The Trials
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4.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
No way out but forward:
Lieutenant James Shelley and his squad of US Army soldiers were on a quest for justice when they carried out the unauthorized mission known as First Light. They returned home to America to face a court-martial, determined to expose the corruption in the chain of command that compelled their actions. But in a country still reeling from the nuclear terrorism of Coma Day, the courtroom is only one battlefield. A new cycle of violence ignites when rumors of the elusive, rogue AI known as the Red go public—and Shelley is, once again, pulled into the fray.
Challenged by his enemies, driven by ideals, Shelley feels compelled to act—but are the harrowing choices he makes really his own, or are they made for him, by the Red? With millions of lives at stake in a game of nuclear cat-and-mouse, does it even matter?
"...wonderfully executed [...] A high-stakes thriller, propulsive action sequences, awesome military tech, and a world inhabited by richly developed characters and nasty political scheming, The Trials has it all. Nagata takes all of these elements and unflinchingly takes them on their natural progression to craft an immensely satisfying and action-filled story." —Michael Hicks, AudioBook Reviewer
"I really love these books most of all for what they are: some of the most action-packed and intelligent military science fiction to be released in years[...] I can confidently say that, if you loved The Red, chances are that you'll love The Trials too." —Stefan Raets, Tor.com
"Where other books might have been overshadowed by a book as good as The Red: First Light, The Trials manages to shine." —Anthony Vicino, SF Signal
The Trials aptly continues the terse and involving story begun in The Red: First Light [...] Like the best middle installments of trilogies, The Trials moves us deeper into the psyches and lives of the characters we have met, while still broadening the threat to the world and setting up a huge payoff. —Sharon Browning, Litstack
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nagata's second near-future thriller starts more sedately than did The Red, the first book in her high-octane trilogy. U.S. Army Lieutenant James Shelley and the survivors of his cybernetically linked Apocalypse Squad are standing trial for kidnapping a billionaire and bringing her to justice for her role in the use of nuclear weapons against the United States. After the court-martial, the president pardons the soldiers, because public opinion is overwhelmingly in their favor. Now a civilian, and apparently no longer protected by the AI called the Red, Shelley is targeted by assassins and quickly learns that other billionaire traitors still have nuclear devices to deploy. Now expressly working for a vigilante organization, he and his squad undertake a series of violence-laden missions in order to recover those devices. Nagata's perfect conspiracy fantasy equally condemns the U.S. government and the 1%. Three things make this a superior thriller: the author's powerfully depicted, flawed, but sympathetic protagonist; her equally well-drawn, believable and virtually cut-from-the-headlines depiction of highly competent women warriors; and the book's heart-pounding action sequences. Readers new to Shelley's adventures should probably start the series at its beginning.
