Cormorant Run

April 24, 2017
Saintcrow (She-Wolf and Cub) dives into the psychologies of greed and survival in a flawed fantastical postapocalyptic adventure. For reasons still unknown, the Event took place, opening rifts filled with dangerous creatures and deadly phenomena. Governments quickly stepped in to explore, map, and exploit the rifts, despite understanding nothing about them. This gives rise to a small group of specialists called rifters who make their illegal livelihoods going where everyone else fears to tread. Eighty-six years after the Event, Svin is a rifter who was incarcerated with the worst of the worst in Guantánamo Bay. A corrupt government official offers her freedom in exchange for leading a select team of scientists and soldiers to the Cormorant, the holy grail of rifting. Guided by clues left by her now-deceased lover and mentor, Svin must keep these men safe, despite their conflicting loyalties. Saintcrow’s skill at intermingling moments of action, thoughtfulness, and outright horror ensures a thrilling lack of equilibrium. Unfortunately, the book is somewhat ponderous and occasionally dense, and multiple perspectives bring confusion rather than dimension. Agent: Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman Literary.

April 15, 2017
A down-and-dirty caper set in a dangerous and enigmatic world.Svinga doesn't trust anybody. Years in prison have taught her to guard herself carefully. So when the commander of Site QR-715 has her hauled out of Guantanamo, Svinga has no illusions--Kopelund wants the Cormorant, and he doesn't much care who dies getting it. But Svinga is a rifter. She's got instincts that normal people don't have. Most people can't handle the mysterious, almost carnivorous landscapes created in the cataclysmic, still-unexplained Event. But rifters have a kind of sixth sense for them. And those instincts will help Svinga navigate a tricky situation--a dangerous mission into an unpredictable landscape with a team that's mostly dead weight except for the one who wants her dead. The goal: the legendary Cormorant, a kind of rifter Holy Grail. The obstacles in the way: anything the Rift can throw at them. The makings of a good, gritty adventure are all here, but the story gets bogged down in exposition early on. Saintcrow (The Marked, 2016, etc.) spends a lot of time introducing a cast of characters who remain an almost-indistinguishable blur of grim grittiness. The pace picks up when the team enters the Rift, but given how uniformly unpleasant most of the characters are, the body count lacks the impact it might have had. A slow start and lack of compelling characters hold this back from becoming the gripping adventure it wants to be.

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June 15, 2017

No one knows for sure what caused the event that opened rifts across the Earth and killed those caught inside. Despite the devastation, some entered these anomalies and returned, bringing with them strange, valuable technologies. When Ashe, the most famous of the rifters, dies, her student Svinga, who has been in prison for murder, is ordered to enter the Cormorant Rift and discover whatever killed Ashe, and bring it back. If she refuses the job, she rots in jail. Either way could be a death sentence, but Svinga has not survived this long without reasons. VERDICT Reading Saintcrow's ("Gallow and Ragged" series) postapocalyptic adventure is like riding a high-speed train. After a slow start owing to footnoted vernacular, the pace quickens and readers will be caught up in the excitement.--KC

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