K.M. Krenik delivers a thrilling and timely warning with Danger Lies Within, a wildly imaginative first piece of the Ranfurly Mysteries series.
A vigilante billionaire in a covert group of rebels is hunting those who prey on young women and children, but moonlighting as a crimefighter would be much easier with reliable childcare. Courtney is a widowed mother of two, who lost her politically outspoken husband to the violent “Peace Alliance” regime, and needs a new job now that her own kids have left the nest. As the live-in tutor for Lord Robert’s children, Courtney is quickly drawn into a mind-boggling world of luxury, power, risk, and deception – a world her son has already entered without her knowledge.
It doesn’t take long for sparks to fly between Lord Robert and the sprawling estate’s newest resident, but their fiery connection will require the deconstruction of well-built walls. The evil PAX billionaires stand on the side of AI expansion and digital domination, while Lord Robert and members of CAPE are the “good guys,” surviving in the analog shadows, rescuing trafficking victims, and staying ahead of gun-toting totalitarian drones. Huge swaths of the population in the novel are “chipped” with implants that make any evasion of authorities even harder.
In this surprising mix of political thriller and sci-fi/fantasy, magical creatures and advanced sci-fi tech are not the stuff of dreams, but an accepted part of reality. Dragons are an endangered species, not mythical beasts, and flying cars aren’t just a potential, but a commercial product, albeit an expensive one. This blank check setting grants the author boundless room for creativity and genre crossover, without forcing readers to suspend much disbelief.
Grounding the novel firmly in the present, the globalist cabal storyline that runs through the novel is a less-than-subtle nod at contemporary sentiments in the real world, where the capitalist billionaire class continues to fuel wealth inequality and monopolize power. In that vein, Krenik’s storytelling feels both prophetic and allegorical, sitting at the crossroads of satire and dire warning, addressing issues of corporate influence, corrupt law enforcement, technological ethics, and moral responsibility in the face of an immoral state. Characters like Nick Drake and McGregor keep the anti-establishment rhetoric flowing in the prose, with much of the premise based on rebellion and resistance.
On the editorial side, there is room for improvement in terms of formatting, tone consistency, tense agreement, and believability of the dialogue, which occasionally feels leading and stilted, rather than authentic to how people communicate. There is also a tendency to tell, rather than show, with some descriptive lines and action sequences feeling flat. That said, the relationships between characters are sharp and sincere, such as the tense exchanges between Courtney and her mother, and the playful teasing between Robert and his “assistant” Vivienne. There are undeniable similarities between Lord Robert and Bruce Wayne, down to the underground lair with an exit through a waterfall, but Krenik creates a refreshing spin on the reclusive rich hero trope with her genre-defying storyline.
Small issues in execution aside, this is a disarmingly good read from an exciting voice in dystopian sci-fi, unveiling a uniquely original world that will appeal equally to readers of science fiction, fantasy, and thriller fiction.
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