BLACKFIVE: Book Review: A Deeper Blue

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Book Review: A Deeper Blue

Posted By Laughing_Wolf

This is going to be a difficult review, for two large reasons. First, I never did post my review of Unto The Breach that I promised a long time ago (on a blog far, far away?). Second, there is a safety issue that throws me for a loop. Your mileage will vary, but for me it broke the suspension of disbelief.

The first part is easy to deal with: Unto The Breach is one of the best, if not the best, things I've ever read by John Ringo. It all works together and comes together with authority and power. The parts that offend some are not out in full force, though there is a scene which, though quite funny, did leave me desiring some minds-eye bleach for the visual it inspired as the wrong person was in chaps. At least in my, highly biased, opinion. That said, it was the best written, best balanced, best nuanced book so far -- and it continues the tradition of exploring facts and philosophy behind any number of topics including combat.

Yet, this is a problem too, for it was so well done that I expected that and more with A Deeper Blue. The book is a good read, and continues the Ringo traditions including discussions of fact and philosophy. There is a high body count, scum get what they deserve (some wonderful twists there), and we are treated to seeing even more character development and set-ups for what is to come.

My problems come from two scenes that break my suspension of disbelief.

The first one revolves around a high-level staff meeting. Having sat through some fairly high-level meetings, I will say that I would pay cash money to see what happens in the book happen at some such meetings. It is a dream, and, for me at least, the dream did not work -- no matter how much I wish it could.

The second issue involves electrical safety. Yes, electrical safety. There is a scene that if done in real life will kill the person involved, and is done only by amateur idiots (as in the plot to this mystery) or those who don't care/want to kill a person.

When you work with electricity, from wiring a house to working on electronics, you get taught a number of important lessons. The prime one being that one does NOT create a path across the heart, for if you disrupt and/or fry your sinoatrial node, you are toast. Period. Doesn't matter if it is household current or radio frequency, if you set up a path that takes the current across the heart, bad things can and do happen. Trust me on this, as I have been incredibly lucky on that count. As a cocky high school kid, I didn't bother with those rules doing some "quick work" on a silly scope that ended up sending me flying across a room (and I am lucky did not damage or kill me) -- making me the silly one. A somewhat older and more cautious me has still had a couple of things happen that did interesting things -- and made me even more cautious.

For that reason, this particular violation really blew things for me. It not only pulled me out of book space, it also raised a number of other questions for me and rather dimmed my enjoyment of the book. That said, I would urge you to read the book and decide for yourself. Most people are not going to get the same knock to suspension of disbelief as did I, and the book is indeed well worth the read. While I don't think it was as good as Unto The Breach, it is still a good read and shows growth for characters and for author.

All-in-all, it is a good read and I do recommend it. If you have not yet read Unto The Breach, then you really, really do need to get it and read it first. Trust me on that. While I don't think A Deeper Blue is up to that level, I also think it has a hard standard to meet. Enjoy both of them, and let me know what you think.

UPDATE: A reader has let me know that somehow the links I provided also let one download for free. I have removed the direct links for now, until I figure out why this happened...

UPDATE II: Think there wasn't a real issue, just someone not used to getting Jim's "first taste free" hook