Flash

Absolutely fantastic. Another book I couldn't put down. I've been doing pretty well in terms of picking books recently.


Flash is a fantastic piece of sci-fi, absolutely gripping. Jonat resigned from the Marines in a great storm after witnessing one too many incidents of corruption, of being sent where the corporate world wanted him sent to suppress competition rather than to fight a battle against the real bad guys. Now he's a consultant to companies using 'prod placement'--a method of advertising that involves putting a string of chords into tv programmes. The chords are associated with particular products, and thus advertising can be slipped in to almost any sort of programme. But then he gets commissioned to do a report into the use of res-chords in political campaigns. The equivalent, say, of Gordon Brown campaigning with Kellogg's cornflakes sat in the background. Or, let's say, Barrack Obama's use of the slogan from Bob the Builder :). The only problem is, someone doesn't want the report published. Or more accurately, someone wants him dead. Jonat finds himself not only relying on the skills that once made him a rising star in the marines, but is forced to take on responsibilities he would never have imagined.

The characters are, as in the other books by L.E. Modessitt Jr, fantastically believable and intriguing. The plot is utterly gripping, it's really a book you can't put down (slight problem if you actually need to do something, as it's a fairly long one too...). It also takes a good look at political systems, at the problems we have today, and at what it means to be human. Can't recommend it enough.