Title: A Mind for Killing: Book 6 of the Mercenary’s Salvation
Author: Anthony M. Johnson
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 9781514488959
Pages: 268
Genre: Fiction/Mystery & Detective/Women Sleuths
Reviewed by: C.C. Thomas
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Author Anthony M. Johnson brings futuristic sci-fi, feminism, and super sleuthing all under the same cover in A Mind for Killing. This story is the sixth in the Mercenary’s Salvation series, but readers will have no problem getting up to speed on the action right from page one.
Sylvester Jaden, the main character, is one you can’t help but like…even though she is very unlikeable. Perhaps her biggest problem as a person is her utter lack of humanity. As an almost-complete machine, she lacks emotion and seems to prefer her hard-wiring to interactions with those around her. As one reads on, though it is easy to see the guards she puts up is to protect her from the one thing she hasn’t yet replaced—her too soft heart. Soon, Sylvester’s dry humor and impatience with the lowly humans she interacts with will ring true in your own very human heart and mind. After all, who hasn’t been annoyed when someone forgets to wipe their feet and ruins a perfectly good rug? While we humans would simply bite down on such a trivial irritation, Sylvester handles it in such a way that will have you longing for her life where irritations are dealt with swiftly and effortlessly, and delightfully wickedly.
As soon as you start reading Sylvester’s story, you’ll like her more and realize she isn’t so different from you, even though she lives decades in the future and has very little of her own frail body left. Sylvester is a retired FBI agent trying to find a new place in the world and understand her role in it. When old bosses (and romantic interests) come calling, Sylvester is distressed to discover her new assignment is her estranged brother, Adrian, who has been accused of becoming a murderer. To solve the case, she’ll have to go back into service with some technological enhancements to help while also some partners to hinder. Naturally, the case isn’t so cut and dry. Where’s the fun in that? Instead, Sylvester has to reluctantly call in favors and figure out complicated intrigues to set the world right.
A Mind for Killing is a delightful mix of many genres, from feminism at its most powerful to sci-fi futuristic at its most strange. That mixed genre really makes for a fascinating read. Johnson blends genres, genders, timelines, and plot twists into a mix that turns out feeling just right. What’s especially pleasing about the book is the welcoming tone. If you’ve shied away from sci-fi because it feels like you need a science degree to understand it, you won’t have that problem here. The characters, settings, and situations are very accessible to the reader and you won’t have to know complicated scientific concepts to understand what’s going on. If you’ve never read the series before, you’ll definitely want to go back and read from the beginning. Then, you’ll want to know when the next installment is coming out in this continuing saga of the inhuman and too human life of Sylvester.
