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Fox Meridian #8
Dominance
With the new private policing contracts coming in at the start of the 2062, Fox Meridian can finally relax and devote all her time to her new position as the terrorism liaison for Palladium Security Solutions. She may have no boyfriend and no life, but at least she’s back doing what she wants to investigate crimes.
When a highly conservative vote broker, Thomas Jefferson Winsford, is found dead in a BDSM club, Fox is called in due to the sensitivity of the case, and it’s made more sensitive because Naomi Lind, Fox’s friend and the head of the Church of Saint Nicholas was Winsford’s client and the one who found the body.
With Naomi the obvious choice for the killer, Fox must rake through the muck of sex, drugs, and high-level politics to uncover the truth behind Winsford’s murder. And stop the killer before even more bodies pile up.
When a highly conservative vote broker, Thomas Jefferson Winsford, is found dead in a BDSM club, Fox is called in due to the sensitivity of the case, and it’s made more sensitive because Naomi Lind, Fox’s friend and the head of the Church of Saint Nicholas was Winsford’s client and the one who found the body.
With Naomi the obvious choice for the killer, Fox must rake through the muck of sex, drugs, and high-level politics to uncover the truth behind Winsford’s murder. And stop the killer before even more bodies pile up.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2017
36 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Niall Teasdale
73 books292 followersI was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
As of 2015, I have thrown in my lot with writing. After thirty years of being a computer programmer I am making enough money to quit the day job and write full time. Dreams, occasionally, come true. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still loved the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
As of 2015, I have thrown in my lot with writing. After thirty years of being a computer programmer I am making enough money to quit the day job and write full time. Dreams, occasionally, come true. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 3, 2025
I really enjoyed the book but the one thing that I would like to see in the next Fox Meridian book would be to see Fox being the Dom in the relationship. The way I understand it from reading in another book is that sometimes powerful women would like an outlet as the sub, but in your other books Aneka Jansen and Thaumatology both of the main characters in the series are both Dom? I don't know if this is just your attempt at seeing how Fox would be as a sub or something else that I do not understand, but if you ever add a ninth book to this series I would like to see how Fox would become a dominatrix.
November 20, 2017
First off, story-wise I'd give this a 4. The story is interesting, it's the characters and political grand standing that ruins this book; hence the 1. If you're an uber-progressive or 3rd wave feminist, you'll likely enjoy the book. If you're a rational person, quite a few things will get under your skin.
Every male character with the exception of the bi-sexual roommate and one of the corporate types are stupid, misogynistic, arrogant, unreasonable, and a megalomaniac. Every female character is intelligent, well-adjusted, reasonable, hyper-capable, and unable to fail. The authors misandry is getting more than annoying. It's quite obvious he's a self-loathing, white knight, male feminist that puts women on a pedestal. I could deal with 1 or 2 "perfect" women. I could handle a couple of men with a laundry list of character flaws, but when ALL of the women are perfect and ALL of the men are jerks, it's just poor writing and lazy character development.
Then there's the political strawmanning. It's quite obvious the author is a hardline leftist as he seems to think that ALL conservatives are white men, misogynists, control freaks, and closet sexual deviants. The irony here is that given the last few months of new stories (and he obviously is pulling them in as he makes a reference to Charlottesville -- erroneously), it's the liberals and leftists that have those character traits.
I won't begrudge someone have their political beliefs, but this massive straw man is just insulting to the average person's intelligence. The arguments being made are trite and childish.
The big irony in all of this is it's obvious the author believes the government should control everything, but the stories he's telling are proof that you can't have corruption without government involvement and that private companies and citizens CAN shine a light on it.
Every male character with the exception of the bi-sexual roommate and one of the corporate types are stupid, misogynistic, arrogant, unreasonable, and a megalomaniac. Every female character is intelligent, well-adjusted, reasonable, hyper-capable, and unable to fail. The authors misandry is getting more than annoying. It's quite obvious he's a self-loathing, white knight, male feminist that puts women on a pedestal. I could deal with 1 or 2 "perfect" women. I could handle a couple of men with a laundry list of character flaws, but when ALL of the women are perfect and ALL of the men are jerks, it's just poor writing and lazy character development.
Then there's the political strawmanning. It's quite obvious the author is a hardline leftist as he seems to think that ALL conservatives are white men, misogynists, control freaks, and closet sexual deviants. The irony here is that given the last few months of new stories (and he obviously is pulling them in as he makes a reference to Charlottesville -- erroneously), it's the liberals and leftists that have those character traits.
I won't begrudge someone have their political beliefs, but this massive straw man is just insulting to the average person's intelligence. The arguments being made are trite and childish.
The big irony in all of this is it's obvious the author believes the government should control everything, but the stories he's telling are proof that you can't have corruption without government involvement and that private companies and citizens CAN shine a light on it.
November 20, 2017
Surprising and not
And he did it again.
The more you read, the more you want the book to continue. In my view there is no higher praise for an author to take his readers on a journey, forgetting time and place and having only the urge to know how the story continues.
I just noted that the books written by Niall Teasdale covers three and a half page on my kindle. And I own and read every one of them. It is with delight and anticipation that I will await the next musing.
And he did it again.
The more you read, the more you want the book to continue. In my view there is no higher praise for an author to take his readers on a journey, forgetting time and place and having only the urge to know how the story continues.
I just noted that the books written by Niall Teasdale covers three and a half page on my kindle. And I own and read every one of them. It is with delight and anticipation that I will await the next musing.
November 23, 2017
WOW! WOW! Repeat...
As always, I found Fox hard to put down, even at 4 am. I've been reading Niall's books for several years now, & never been disappointed. I'm hoping that never changes.
As always, I found Fox hard to put down, even at 4 am. I've been reading Niall's books for several years now, & never been disappointed. I'm hoping that never changes.
November 29, 2017
Awesome like always!
Incredible story, great characters fighting against corruption, misogyny, all the while following a series of murders and finding the plot thickening. Very good book!
Incredible story, great characters fighting against corruption, misogyny, all the while following a series of murders and finding the plot thickening. Very good book!
April 25, 2018
In this book Fox is back to her roots with a ‘simple’ criminal investigation. I have found some of the recent books confusing and a bit irritating, so it was nice to get back to a ‘normal’ investigation.
January 31, 2019
Good sci-fi thriller
This book describe well what BDSM and S&M is about. Trust, and release. But what happens when someone who doesn't know what dominance is about try their hands at it, feel entitled to have it? This is what happens in this book. I loved it.
This book describe well what BDSM and S&M is about. Trust, and release. But what happens when someone who doesn't know what dominance is about try their hands at it, feel entitled to have it? This is what happens in this book. I loved it.
December 5, 2019
I Rather Enjoy Fox
Another intriguing story about the life and times of Fox Meridian. I do enjoy the character of Fox and the stories are quite good as well.
Another intriguing story about the life and times of Fox Meridian. I do enjoy the character of Fox and the stories are quite good as well.
December 11, 2017
Back to her roots.
Fox goes back to her investigative roots. Summoned to a rather sensitive and politically explosie murder-scene she finds that her friend and Naomi Lind as the prime suspect. The victim: A strict conservative politician. The murder-scene: a BDSM dungeon. The suspect: a dominatrix and one of fox's best friends.
Truthfully I loved this novel. It hankers back to the first few novels in the series and is a relatively small story. Fox shines in her investigation and has a few new toys to experiment with and keep thins interesting. Add to that a cool premise and a bit of cathartic romance to let her grow as a character and it all combines to one of my favorite novels in the series.
Fox goes back to her investigative roots. Summoned to a rather sensitive and politically explosie murder-scene she finds that her friend and Naomi Lind as the prime suspect. The victim: A strict conservative politician. The murder-scene: a BDSM dungeon. The suspect: a dominatrix and one of fox's best friends.
Truthfully I loved this novel. It hankers back to the first few novels in the series and is a relatively small story. Fox shines in her investigation and has a few new toys to experiment with and keep thins interesting. Add to that a cool premise and a bit of cathartic romance to let her grow as a character and it all combines to one of my favorite novels in the series.
Read
November 21, 2017A good lighter side of an image of our future. I really do like the author's style of writing, and really aside from some leaps like AIs, and going from human to infomorph, the situations don't really go that far outside the way you can see humans acting.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews