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This novel focuses on protagonist Leeha Ritsagin, a young woman caught up in political intrigue after being mistakenly given a top-secret document called “Guiding Light.” In this alternative nation of Cadona, it seems that a right-wing religious group called the Soldiers of God, a militant arm of the True Church of God, has listed one hundred women for “justice executions.” “Guiding Light” lists these women and also describes a new all-powerful weapon called Toxic Sphere. Kidnapped and taken to a secret base in a mountainside, government agents for the Freedom Party, the political party aligned with the right-wing zealots, subject Leeha first with a truth serum drug called Mind One and then subject her to weeks of more traditional torture. The rightist government shoots down a passenger airliner with an army captain who knows about Toxic Sphere and blames it on another nation.
This is only an outline of the book's complex plotline with its international intrigue and multifaceted complications. It seems everyone wants to get control of Toxic Sphere, with only a small band of journalists and policemen pitted against this right-wing coup. Thematic variations include propaganda, religious zealotry, and the corrupting influence of power. The characters are well drawn, with Leeha’s internal thoughts and reactions driving most of the narrative. The mysterious Cookie Davis, Leeha’s roommate, seems to be caught up in an international intrigue as well, a plotline not resolved in this volume. Many other such plotlines are left in suspense, with the present narrative focusing on Leeha and her ability to overcome the challenges that this bloodthirsty regime has exacted on her. Rebellion is in the air but will most likely happen in future volumes of this intriguing and suspenseful work.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist