Book Review: A Justified State

I enjoy Iain’s posts and so ordered my copy from Amazon which arrived last week.

Our main characters are Danny, a State Cop grieving the loss of his family, Gabriella our assassin and Phillips, a Secret Service guy.
The book gives good descriptions of a world in the not so distant future, where technology has come a long way in prolonging life and automating jobs. Housing as we know it today is a rarity with people living in unit cubes, most food is artificially produced, power cuts are frequent due to an energy shortage, and a curfew is in place.
Clubs, entertainment, gambling and smoking are illegal, and law enforcement is a presence more than an active service.

The assassination of a politician takes place on page three, so we get straight into the story, fanning back to how Assassin and Victim met in the first chapter.
Afterwards,  Gabriella lies low and waits for her fee to be deposited into her bank account. It doesn’t happen and soon the chase is on for her to be silenced, but she gets away.
The question is, who hired her and why.

Danny and his partner are assigned to the case, and there is a question over their ability to solve it, and if The Powers That Be actually want it solved. Phillips is brought in as well, though he is more of the silent type and they begin to wonder why he’s there.

Who to trust, who are the good guys, and what are they trying to cover up?
The reasons are something different to the norm, though did cross my mind before the reveal.

I liked this because everything was feasible, and read it in three sittings.
It was nice to read something with plenty of action (I was running through the trees with her) and no bad language or pointless sex.

I’d recommend it and give it a damn good

Well done Iain. I’m looking forward to the next one.

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