When Alison Gregorio lands a cushy administrative job in a law office, she knows her big paycheck comes with strings attached. She expects long hours and unreasonable demands. She doesn’t expect to be dodging assassins before she gets her first raise, but that’s exactly what she ends up doing.
A plane carrying the boss’s biggest client disappears into limbo, and Alison’s work on the estate … estate reveals explosive secrets beneath the law firm’s golden façade. Before long Alison is on the run with lethal secrets locked in memory and no idea where to turn for help.
Staying alive is only the first challenge inventor Justin Wyatt faces after sabotage leaves him stranded in a frozen wasteland. Survival isn’t enough. He needs to find out who betrayed him before his deadliest creations fall into the wrong hands. His biggest obstacle: the person holding the key to the mystery doesn’t know he is still alive… and he doesn’t know she exists.
Justin enlists the help of strangers with their own hidden agendas to hunt down his enemies, and once fate brings Alison to their doorstep, there’s no turning back. Either they will untangle the mess of corporate intrigue and personal vendettas that brought them all together, or their common foe will destroy them all.
Forty-two years have passed since the Restored United States emerged from decades of chaos and revolution. The future is a brave new world, but some things never change. Money still talks, power still corrupts, and trust is a rare and precious commodity.
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CONTROLLED DESCENT was an instant buy for me when I heard that it was about an office woman with a knack for organization and coordination, Alison Gregorio, helping out some ex-military special operative bodyguards and the inventors they are protecting against the overwhelming odds closing in on their remote shelter.
Let me emphasize what grabbed me there, Alison’s strength is NOT that she knows martial arts, or is a crack shot with a gun or bow, or has any kind of superpower or specialized background. She’s JUST THAT GOOD at getting people to prioritize and cooperate. I love a good story about an ordinary person discovering their inner strengths and the usefulness of their talents, who rises to the occasion and stands their ground against the wicked and powerful.
There are other characters who do have superpowers though, in this survival adventure set in a near future reconstructed United States. Both the optimistic well-imagined setting and Herkes’ unique twist on powers are fascinating and engaging in their own way.
This may be plot driven as most thrillers are, opening with a plane crash and building suspense with the pursuit by ruthless villains that must be dodged and thwarted up to the confrontational climax, but it’s character focused–and that’s where K.M. Herkes shines brightest.
There’s Justin the prickly, troubled billionaire genius inventor who has started developing a slew of abilities (invisibility, hardening his skin, feats of strength, etc.) and is learning to use them, even as he struggles with mental disabilities affecting memory and concentration and physical disabilities related to his recent plane crash.
There’s also the psychically gifted brothers Carl and Parker who were part of the same covert government military program and now offer their protection (and mercenary) services freelance–if they agree their client’s cause is a worthy one. I admire their efficiency and integrity, and Carl’s insightfulness as the group’s de facto therapist and Parker’s doggedness against all odds. But I cherish them for their sibling closeness.
Tyler, Justin’s inventing sidekick and beleaguered best friend, is more like Alison. What he lacks in paranormal phenomena or combat skill he makes up for by contributing as much as he can with his own skill set–and as a voice of reason and support and unflinching loyalty time and again.
Alison, though, is the best, a total authentic gem. Ambitious but coming off a stretch of unemployment and financial difficulty that has shaken her confidence, practical but passionate, compassionate but ready with the kind of honesty it’s difficult to hear, and supportive but she’s not just there for everyone else–she also has emotional needs and goes for what she wants.
The prose is very artful and affecting too in a way that’s super hard to describe. Just enough atmospheric and physical detail to establish a ‘mental picture’ and the mood, and close focus on reactions to the environment (especially the isolation while they are in hiding) and emotional interactions between fully realized characters and their internal struggles.
My point with the above fumbling paragraph is that you may have heard that great speculative fiction is usually either a great concept (big fascinating idea to explore) or a great execution (creativity of prose and plotting and character)? But with K.M. Herkes it’s always both.
And while I’m singing praises, I should also add that she always sticks the landing, including here, and that’s huge.
After reading this I had to buy the whole Restoration series and I recommend you do the same. That so far includes FLIGHT PLAN (which picks up where this novel left off and delivers more Alison though she’s not the focus), NOVICES (a prequel centered on psychic special operative brothers Carl and Parker), and my planned next read, the collection WEAVING IN THE ENDS (two romantic novellas featuring Carl).