SHADOWRUN STRIPER ASSASSIN BY NYX SMITH

Copyright 1993.

Tikki who is known as Striper is an assassin for hire. She has been hired by a Triad to take out rival Yakuza. She soon finds out though her assignment is a lie. The man who hired her is not a Triad, but someone possessed by an evil spirit. This spirit was created by an entertainment corporation. Bernard Ohara heads the subsidiary and has had a run in with Tikki back in Seattle. Tikki is a weretiger and can change into a tiger. She finds out the spirit has had her under a spell and killing executives of this corp. An assassin named Raman is a male weretiger and hired to take out Tikki. Only being of the same species, they unite and Tikki manages to break the spell. Now she and her newfound lover go after the evil spirit.

The character of Tikki appeared in the anthology book. Nyx got a chance to do a full book with the character. A solid entry in the series. At first my only complaint was that the character of Tikki was a bit too amoral. She was portrayed as this hunter that view all humans as prey. The man she works for kidnaps girls to torture and kill and she fine with that. She also seemed to kill indiscreetly. Not a very good protagonist for a story. When the spell is broken, though she shows remorse for her past behavior. It was her under a spell. Thus, she went with her lover to live in the wilds of Maine. Nyx would do two more books in the series, and one would be a sequel for Tikki.

SHADOWRUN NIGHT’S PAWN BY TOM DOWD

Copyright 1993

Jason Chase is a shadowrunner. One day he gets a visit from a young girl that he was hired to bodyguard as a kid. She is on the run from terrorists. She has stumbled on a plot to assassinate her father who heads a major tech corporation. She needs to get to her mother in Seattle to warn her father since she is estranged from him. Chase takes her from New York to Texas to Denver evading various forces out to get them. He soon finds out the plot is also directed at him, and a person though long dead is still alive.

This is the first of two books Dowd did for the Shadowrun series. He is a good writer and has some well fleshed out characters. It did seem to start out slow and does meander around a bit. If you stick with it though you get an unexpected twist and understanding of the big picture. The book does end on a note that seemed to set it up for a possible sequel. His next book was a completely different story.

THE ADVISORS BY CURT RICH

Copyright 1985.

Jerry Harris is a young 23-year-old 1st lieutenant assigned as an advisor to the ARVN for a tour from 1969 to 1970. He has to put up with the incompetence of the troops he leads as well as incompetent American officers and an inflexible and rigid Army bureaucracy. He transforms from a scared man who stutters to a very competent soldier. In the last days of his tour is captured by the NVA. He kills his captors and escapes. Only to find himself arrested for being AWOL. Luckily, he is exonerated but has to write a letter apologizing for stealing a .45 from the enemy.

This book tells the story of a MACV advisor through the style of a journal. I will say this is the most cynical book about the Vietnam war I ever read. The author has clear disdain for the South Vietnamese troops. He is forced to eat their food which consists of rice, rancid pork and chicken cut up bones and all. The Army bureaucracy and command are incompetent except for some exceptions. If you want a book that shows why we lost that war, this is the one to read.

Now I think the writer was a genuine advisor in the war. There is a very authentic feel to it. Some was clearly a bit exaggerated. The ending where he killed six NVA with his bare hands and escapes, only to be arrested for being AWOL. The .45 he had was registered to the ARVN and so was assumed he stole it. I’m sure he had to kind of spice up the story. This was Zebra Men’s Adventure, and it would be expected to jazz up the story for the audience. There probably was a grain of truth to the inflexible bureaucracy and incompetence going on. I think this book is an excellent one to read if you want to get a feel for being an advisor during the war.