply linked than in the first book. They seemed a natural progression from one story to the next. And serious props to this guy's take on the Cthulhu Mythos. He took familiar names and concepts and fleshed them out in an exciting -- and creepy -- fashion.
I don't regret laying out the cash to get the second installment of this series. I may have to go looking for part three!
September 25, 2020
excellent The Weaponized puzzle was great. I had previously read weapons grade but I like the updated version better, the old one seemed a little too Deus ex Machina. I just cant decide If I want to reread the Spiraling Worm or wait for the Elder Codex to come out.
May 15, 2014
when I read the first book in the series, I felt it was a plot driven novella rather than character driven. In a novella, that's all fine and I was hoping for a little more in the sequel. whilst there definitely is character development, I'd like a little more.
It's a good read with a different and refreshing slant on cthulhu mythos, and I have enjoyed it, but I'll have to have a little think whether I'll read the next one
It's a good read with a different and refreshing slant on cthulhu mythos, and I have enjoyed it, but I'll have to have a little think whether I'll read the next one
August 27, 2016
The adventures of Major Peel continue in this novel. Shoggoths, evil amorphous blobs, conspire to take over the world and the intelligence agencies of various countries organize to stop the invasion. Time travel and nuclear bombs spice things up in this quick read.
June 6, 2014
I still say that Conyers is too good a storyteller to be allowed to write so carelessly. Somebody get this man an editor.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews