Jon Evans Invisible Armies

Invisible Armies

Dunne, Jun 28 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 9780312368678

In Bangalore, India, renowned hacker Kieran Kell asks his former girlfriend Danielle Leaf to deliver a package to Jaylitha. She agrees, but on her way, kidnappers from the international giant corporation Kishkinda abduct her.

Not long after her incarceration begins, another prisoner French expatriate Laurent joins Danielle in lock up. They exchange their tales of woe. He says he is a former Legionnaire who jointed the INVISIBLE ARMIES protesting globalization polluting of the earth; she explains she was delivering a package when she was kidnapped. Laurent informs her that Jaylitha is dead; killed by Kishkinda subcontractors to prevent his proof that they are turning Bangalore into a toxic industrial wasteland. He enables them to escape and she joins him on a series of adventures that make Danielle wonder if Laurent is a double agent.

This tense suspense thriller focuses on the war between international corporations and local environmentalists. Whereas Laurent is a plausible hero in spite of martial arts skills that should have him competing in the UFC, Danielle does not come across as a viable superhero sidekick. Still genre fans will appreciate the battles in DARK PLACES between adversaries who share the same belief of no surrender, no compromise.

Harriet Klausner