Fierce by Robert & Jeremy Love (Dark Horse, 2005) You know you're in trouble when the hero of the story is named Jonathan Fierce. I mean, c'mon, people just don't have names like that, unless they're major characters in a comic book written by someone with an unsubtle imagination. So, building from the name, we have a guy with a psychic gift that's put to use by the FBI. His mistake leads his team to their deaths; Fierce gets there just in time to see them die, somehow arriving much more quickly in his car than they did in their stealth helicopter. He swears to avenge their deaths, particularly because their ghosts seem to be lodged in his head; while they give him all of their nifty abilities in the bargain, their voices are driving him crazy. A bellicose FBI superior decides to blame Fierce for the screwup, so Fierce busts out and takes an FBI psychologist hostage; of course, she falls in love with him. Oh, and his major nemesis in the story just happens to be his best childhood chum, whom Fierce thought he had left to his death many years before. Did I mention his name is Fierce? Cliches aside, this book never manages to become engaging. Conflicts are resolved too quickly, characters enter and exit without making much of a dent on your awareness, and Fierce himself manages to make it through the book without ever seeming real, or even very interesting. Even the rocket launcher didn't hook my attention. |
Rambles.NET review by Tom Knapp 8 September 2007 |