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When a supposedly routine mission goes wrong and a civilian
is hurt, the past comes back to haunt Sydney. The personal
passion which makes Syd such a good operative threatens to
impede her efficiency as she frets over the collateral damage,
and the ghosts of her own past which have come back to haunt
her. The past not only comes back to haunt Syd, as the investigation
continues it appears that Vaughn's past has also come back
to haunt him, threatening the future of his family...
Collateral
Damage is an original novel based on the television show
Alias. The book is written by Pierce Askegren, who
is the author of a number of genre books as well as the first
two books of his own Inconstant Moon trilogy.
The
novel starts slow, even though the opening scenes - of the
operation going wrong and Sydney being in relative mortal
danger - should have been exciting, it just doesn't feel that
way. I read and reread the sequence trying to work out just
why the opening chapter didn't feel exciting or dangerous.
The only thing that springs to mind is that, in the back of
your mind, you know that there was never any danger involved.
If Sydney had died at this point it would be a very short
book. A little more detective work at the front of the book
to increase tension would have been nice.
The rather flat response to the book lasts for the first one
hundred pages. Don't get me wrong its not that the writing
is bad, its just nothing really happens that excites. This
changes when Syd goes to South America and the plot starts
to take off. Once it gets into its stride the novel becomes
more interesting.
Another
potential problem with Collateral Damage is its continual
references to plot points from the show which are dropped
in without sufficient explanation. There are lots of references
to Sydney's and other characters pasts which are just confusing
with the limited background information offered here.
I'm
not sure which audience, apart from Alias fans, this
book would appeal to. It's over reliance on the show to provide
detailed background may lead to an unnecessary level of confusion
in the uninitiated reader.
If you're a fan of the show then it may keep you going for
a couple of hours between seasons, otherwise it's not a strong
enough spy story or thriller for the casual reader.
Charles
Packer
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