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The Fixer #1
Ordnance
Roland Tankowicz wasn’t even legally a person anymore.
The aging cyborg had never really recovered from being betrayed and enslaved by his superiors in the Army, and the final insult of being permanently classified as “defunct military ordnance” had been a bitter pill to swallow. Now, he spent most of his time drinking beer and working as a fixer for the crime families in 25th-century Boston. It was easy money if you were the kind of guy who was bullet-proof and could pick up a house.
But then Lucia Ribiero stumbled into his favorite watering hole dragging a squad of bounty hunters behind her. Shadows from his own dark past, and old debts still unpaid conspired to drive the old war-horse out for one more mission. Like any good soldier, the mission is all that matters for Roland.
Linked by a shared connection to her kidnapped father, the duo will face veritable armies of criminals, mutants, cyborgs, and corporate executives as they search for the missing man. The secrets of the Ribiero family are exposed as they approach the center of the labyrinth, and Lucia’s mental and physical issues present an even deeper mystery than her father’s disappearance.
Roland will have to face the horror of his past one more time, and Lucia will need to get a grip on her future if they expect to survive a running battle with an entire galaxy’s worth of mad science gone awry; and ultimately prevent a terrible history from repeating itself.
The aging cyborg had never really recovered from being betrayed and enslaved by his superiors in the Army, and the final insult of being permanently classified as “defunct military ordnance” had been a bitter pill to swallow. Now, he spent most of his time drinking beer and working as a fixer for the crime families in 25th-century Boston. It was easy money if you were the kind of guy who was bullet-proof and could pick up a house.
But then Lucia Ribiero stumbled into his favorite watering hole dragging a squad of bounty hunters behind her. Shadows from his own dark past, and old debts still unpaid conspired to drive the old war-horse out for one more mission. Like any good soldier, the mission is all that matters for Roland.
Linked by a shared connection to her kidnapped father, the duo will face veritable armies of criminals, mutants, cyborgs, and corporate executives as they search for the missing man. The secrets of the Ribiero family are exposed as they approach the center of the labyrinth, and Lucia’s mental and physical issues present an even deeper mystery than her father’s disappearance.
Roland will have to face the horror of his past one more time, and Lucia will need to get a grip on her future if they expect to survive a running battle with an entire galaxy’s worth of mad science gone awry; and ultimately prevent a terrible history from repeating itself.
299 pages, ebook
Published April 7, 2017
125 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 22, 2017
Ordnance is fantastic science fiction. I loved it and highly recommend it. I love the characters, the plot is thrilling, and the ending made me smile. *oops, I forgot a graphic violence warning, but with a title like Ordnance, do I really need one?*
May 15, 2017
25th Century Cyborg Libertarian Fixer/Enforcer Tale
"Ordnance," penned by first time author, Mr. Andrew Vaillencourt, proved to be an enjoyable, fast paced tale, of a retired, 25th century, sole surviving Army cyborg, a libertarian, who fills his days (and nights) being a fixer/enforcer for the non-elites/unsavory sorts, of his patch of Boston.
The story has Roland, the MC, climbing out of his self imposed, purgatory of numbing complacency, by the triggering of a lifetime debt, to a long ago friend. This friend, freed Roland from his cyborg slavery, and now, Lucia, his emancipator's daughter, needs Roland to help her find and rescue her kidnapped, bio-geneticist father.
Mr. Vaillencourt, writing very ably for a first time author, has a dry, dark wit, that keeps in balance, the moral conflicts of Roland, regarding who he is, what he has done as a weaponed warrior, and the man he wish he could be.
There are a few minor glitches that do undercut, an otherwise worthy book. The author tends towards verbosity, needlessly adding to an already good story (less sometimes is more). A "fondness" for certain words, that reappear way too often, is a writer's tic. Finally, an erratic and overuse of colons/semicolons, is another "tic." A good scrub by a competent editor/proofreader, would make a good book, a great book.
"Ordnance," a much better reading book, than described by the reviewer, is highly recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited. Future works by Mr. Vaillencourt, are hoped for by this reviewer.
"Ordnance," penned by first time author, Mr. Andrew Vaillencourt, proved to be an enjoyable, fast paced tale, of a retired, 25th century, sole surviving Army cyborg, a libertarian, who fills his days (and nights) being a fixer/enforcer for the non-elites/unsavory sorts, of his patch of Boston.
The story has Roland, the MC, climbing out of his self imposed, purgatory of numbing complacency, by the triggering of a lifetime debt, to a long ago friend. This friend, freed Roland from his cyborg slavery, and now, Lucia, his emancipator's daughter, needs Roland to help her find and rescue her kidnapped, bio-geneticist father.
Mr. Vaillencourt, writing very ably for a first time author, has a dry, dark wit, that keeps in balance, the moral conflicts of Roland, regarding who he is, what he has done as a weaponed warrior, and the man he wish he could be.
There are a few minor glitches that do undercut, an otherwise worthy book. The author tends towards verbosity, needlessly adding to an already good story (less sometimes is more). A "fondness" for certain words, that reappear way too often, is a writer's tic. Finally, an erratic and overuse of colons/semicolons, is another "tic." A good scrub by a competent editor/proofreader, would make a good book, a great book.
"Ordnance," a much better reading book, than described by the reviewer, is highly recommended and was fully read via Kindle Unlimited. Future works by Mr. Vaillencourt, are hoped for by this reviewer.
June 18, 2018
Let me start by talking about Jay Ben Markson's performance. If you're like me and you listened to the preview snippet, you may have found his narration to be rocky and crackly to the point where it sounded like it was going to fall apart. This almost kept me from ordering this book. But Mr. Markson's performance turned out to be really quite good. He has good pace and emotion, and he does a good job with the characters.
While very enjoyable, the story itself is nothing revolutionary. It's a straightforward actionfest with a linear and fairly predictable path. But like I said, it's enjoyable. And while the character development may be a little on the light side, it's enough for me to care what happens to them and to be curious to move onto the next book to see where this goes.
If you're looking for a fun way to keep the mind occupied for 10 hours without taxing it too much, this is a good choice.
While very enjoyable, the story itself is nothing revolutionary. It's a straightforward actionfest with a linear and fairly predictable path. But like I said, it's enjoyable. And while the character development may be a little on the light side, it's enough for me to care what happens to them and to be curious to move onto the next book to see where this goes.
If you're looking for a fun way to keep the mind occupied for 10 hours without taxing it too much, this is a good choice.
June 24, 2019
Roland Tankowicz likes to keep to himself. He is retired from the armed forces. The joke happens. "The elegant woman walked into the bar and the fight started".
The thing is she says "Breach" which triggers a couple of things in Roland. The woman comes to seek aid from Roland. Lucia Ribiero is running for her life after her father is kidnapped. The setting is Boston in the 25th Century and it's not the same Boston we know.
What ensues is a war between the Gangs and a couple of malevolent corporations. Roland is not a regular retiree. He was augmented to a point where he is virtually an unstoppable weapon. But to his surprise so is Lucia Ribiero. Now we have a true beatdown on the horizon. This is a lot of fun and full of action.
The thing is she says "Breach" which triggers a couple of things in Roland. The woman comes to seek aid from Roland. Lucia Ribiero is running for her life after her father is kidnapped. The setting is Boston in the 25th Century and it's not the same Boston we know.
What ensues is a war between the Gangs and a couple of malevolent corporations. Roland is not a regular retiree. He was augmented to a point where he is virtually an unstoppable weapon. But to his surprise so is Lucia Ribiero. Now we have a true beatdown on the horizon. This is a lot of fun and full of action.
January 13, 2018
Slow to originally get into it, but by Chapter 10, it sped up and I started to enjoy! I love the storyline, it's definitely something unusual, I wouldn't think of reading it beforehand. I love the whole futuristic world that Andrew has created, it makes me think that perhaps all this could actually happen. Thank you Andrew for a good book, definitely excited by the other books in this series.
February 26, 2018
I highly appreciate the book, my thoughts on Roland always change and it's really hard to picture him, as he is described being a cyborg, but so often I imagine him as a gigantic mech with an enhanced embedded pilot, after all, if I were to cite from the book he has only 10% biological mass. The storyline is 95% linear and very easy to read, and it keeps you pretty intrigued, later on, the book will put much value into the bonds of the characters. And from the second book I see that the bonds are getting stronger, for me, it was a "Goodread", 5★ I may add.
February 27, 2018
I don't often come across the allknowing type of narration, so it was quite enjoyable. Especially considering the backstory of the main character and the revelations of how others see him from their own points of view. At times funny, action filled and well written. I have the second book lined up already :)
March 1, 2018
Andrew Vaillencourt sets is fun tale of a retired cyborg who is technically “defunct military Ordnance (paper from Amazon). Roland Tankowicz was the only survivor of the Golem project which produced unstoppable warriors. Unfortunately corrupt brass had a way of turning their brains off when the job required. The rest of the group suicided, but Don Ribiero, one of his designers fixes that. Roland works as a fixer in a crime ridden neighborhood of future Boston. Then Don’s daughter, Lucia, asks for his help after her father was kidnaped. Lucia was enhanced for speed, and the two of them have to evade bounty hunters to rescue Don and destroy his kidnapers. I’ve started the first sequel and it’s just as much fun. Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press
December 6, 2020
Weirdly entertaining. Definitely entertaining enough for me to check out the rest of the series.
Giving three separate characters R names was a bit annoying though.
Giving three separate characters R names was a bit annoying though.
June 8, 2017
Great read...
I love the author's writing style. The prose is tight, and easy to read, yet provides enough flavor to really feel each scene and character.
Best of all, the characters feel real, fully developed, and believable.
I can't wait for the next book in the series.
I love the author's writing style. The prose is tight, and easy to read, yet provides enough flavor to really feel each scene and character.
Best of all, the characters feel real, fully developed, and believable.
I can't wait for the next book in the series.
May 18, 2017
I really, really enjoyed the old, detective noir style overlaid on the not-so-distant future world. As an eight-foot (or was it nine?) cyborg, Roland "Breach" Tankowicz more than fills the shoes of Dashiel Hammet or Raymond Chandler's tough-as-nails heroes. Add the fact that the dame in this story is less damsel and more butt-kicking beast in her own right, and you get a cyberpunk romp that's just a bunch of fun. Vaillencourt's main character carries black and white ideals for what's right and wrong, and manages to apply them in a way that makes sense in a very gray world.
Highly recommend for fans of detective noir and near future sci fi. A few small typos here and there--if you're the type to get angry about those, consider yourself warned.
Highly recommend for fans of detective noir and near future sci fi. A few small typos here and there--if you're the type to get angry about those, consider yourself warned.
April 12, 2017
To lazy to write a review, but brilllliant! A real nice smashing book, simple, but well executed. Good romance and a quick read. No annoying characters, no irritating writing, just solid writing. Beautiful
April 27, 2017
We're definitely headed toward a future filled with enhanced humans and the author does a nice job painting that picture. The plot moves along well and you can tell a lot of research has been done. Interesting stuff.
April 18, 2017
Great book!
Really great book! A military action and love story all in One.
Plus, it gave me a lot of satisfaction to see the good guy, and girl win.
Buy it!
Really great book! A military action and love story all in One.
Plus, it gave me a lot of satisfaction to see the good guy, and girl win.
Buy it!
May 16, 2017
Fun read
Action, humor, romance and well written to boot. What else could I ask for? Definitely worth reading and a good time
Action, humor, romance and well written to boot. What else could I ask for? Definitely worth reading and a good time
June 20, 2018
And now: a voice of dissension.... 2-ish stars. I was disappointed - severely so - by this book as I had such high hopes for it and the following tomes.
"Ordnance" - which for some weird reason is subtitled 'The Fixer' - is an interesting concept that was unfortunately haunted by uneven pacing (the first several dozen pages are very poor in this regard) and clichéd phrasing. Seriously, up to about page 50+, I had the feeling we were trying to quickly cram in the plot from a supposed 'The Fixer #0.5' novella. And it never really establishes itself strongly in terms of genre, with hints at noir, sci-fi, soldier-of-fortune and worse themes (do not add 'romance' into that because what of that is in here is just inane).
What makes it all the more confusing to me is that Vaillencourt certainly seems to have the writing skills and a truly exquisite vocabulary. However, this book definitely has much more potential than it manages to realize (i.e. concept A-, execution D+). I found myself distracted in stages - for example, at one point a blunt question is asked of a certain Mr. Fox and his answer only comes several pages later after a lot 'asides', that is, the details of his internal thoughts. And to be honest, there were almost no surprises in the outcome and the speed in which everything, everywhere becomes all hunky dory for everyone is preposterous.
Again, the clichés and tired phrasing (no, not the obvious nods to 'Star Wars' and other fanboy quotes) just began to bleed together and ultimately gained more attention through aggravation than entertainment (noting we could also review our lessons in 'than' vs. 'then' for extra credit, please). I am not necessarily ruling out the next books - they are after all marked at very low prices - but only if I'm confident they'll treat the subject matter with a little more panache and much better editing.
And for gods sakes, in the future: do NOT name your first 3 characters Roland, Roger and Rodney!! Damn, are we trying to include the names of our freakin' dogs in here?
"Ordnance" - which for some weird reason is subtitled 'The Fixer' - is an interesting concept that was unfortunately haunted by uneven pacing (the first several dozen pages are very poor in this regard) and clichéd phrasing. Seriously, up to about page 50+, I had the feeling we were trying to quickly cram in the plot from a supposed 'The Fixer #0.5' novella. And it never really establishes itself strongly in terms of genre, with hints at noir, sci-fi, soldier-of-fortune and worse themes (do not add 'romance' into that because what of that is in here is just inane).
What makes it all the more confusing to me is that Vaillencourt certainly seems to have the writing skills and a truly exquisite vocabulary. However, this book definitely has much more potential than it manages to realize (i.e. concept A-, execution D+). I found myself distracted in stages - for example, at one point a blunt question is asked of a certain Mr. Fox and his answer only comes several pages later after a lot 'asides', that is, the details of his internal thoughts. And to be honest, there were almost no surprises in the outcome and the speed in which everything, everywhere becomes all hunky dory for everyone is preposterous.
Again, the clichés and tired phrasing (no, not the obvious nods to 'Star Wars' and other fanboy quotes) just began to bleed together and ultimately gained more attention through aggravation than entertainment (noting we could also review our lessons in 'than' vs. 'then' for extra credit, please). I am not necessarily ruling out the next books - they are after all marked at very low prices - but only if I'm confident they'll treat the subject matter with a little more panache and much better editing.
And for gods sakes, in the future: do NOT name your first 3 characters Roland, Roger and Rodney!! Damn, are we trying to include the names of our freakin' dogs in here?
Read
August 13, 2019Some hard science-fiction, some action-adventure, some psychology, various interesting viewpoints and some very clever use of words kept my interest. The punctuation isn't too good around dialogue, and I saw some typos, but the imagery, action, and characters' feelings were very clear.
Some of the viewpoints were of thugs and other vicious people, but they weren't emotionally very deep. It was more to show those characters' mental calculations. And ordinarily I get upset when a viewpoint character is killed, but not in those cases. Despite all the fighting and gore, the book had something of a light tone, a rather sardonic feel. Roland had issues, but he wasn't really allowed to wallow in the feelings he had about his issues.
I was able for the most part to ignore the technicalities of punctuation and such, because the word choices for description and characters' thoughts were really so clever. I had a combination of appreciating that virtuosity as I saw it and being pulled into the book because of it.
Some of the viewpoints were of thugs and other vicious people, but they weren't emotionally very deep. It was more to show those characters' mental calculations. And ordinarily I get upset when a viewpoint character is killed, but not in those cases. Despite all the fighting and gore, the book had something of a light tone, a rather sardonic feel. Roland had issues, but he wasn't really allowed to wallow in the feelings he had about his issues.
I was able for the most part to ignore the technicalities of punctuation and such, because the word choices for description and characters' thoughts were really so clever. I had a combination of appreciating that virtuosity as I saw it and being pulled into the book because of it.
January 11, 2022
It's actually more of a 3.75*
As a book that lead to many others, the fact that it was nearly never boring while introducing us to its universe gets a lot of credit from me. There weren't many characters, and they're mostly cliche, but it was still a good time and leading to hopefully more depth in more characters and universe building, but I get why it went this way.
It also helps that I was kind of at a loss as to what to read next and I already had access to it in an interim. I was stuck trying to find a RC Bray book series that was finished and wasn't as bad as Mountain Man, and defaulted to this. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Please, don't take this as an endorsement for the narrator, although he made a good replacement-player, and now Jay Ben Markson is now on my radar.
I think I'll like this series, but it's only the first book, so time will tell.
As a book that lead to many others, the fact that it was nearly never boring while introducing us to its universe gets a lot of credit from me. There weren't many characters, and they're mostly cliche, but it was still a good time and leading to hopefully more depth in more characters and universe building, but I get why it went this way.
It also helps that I was kind of at a loss as to what to read next and I already had access to it in an interim. I was stuck trying to find a RC Bray book series that was finished and wasn't as bad as Mountain Man, and defaulted to this. I'm pleasantly surprised.
Please, don't take this as an endorsement for the narrator, although he made a good replacement-player, and now Jay Ben Markson is now on my radar.
I think I'll like this series, but it's only the first book, so time will tell.
July 3, 2019
3.5 stars.
A solid novel with decent characters. It does seem a little dated in style... petrol is still a thing; A.I.s are barely fleshed out, etc. The world holds few surprises.
The biggest flaws were in character motivations. A villain that now obsessively hates the protagonist simply because a fight was lost... a fight that the villain initiated, (weak trigger). Lucia goes from not wanting to kill an assassin, (despite him trying to kill her and having a history of killing even kids), to casually killing guards - with no obvious explanation or internal battle.
I do like a reluctant hero story though. I think I'll continue this series in a bit.
A solid novel with decent characters. It does seem a little dated in style... petrol is still a thing; A.I.s are barely fleshed out, etc. The world holds few surprises.
The biggest flaws were in character motivations. A villain that now obsessively hates the protagonist simply because a fight was lost... a fight that the villain initiated, (weak trigger). Lucia goes from not wanting to kill an assassin, (despite him trying to kill her and having a history of killing even kids), to casually killing guards - with no obvious explanation or internal battle.
I do like a reluctant hero story though. I think I'll continue this series in a bit.
April 21, 2019
This was a fun read, liked it so much I bought the rest of the set. Not a lot of sex, which didn't make that much sense anyway (which I'm good with), really decent action in what is a bugs bunny story line (really little doubt the hero is going to win, the only mystery is how much the bad guys are going to get hurt in the process, hint, a lot!). If you have a sense like I do that the bad people just win too often this is the kind of violent feel good book for you. It is just kind of nice to have a hero with the minimum of angst that pretty much just goes A to B kicking ass all the way.
August 15, 2019
Weapons and tactics are well thought-out, which is extremely rare in books these days.
And the characters are diverse and fairly interesting.
Unqualified recommendation.
The author does repeatedly misuse the word "nonplussed," which seems pretty silly to me at this point. Doesn't everyone know it means the opposite of what it sounds like?
March 31, 2018
📚📚📚📚
Ronald is a good man/cyborg unwilling to stand by any longer and let bad men prevail.
A fantastic story, violent yet emotional, with engaging characters and a great plot.
I would have given it 5 stars if not for the editing issues; there are far too many instances where 'a' or 'the' is missing.
Ronald is a good man/cyborg unwilling to stand by any longer and let bad men prevail.
A fantastic story, violent yet emotional, with engaging characters and a great plot.
I would have given it 5 stars if not for the editing issues; there are far too many instances where 'a' or 'the' is missing.
August 13, 2018
Packs a wicked punch!
I really liked the way the story portrays the set of characters. It’s sparse, dry, portrayal which is humorous at the same time. The dialog between the various characters encountering Roland is much like you would imagine in a Old style PI movie or book. Well worth the time to read.
I really liked the way the story portrays the set of characters. It’s sparse, dry, portrayal which is humorous at the same time. The dialog between the various characters encountering Roland is much like you would imagine in a Old style PI movie or book. Well worth the time to read.
February 25, 2020
Crack in ink
I have read my share of books on Amazon, and the more I read the more I know you have some of the best authors in the world right when I say okay I will stop reading for a while bam I come across another fine drug this is a great story and I can't say thank you for sharing your (crack) gift with the world
I have read my share of books on Amazon, and the more I read the more I know you have some of the best authors in the world right when I say okay I will stop reading for a while bam I come across another fine drug this is a great story and I can't say thank you for sharing your (crack) gift with the world
November 7, 2018
Very different, but exciting...
This second book about Roland was definitely a step up from the opening story. It is well written, full of action and definitely not predictable. Well worth the read.
This second book about Roland was definitely a step up from the opening story. It is well written, full of action and definitely not predictable. Well worth the read.
June 6, 2019
Predictable..
Roland is a lot of fun to read. He’s simple, stalwart and trustworthy. His past is ugly, but the author does a good job letting the reader feel why Roland’s not the bad guy he believes. The rest felt easy to guess was going to happen....especially the relationship.
Roland is a lot of fun to read. He’s simple, stalwart and trustworthy. His past is ugly, but the author does a good job letting the reader feel why Roland’s not the bad guy he believes. The rest felt easy to guess was going to happen....especially the relationship.
March 29, 2018
Fun military romp with underworld and corporate intrigue.
April 12, 2018
Pretty good a bit sappy at times, overall well done. I'll be reading the next one shortly.
April 21, 2018
The fast paced book with a lot of fighting and next level sci-fi stuffs. Overall a fun book to read.
May 26, 2018
Good humour and lots of action.
Nice tech, enjoyable characters and an interesting story with lots of blowing stuff up. Looking forward to the next one.
Nice tech, enjoyable characters and an interesting story with lots of blowing stuff up. Looking forward to the next one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews