Samaritan goes into hiding after the events of Eden's Fall. A year later with a new President in the White House she resurfaces determined to take him and to take him down via his relationship with the largest military contractor in the world. Take down the company, the dominos will fall! And she has the means and a plan that just might work. How do you bankrupt one of the richest, most technologically advanced and successful companies in the world? You steal all their research and give it away to everyone. Can she survive long enough to pull it off with the entire U.S. government trying to kill her?
After the repercussions of Eden's Fall, Sam is on the run from the government. Sam is trying to take down the President and won't let anything get in her way. At the same time, a CIA assassin is tracking her down. It's a great cat and mouse story. Mira Sway from Think Tank is heavily involved in the story as well.
Eden's Fall is also printed in the back of the book since both stories are only 3 issues. Read that story first before The Tithe.
I read this one out of order — I own the Think Tank volumes which precede it but haven’t read them yet — but I was still able to follow it. As always, Hawkins’ research gives the book a real feeling of verisimilitude. My late father-in-law was an actual CIA spook, a genuine field operative who was there from the Agency’s early days through the 1990s. Toward the end of his life he suffered from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare disease like Parkinson’s which impaired his sleep, often leading to periods of disorientation. He sometimes suffered from flashbacks and was occasionally confused about where and when he was. I helped take care of him for a couple years as his condition worsened, and he sometimes told me things about his career that he really shouldn’t have. Most of it is outdated, of course, and when he retired he went overt, but still, it was fascinating. As he once said, “The things I’m allowed to talk about no one is interested in, and the things people are interested in I can’t talk about.” All of that to say that the CIA stuff in this book rings true, because that’s the sort of thing he did, too. It’s heightened for the extra drama, of course.
The level of spycraft here is so complex it's bordering on incomprehensible. The large cast also makes it a pain to read. It's still pretty cool when I can keep up with it, so it's definitely not a waste of time.
Samantha wants revenge after the Eden's Fall arc. McKitrick won the elections, so she returns from her self-imposed exile to go after him. David from Think Tank helps her build a team of specialists for this task. She must first gain information on McKitrick's supporters to get to him.
Before getting into the content, I've got to complain about the layout. Samaritan Vol 3 focuses on events that take place after the 'Edens Fall' mini-series. But it includes the Edens Fall miniseries in the collection. After the Vol 3 story which takes place after it - it's chronologically backwards. I understand why the did it, but it's confusing. That being said, the actual story here is strong. Samaritan has it out for the new President, and is willing to sacrifice herself to take him down. The intrigue and politics are very well done, with Mirra taking a prominent role, and the infiltrations and kidnappings are all presented in a coherent and thrilling way. I do wish it had provided a bit more resolution rather than ending on a cliffhanger, but all of the story that's included here is some of the most compelling of The Tithe series so far. The inclusion of Edens Fall is actually what holds this back. The mini-series doesn't really justify the crossovers, which only really feature two of the three affected titles prominently. There is a major death that affects the landscape, but overall it isn't nearly as strong as any of its constituent series on their own. Still, it's a decent add-in for the collection.
Samaritan comes out of hiding to expose the conspiracy that came to a head in Eden's Fall, which is incidentally included in this edition. While slim on pages, both volumes are worth a read in this tightly plotted political thriller. While it doesn't have the same punch the first two books in the series did, I really love Hawkins writing and look forward to wherever this goes next.