Rod Pennington’s PRYOR & CUMMINGS: The GAIA Incident is a vigorous and entertaining mystery, with an engaging plot and an intriguing (and somewhat chilling) resolution. The characters here are mostly James Bond-style wish-fulfillment: Pryor is a former war hero with street smarts and brilliant detective skills who is unironically described by a love interest as an “alpha male”, Cummings combines technical skills with youthful-but-promising potential as a detective, and Brooke is not only a master hacker but also a master political manipulator and, of course, blessed with startlingly gorgeous looks, a vigorously assertive personality (she is also described at one point as “the ultimate Alpha Female”), and an extremely wealthy and powerful grandfather (Pryor’s ex-father-in-law) who would do practically anything for her, and can. Even the Pryor family dog, a retired K9 named Blitzkrieg, is a perfectly-trained powerhouse fully capable of defending his humans from any threat they might face.
Reader’s are not here for gritty realism or for flawed characters experiencing growth, they’re here for an adventure, and the satisfaction of watching their heroes walk all over the less likeable characters in the book, and they certainly get both, in spades. This book does not drag at any point, and there are no dull moments – even scenes of dialogue and exposition are handled with wit, energy, and charm. The sociopolitical commentary can get a bit overbearing in places, but it’s at least reasonably integral to the story rather than being shoved where it doesn’t make sense, and it’s handled with a sense of mischievous humor, not taking itself too seriously. The science is at least reasonably plausible to an intelligent layperson, and the scientific and technological developments feel realistic, in places disturbingly so.
There are a couple of very clever twists at the end, which strike a solid balance between “setting enough clues in place for the intelligent and careful reader to figure out at least some of what’s going on,” and “giving itself away too easily.” The ending is satisfying but leaves enough ends loose for a sequel, if the author so desires. All in all, PRYOR & CUMMINGS: The GAIA Incident is an entertaining way to pass a pleasant afternoon – it would make a great beach read – and will appeal particularly to readers who like action-adventures where the Good Guys get to kick some serious rear end with suavity, know-how and charm.
An energetic, intelligent mystery with some clever twists and a cast of brilliant, highly-skilled characters, Rod Pennington’s PRYOR & CUMMINGS: The GAIA Incident will keep readers engaged from beginning to end.
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader