Heartbreaker

Judge Anderson: Rookie #1

by Alec Worley

Mega-City One, 2100 AD. Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson’s first year on the streets as a full-Eagle Judge.
After a string of apparently random, deadly assaults by customers at Meet Market – Mega-City One’s biggest, trashiest dating agency – Anderson is convinced a telepathic killer is to blame. Putting her career on the line, the newly-trained Psi-Judge goes undercover to bring the murderer to justice.
She'll have to act fast. Mega-City One's annual huge, riotous Valentine’s Day Parade is fast approaching, and the killer has a particularly grand gesture planned...

Genres: Science Fiction, Novella

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

Alec Worley is an author from South London.

He writes stories for readers (and listeners) of all ages who like smart, funny and - above all - thrilling tales of fantasy, horror and sci-fi.

If you're into stories about swords, fangs and lasers, then you're in luck!

Best known for his work on 2000 AD (the home of Judge Dredd), Star Wars and Games Workshop's Warhammer, he's also created many stories of his own.

He is the co-creator of apocalyptic werewolf saga Age of the Wolf (with Jon Davis-Hunt for 2000 AD), paranormal comedy Dandridge (with Warren Pleece for 2000 AD), and plenty more either in the pipeline or waiting to be announced...

Reviews

[AndrewP · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read more like a script for a comic than an actual novella and somehow felt unfulfilled. If you like the 2000 AD world of Megacity One then this is a quick read as good as reading half a dozen or so comics. Personally I have always liked Judge Anderson as a character. She doesn't have the same sense of humor that Dredd does, but she had psi powers that add an interesting twist to what is basically a cop character.

[Jesse Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this one right on the heels of finishing Judge Dredd: Year One, itching for more Mega-City One goodness. It took me quite a while to finish it. While the idea of the mystery was ok, and it had some fun social satire in its worldbuilding elements, it just never really grabbed my attention.

That might not be the story's fault, to be fair. It's a different type of Judge story, with a different type of Judge from Dredd. And I haven't gotten to Anderson's introduction in my read through of the comics yet, which means there may be references, foreshadowing, and fanservice that I'm not picking up on. After all, that was definitely an element in my enjoyment of the JD Year One stories.

Not giving up on the other two novellas in the collection, but I might wait a while before reading them.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this stuff, reads like an episode in the mag but without the pictures.

[Booniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anderson is one of my favourite 2000AD characters so it's great to get a glimpse into her past as a rookie.

Long before she saved Mega City One from the Dark Judges, she found herself up against a psychopathic psychic who uses his abilities to target clients of the dating agency Meet Market (and can I just take a moment to glory in the brilliance of that name), firing deadly psychic arrows which turns his victims into raging "futsies". Anderson and by extension the Psi Dept is very new and therefore has a lot to prove and lose when she decides to allow a huge Meet Market event to go ahead so she can catch the creep.

I really enjoyed reading about Mega City One in novella form; while the comics can convey a huge amount in their artwork, I'm always more at home with the written word and for me these novellas add a richness and depth to the world and characters.

[Henry Eggleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaker

This is the first book in the series regarding Judge Anderson's first year as a full Judge, as with the Dredd series it is faithful to the character and is an exciting read, and whilst I would recommend it to any fan I do wish they we were longer in length per novel.