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Perdition #1
Perdition
The Union ambassador is missing.
More than a hundred years after the McClellan-Davis Accords ended the Civil War, tensions are still high between the Union and the Confederacy. But recent trade agreements and personnel exchanges have made both sides hope that good relations can be restored. That is, until the Union ambassador vanishes one night from the embassy in Perdition.
Two agents are sent to investigate his disappearance. Delilah Thorn, a video surveillance analyst with zero field experience, has no idea why she’s been sent on this operation, but her unshakeable faith in the Union convinces her that she must somehow have the right skills for the job. Her new partner, Dane Rook, is a seasoned veteran with a mysterious background—and a whole lot of skepticism about what their assignment entails.
They’ve barely crossed into the Confederacy when the whole mission goes to hell. Separated, trapped in a hostile nation with no weapons or supplies, they slowly learn a terrible secret about the government just across their own border. Their lives depend on separating friend from foe and discovering the limits of their own endurance. Can they figure out not only how to survive, but also how to become agents of change in a brutal society that the world has left behind?
More than a hundred years after the McClellan-Davis Accords ended the Civil War, tensions are still high between the Union and the Confederacy. But recent trade agreements and personnel exchanges have made both sides hope that good relations can be restored. That is, until the Union ambassador vanishes one night from the embassy in Perdition.
Two agents are sent to investigate his disappearance. Delilah Thorn, a video surveillance analyst with zero field experience, has no idea why she’s been sent on this operation, but her unshakeable faith in the Union convinces her that she must somehow have the right skills for the job. Her new partner, Dane Rook, is a seasoned veteran with a mysterious background—and a whole lot of skepticism about what their assignment entails.
They’ve barely crossed into the Confederacy when the whole mission goes to hell. Separated, trapped in a hostile nation with no weapons or supplies, they slowly learn a terrible secret about the government just across their own border. Their lives depend on separating friend from foe and discovering the limits of their own endurance. Can they figure out not only how to survive, but also how to become agents of change in a brutal society that the world has left behind?
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2018
3 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 20, 2018
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Agent Delilah Thorn and Agent Rook are sent to the heart of darkness in deepest Arkansas.
It's been more than 150 years since the McClellan-Davis Accords that ended the American Civil War. The United States has been extremely security conscious. The Confederacy has split into two nations, the eastern seaboard consisting of the Free States of the Confederacy, and it's dirt poor sibling, the Confederacy, consisting of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
The Confederacy is retarded and poor and insular, but it has allowed a federal mission to open in Perdition, Arkansas. A federal agent has gone missing and Rook and Thorne are sent in to find out what happened to the agent.
Author Marella Sands has sketched out an intriguing alternative history. I'm guessing that McClellan beat Lincoln in 1864 and negotiated a peace settlement. I have no clue why the United States became security conscious or why it is barely scratching the doors of international power, although fighting World War I to retake Tennessee probably doesn't help. Also, there is a reference to California being part of the Japanese empire and Deseret being an independent nation.
This is all like catnip to anyone who loves alternative history.
The story works and the writing is engaging, I enjoyed the story the whole-way through. I am deducting a star, though, because this really is not a self-contained novel. The story concludes by extracting the pair, but it doesn't solve or unfold, the big mystery the story sets up. Clearly, this is the opening chapters of a larger novel. We are introduced to the main characters and the supporting characters and provided the context and the problem that will be eventually solved.
On the whole, I enjoyed the story. I would recommend it and I look forward to the future installments.
Agent Delilah Thorn and Agent Rook are sent to the heart of darkness in deepest Arkansas.
It's been more than 150 years since the McClellan-Davis Accords that ended the American Civil War. The United States has been extremely security conscious. The Confederacy has split into two nations, the eastern seaboard consisting of the Free States of the Confederacy, and it's dirt poor sibling, the Confederacy, consisting of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
The Confederacy is retarded and poor and insular, but it has allowed a federal mission to open in Perdition, Arkansas. A federal agent has gone missing and Rook and Thorne are sent in to find out what happened to the agent.
Author Marella Sands has sketched out an intriguing alternative history. I'm guessing that McClellan beat Lincoln in 1864 and negotiated a peace settlement. I have no clue why the United States became security conscious or why it is barely scratching the doors of international power, although fighting World War I to retake Tennessee probably doesn't help. Also, there is a reference to California being part of the Japanese empire and Deseret being an independent nation.
This is all like catnip to anyone who loves alternative history.
The story works and the writing is engaging, I enjoyed the story the whole-way through. I am deducting a star, though, because this really is not a self-contained novel. The story concludes by extracting the pair, but it doesn't solve or unfold, the big mystery the story sets up. Clearly, this is the opening chapters of a larger novel. We are introduced to the main characters and the supporting characters and provided the context and the problem that will be eventually solved.
On the whole, I enjoyed the story. I would recommend it and I look forward to the future installments.
November 14, 2018
Howard Taylor of Schlock Mercenary fame (https://www.schlockmercenary.com/) often rates movies he's seen, and I like his rating system. By that token, I must say that Perdition did not reach my threshold of awesome. It wasn't bad enough to throw my Kindle at a (padded) wall, but it took me weeks to read. I could barely sustain a half-chapter in any sitting, and frequently broke from reading to play a little solitaire.
Some of the world building was great. McClellan defeats Lincoln in the '64 presidential race and signs a peace treaty with the confederacy. The confederacy subsequently splits into smaller polities, and this story takes place in the place with the least technology - no rural electrification and little in the towns or cities. No education system to speak of. No official slavery, but racism is still a way of life.
The slice we see of "the Union" is troubling and insufficient. The hints we have of the "Free States of America" (formerly the eastern states of the Confederacy) are too few.
None of the characters are sufficiently developed, not even the heroine of the story.
Some of the world building was great. McClellan defeats Lincoln in the '64 presidential race and signs a peace treaty with the confederacy. The confederacy subsequently splits into smaller polities, and this story takes place in the place with the least technology - no rural electrification and little in the towns or cities. No education system to speak of. No official slavery, but racism is still a way of life.
The slice we see of "the Union" is troubling and insufficient. The hints we have of the "Free States of America" (formerly the eastern states of the Confederacy) are too few.
None of the characters are sufficiently developed, not even the heroine of the story.
December 17, 2018
What if George McClellan had won the 1864 US presidential election? Sands writes a very interesting 'history' of the consequences of that election. Definitely needs a sequel (or two) not only to continue the story but provide more details of the election and the new North America.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews