The Power of Two
Love Spell, November, 2004.
Paperback, 358 pages.
ISBN: 0505525933
Subgenre: Love Spell
In the world of 2176, wars have left the earth in a fractured,
suspicious state. Technology is advanced, but the terrorists
are legion.
Cai leads a lonely existence since her parents disappeared
when she was a teenager. The army took her in because of her
high intelligence and aptitude for computers, waiving the normal
age requirements. Earth Army Special Forces recruits Cai for a special project
where she was linked via nanoprobes with a Special Forces operative,
Captain Jake Tucker. Cai provides technical back up and intel
in real time while Tucker and his men carry out their dangerous
missions all over the world. Tucker thinks that his
link is with an AI-enhanced computer, not a brilliant young
woman and Cai hasn't enlightened Tucker, who is her only real
friend. But when Cai heads off on her own mission to find her
parents, she decides its time that Jake found out the truth. So she
gets herself assigned to Jake's next mission to the floating
Raft Cities where Cai's parents are being held hostage for
their scientific knowledge. Jake, horrified that the voice in
his head is a human, and at the idea of Cai meeting pirates,
terrorists and criminals in the notorious Raft Cities, balks at the
plan. But his CO overrules him and the team sets out to
find and capture the notorious Banzai Maguire, who is suspected of
leading a revolution for freedom against the oppressive current government.
After they find Banzai, Jake promises Cai that he will find and
rescue her parents.
Although The Power of Two is the fourth book in the bestselling 2176 series, which are all set in the same futuristic world but are each written by a different author, it reads as a top-notch, stand-alone thriller. Patti O'Shea is a truly amazing new writer. Her characterizations are pitch-perfect. The shy, introverted Cai who managed to get through Special Forces training and who can go head to head with any commando, hides a world of pain and isolation and her journey to the outside world is absorbing. Jake is more than a cardboard action hero; he is well-realized and complex. The action and love scenes are both absolutely mesmerizing. The Power of Two is clearly one of the best action romances written this year. Highly recommended.
The Power of Two is available for purchase on Amazon.com
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This review was published in the November-December, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.
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