Rath's Gambit (Janus Group #2) ★★★☆☆

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Title: Rath's Gambit
Series: Janus Group #2
Author: Piers Platt
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 210
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Rath is on the run. With other Operatives from the Janus Group tasked to hunt him down, he has to escape, disappear and then hook back up with Operative 339 so they can begin their campaign against the Group and hopefully live through it.

Things start to go off the rails when Operative 339 doesn't show up at the rendevous point. Rath waits for quite awhile before realizing something is wrong. What he doesn't know is that Operative 339 was caught by some civil authorities on another planet while she was free-lancing. She was sentenced to a prison term and her her plan was to serve for a year or two and then get early release for good behavior. Of course, Rath knows none of this.

Rath enlists the aid of the man who has been investigating the Group on his own. They track down O339 and Rath breaks her out of prison. Bungling up all her careful plans of staying under the radar.

The book ends with them trying to escape a whole batch of Operatives that had been following Rath, hoping he would do exactly what he did, ie, lead them to O339.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this BUT between the non-resolution ending, Rath acting like an idiot (for an Operative who made his 50 kills, he sure is incompetent and stupid) and the continued prison reform schtick, I've decided to not read any more by Platt.

When I finished this book and it ended with them being chased, I realized I simply didn't care how it turned out. Rath is a bungler who can't seem to plan out even basic strategy. I couldn't tell if that was deliberate on the part of the author or what, but it wasn't what I wanted to read about. I wanted a story about a highly trained Operative who kicked butt, oh you know, like say Operative 339. But nooooo, I get Rath the Bozo who can't seem to find his own bum with both hands, a wall mirror and someone directing him.

The parts dealing with O339 were great. She kicked butt. She was smart and knew when to lay low and when to fight back. She had a plan and she knew how to adjust that plan as circumstances changed. WHY couldn't this series have been about her?

Overall, while Platt hasn't written any atrociously bad books, he certainly hasn't written any very good books. I'm done sampling the Mediocre Buffet.

★★★☆☆

• Rath's Deception (Book 1)