Title: Obliteration
Author: Barry K. Nelson
Genre: Science-Fiction
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
The three reprogrammed Brelac Reploids forming the special team Silencers still faithfully serve the United Protectorate under the watchful monitoring of the Central Intelligence Division. Stationed on Maseklos Prime, Colin McKenzie, Diane Christy, and Kelly Lytton are called to a hostage scene and end up with clues that lead to the elusive Dr. Arthur Trevors. Although initially a traitor who worked undercover with the Brelac, Trevors was in large part responsible for the capture and reprogramming of Colin, Diane, and Kelly so they could serve their current function as weapons for the Protectorate. The war with the Brelac is not going well, and the Silencers are given an advanced warp-drive ship and sent beyond their home quadrant, Poseidon, to the last known coordinates of a missing ship. Their mission is to locate the missing ship, part of an original task force of five ships sent out to find other human colonies and enlist their help with the war against the Brelac. As soon as Colin and his team leave the quadrant, they run into trouble, and things go downhill from there. They find themselves in the midst of a war between local factions on a planet far from home and feel obliged to aid the human faction against a clearly superior force that seems to have help from a monster who leaves a wake of death and destruction wherever it goes. The more they find out, the weirder things get, and they end up stranded with no way home, much less any hope of completing their original mission to find the lost task force ship. This new enemy they face seems invincible, and they wonder if they’ll survive as everything and everyone around them is destroyed. Maybe this time not even their Reploid powers will save them. But what other hope does humanity have?
In Obliteration, the third book in The McKenzie Files series by author Barry K. Nelson, we meet again with Colin McKenzie, Diane Christy and Kelly Lytton, three reprogrammed Brelac Reploids that we already met in the previous two books, The McKenzie Files and Assassination Anxiety.
In this newest installment, a hostage scene brings them some clues that lead to Dr. Arthur Trevors, a traitor who worked undercover with the Brelac and who was largely responsible for capturing and reprogramming our three main characters. The trio is sent on a mission to locate a missing ship outside their home quadrant. The ship was part of an original task force of five ships sent out to human colonies to enlist help with the war against the Brelac. But as soon as they leave the quadrant, things go downhill, and fast. They strand in the middle of a war between local factions, one of which has help from a monster that leaves death and destruction everywhere it goes. Their new enemy is the toughest one yet…will they have what it takes to survive?
Another excellent tale by an author who manages to craft believable science-fiction with enjoyable characters. I enjoyed the previous books in the series, but this one is by far my favorite. The plot was interesting from the start, it had some unexpected twists, and the character relationships deepened and grew more complex.
If you enjoy science-fiction, I can’t recommend this series enough.
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