Germline

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Germline (Subterrene War Trilogy, Book 1) T. C. McCarthy Orbit Mass Market Paperback. (2011), Edition: ARC This is an intense book. Intense enough that I had to read it twice before I could begin to fairly review it. It is set in a near future war-that-could-be. It is a strange sort of coming-of-age story about a Stars & Stripes reporter who has the assignment because his drug addiction and related screw-ups have effectively excluded him from any 'polite' reporting of the shiny upper echelons stationed in and around his home of Washington, DC. It is an extremely gritty story with some very evocative descriptions of war. The protagonist, Oscar Wendell, remains a civilian throughout, but finds himself thinking and acting more and more like a soldier for survival and in support of the collection of companions he acquires in his journey. Along the way he loses his drug addiction and gains more than maturity. The author was a CIA analyst when the American entered the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He clearly used that experience to create an extremely complex and believable landscape through which our complement travel. It challenges survival, perseverance, adaptability and strength of spirit. None of the principal characters come out at the far end bearing any resemblance to who they were in our first encounters. The 'ringer' troops that the multi-national forces are fielding are "genetically engineered supersoldiers" -- who always take the appearance of beautiful young ladies aged 15-18. At age 18 they begin to degenerate and are generally 'discharged' from service by way of a well aimed flechette. The 'Gs' are emotionally indifferent to the 'normals' with whom they deploy, except in terms of purely practical deployment discipline. There are a few who are more curious about humanity and a couple spend time getting to know Oscar very well -- including in the biblical sense. This seems to be part of a much bigger story. I would not be surprised to learn that the author finished the whole trilogy and only upon editorial consideration did it become the three books it's expected to be. I look forward to books two and three because I know there's got to be more to this striking realistic near future scenario. It is a book that leaves me with very strong impressions, but very few words.