MJ-12: Inception
A MAJESTIC-12 Thriller
-
-
4.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $7.99
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
A team of superhuman covert operatives emerges from the ashes of World War II in a Cold War-era paranormal espionage thriller from acclaimed genre-bender Michael J. Martinez.
It is a new world, stunned by the horrors that linger in the aftermath of total war. The United States and Soviet Union are squaring off in a different kind of conflict, one that’s fought in the shadows, where there are whispers of strange and mysterious developments. . .
Normal people across the United States have inexplicably gained paranormal abilities. A factory worker can heal the sick and injured. A schoolteacher bends emotions to her will. A car salesman alters matter with a simple touch. A former soldier speaks to the dying and gains their memories as they pass on.
They are the Variants, controlled by a secret government program called MAJESTIC-12 to open a new front in the Cold War.
From the deserts of Nevada to the palaces of Istanbul, the halls of power in Washington to the dark, oppressive streets of Prague, the Variants are thrown into a deadly game of shifting alliances. Amidst the seedy underbelly of nations, these once-ordinary Americans dropped in extraordinary circumstances will struggle to come to terms with their abilities as they fight to carve out a place for themselves in a world that may ultimately turn against them.
And as the MAJESTIC-12 program will soon discover, there are others out there like them, some with far more malevolent goals. . .
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Martinez's faltering series launch, ordinary people encounter an unusual form of energy that turns them into superhumans and are then studied by the government, which hopes to exploit their abilities for national security. Readers who've never encountered the X-Men may find this premise interesting, but others are likely to find the novel's history and arc predictable. The action begins right after the end of WWII in Berlin, as American Frank Lodge encounters "a spherical white light," an experience that leads to his being able to "absorb things" from the lives of the dying. Lodge is just one of a group of so-called Variants gathered (and housed in Area 51) by the U.S. Army, which is seeking both to understand the transformative phenomenon and to harness the Variants' abilities for the developing Cold War. None of the characters are particularly memorable, and the psychological impact of their new talents is underplayed.
