Things finally are coming to a head for sexy one-woman army Cassandra Kresnov: a de facto occupying fleet is surrounding her newly adopted homeworld of Callay, there’s a superhuman killer loose that seems strangely familiar, and her boyfriend’s just told her that there’s a self-destruct mechanism inside her skull.

KILLSWITCH – the third book in Joel Shepherd’s series that started in Australia in 2001 and was brought to North America last year by Pyr with CROSSOVER and BREAKAWAY – is another remarkable effort that remains true to its predecessors and shows Shepherd’s evolution as a writer.

His strengths are on full display: Action is electric and infused with the rough-edged reality of warfare, the characters are multifaceted and introspective, and the sexy quotient is once again high. Kresnov as a character has matured in a delicious way, staying hot and ultra-bad-ass while keeping the self-examining, self-reliant emotional core that makes her such an appealing heroine, if a tad melodramatic.

One of Kresnov’s protégés is now in the mix, and her hope eventually to have a more “normal” life really drives home the moral questions that have existed since society has needed soldiers. But for every page of existential turmoil, there are two pages of cool chases, cloak-and-dagger manipulations, fistfights, gunfights, rocket fights, and the rest of Shepherd’s wild and wooly menagerie of awesome. So many times when you get books with covers as great as Stephan Martiniere’s, the contents are a letdown, but the kinetic thrill-ride of the Pyr covers really captures the essence of what’s great about this series.

Unfortunately, one of the big flaws of the first book migrates into the third as well: The plot is extremely dense, perhaps unnecessarily so. There are factions, factions within factions – which also have their own warring factions – and political alliances that never get explained to my satisfaction anywhere, save for the inside-the-jacket summary. It’s like finding a beetle in the two scoops of awesome pistachio ice cream you bought on a childhood summer vacation, because the rest of the book is great.

Once again, Shepherd’s strengths outweigh his weaknesses, and the interior stories and individual sequences overshadow the main plot’s obtuse nature, bringing this three-book cycle to a close with a satisfying explosion that’s most likely filled with bits of people and assorted shrapnel. Big thanks to Pyr for bringing these books to the States – it’s nice to know someone’s got our backs in regard to international shipping costs and a tough exchange rate – and kudos to Shepherd for completing this initial trilogy. One book is tough enough, but three books is the start of a career. –Ryun Patterson

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BREAKAWAY by Joel Shepherd
• CROSSOVER by Joel Shepherd