Ten years ago, Stefan Korsak’s younger brother was kidnapped. No one knew who took Lukas, or why. He was simply gone. But not a day has passed that Stefan hasn’t thought about him. As a rising figure in the Russian mafia, he has finally found him. But when he rescues Lukas, he must confront a terrible truth–his brother is no longer his brother. He is a killer. Trained, brainwashed, and genetically transformed into a flesh-and-blood machine with only one purpose–assassination. Now, those who created him…will do anything to reclaim him.
And the closer Stefan grows to his brother, the more he realizes that saving Lukas may be easier than surviving him…
Rob Thurman is one of those authors that is bringing back male centered fiction for me. Along with Simon R. Green and Jim Butcher, Thurman writes first person male narratives that are engaging and enthralling, while never dropping the ball with any supportive female roles. Everyone ends up very equal, even if it turns out that one is a half-human/half-monster hybrid that has the ability to destroy the world (her other series).In addition to wonderfully fleshed out main characters, the other thing that makes me so excited about Thurman's releases is her ability to take an old genre and make it new. This kind of science fiction/pseudo paranormal base is not anything new, especially for the urban fantasty genre, but it is not done as rote here. Stefan is a complex character who's had to do a lot of bad things to try and get the opportunity to do one good: find this brother. There are a lot of places where we as the reader are lead to believe one thing only to find out a twist at the end.
I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to pretty much everyone. I can't wait to read the next installment and would love to hear about what you think if you give it a try!
Overall Feeling - Thumbs up. I love Rob Thurman's work, her ability to take a character - male or female - and make them believable to the reader. When she also combines it with an incredibly unique set of plot circumstances you can't deny that you've got a good thing on your hands.
Series - 1) Chimera
