Cowboy Angels

November 22, 2010
In this gripping tale, which calls to mind both the Stargate TV series and any number of spy thrillers, scientists have discovered a way to travel between alternate universes. The United States in the universe that calls itself the Real wants to bring other versions of itself into a Pan-American Alliance, in effect a series of American client states. Adam Stone, a retired agent specializing in covert missions through the gate, is called back to the field when his ex-partner, Tom Waverly, apparently goes rogue and begins killing different versions of Eileen Barrie, a noted mathematician, in a series of alternate universes. While tracking down Waverly, Stone discovers a byzantine plot to subvert governments across the multiverse. McAuley (The Quiet War) provides nonstop action, a believably damaged hero, and a complex set of mysteries that will keep the reader breathlessly turning pages.

December 1, 2010

Alternate-reality sci-fi thriller from the underrated author of Gardens of the Sun (2010), which first appeared in Britain in 2007.

In the 1960s, an alternate America, which calls itself the Real invented a device known as a Turing Gate that gave access to other realities. The government set up the Company to use such gates to spread, by all available means including war, subversion and power politics, democracy and Real American values to other less ideal versions of America. Finally, however, the price Real America paid proved too high, and new President Jimmy Carter halted the program against bitter Company opposition. Retired operative Adam Stone responds when asked to bring in his supposedly dead former comrade, Tom Waverly, who has embarked on a murderous rampage across different realities. Aided by Waverly's daughter, Linda, Adam tracks Tom down, only to find he's dying of radiation poisoning. Tom, quite unapologetic over the murders, hints at a deadly conspiracy and claims to have a plan to make everything right. Linda and Stone discover they've stumbled into a deep black op, GYPSY, run by renegade Company operatives, whose stated aim is to make America triumphant in all realities. And, according to Tom, GYPSY has acquired a time travel device. Tom, though, clearly has his own competing agenda, and Stone doesn't believe him or trust him at all. So, does all this add up? Well, what with all the theories and extrapolations, headlong pace and tantalizing glimpses of what-if realities lurking in back, it's hard to say.

Not McAuley's best, but exciting enough to keep the thriller crowd on board.

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January 1, 2011

The first Turing gate, opened in 1963 in a high-energy laboratory, paved the way for travel to alternate versions of Earth and led to a crusade by CIA agents from the version of Earth known as the Real to locate other worlds and "liberate" them from communist or fascist influences. When a change in government puts an end to the alternate world interventions, agent Adam Stone retires to live in a low-tech version of Earth until he receives word that a rogue agent--his former partner--has gone on a killing spree that involves one target in many different versions of the United States. The author of "The Confluence Trilogy" (Child of the River; Ancient of Days; Shrine of Stars) tackles the complex subject of parallel dimensions in a multiuniverse sf thriller that showcases his lucid storytelling and his grasp of hard science. VERDICT Recalling the style and subject matter of the late Philip K. Dick, this title should appeal to McAuley's growing readership and fans of alternate history.

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