J.D. Townsend, The Assassin's Dream

The Assassin's Dream

J.D. Townsend

Five Star, March 2005, $25.95, 430 pp

ISBN 1594142823

In 2174, the new world order came about because of Acquired Genetic Neurological Syndrome killing over two thirds of the male population on Earth. Women are in power and the central focus of authority is the council selected on each continent. The regime represses individuals who are less important than the whole and opinions are not tolerated. Most infants are genetically engineered.

There is a k-class of women bred to be perfect assassins; Kay Black is one of the best. When she goes to terminate Angela Potenkin, she finds a recording she left behind telling Kay that she is the product of a breeding experiment designed to bring about the next step in evolution. People like her have psychic powers that manifest themselves at a predetermined time. When Kay's next assignment is to terminate Angela's son, their meeting brings out their full powers and leads them to an underground enclave in Dar es Salaam where people just like them are living in an underground community. Their safety is just an illusion because the head of the North American Council is getting ready to infiltrate the group and use them for her own ends.

It is 1984 all over again with Big Sister keeping a close eye on its citizens, ready to kill anyone who threatens the status quo. Kay doesn't understand what is happening to her and reaches out to Aria, a woman working on the council. Something about Kay touches Ana who agrees to help her with her psychic powers and with fitting into the group. J.D. Townsend has written an Orwellian, science-fiction thriller that is impossible to put down until finished.

Harriet Klausner