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Jade Sky
Jade Sky
Jade Sky
Ebook301 pages3 hours

Jade Sky

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this ebook

Matt Rowley hasn't been human for years. A commando for the International Council on Augmented Phenomena, he hunts down superhuman monsters the military can't handle. But his abilities come with a price: bloodthirsty whispers that urge him to acts of terrible violence. An encounter with a giant, angelic being with wings of smoke and shadow casts him into a world of inhuman brutality, demonic possession, and madness, where he must choose between his family and his soul.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherJournalStone
Release dateMay 16, 2014
ISBN9781940161440
Jade Sky
Author

Patrick Freivald

By day, Patrick Freivald is an author, high school teacher (physics, robotics, American Sign Language), and beekeeper. He lives in Western New York with his beautiful wife, two birds, three dogs, too many cats, and several million stinging insects. A member of the HWA and ITW, he's always had a soft spot for slavering monsters of all kinds. He is the author of Twice Shy, Special Dead, Blood List (with his twin brother Phil), Jade Sky, Black Tide, as well as the novella Love Bites, a growing legion of short stories, and the Jade Sky graphic novella (with Joe McKinney) for Dark Discoveries magazine. There will be more.

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Reviews for Jade Sky

Rating: 3.5987654320987654 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

81 ratings36 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I finally read a Patrick Freivald novel. Not sure what took me so long. JADE SKY is the first in the Matt Rowley series. (I hate recapping a novel in a review. The authors do this job when they write the back cover synopsis) However . . .There is a lot going on in JADE SKY. The futuristic book seems to take place presently. The book opens with explosive action, and closes with action. And on the pages in between, action. Matt Rowley is a commando for the International Council on Augmented Phenomena (ICAP). These modified military men have regenerative abilities, and some can see the future before it happens. Jade is a highly addictive drug.As is always the case, there is a war on drugs. Rowley is hellbent on putting an end to the drug trade operation. Things get crazy when an augmented person gets bonked (or, essential, malfunctions and becomes homicidal). Rowley quickly learns it is not safe trusting anyone. His hunt for answers gets him closer to the truth behind the drug Jade, and the cartels possibly responsible for the growing problem.Nothing is ever as it seems. With drug cartels, and charismatic cult leaders, questionable priests, and an untrustworthy government, Rowley is forced to depend on a small, tight-knit band of commandos to complete the ultimate mission of saving the world from a complete and utter apocalypse.Freivald can write. There is no question about it. He sounds like he was a lifer in the military, and saw too much action. The fight scenes, and weapons descriptions are tight, and detailed. The characters are well developed. Each is distinct and easily visualized in my mind's eye. The dialogue is authentic, and perfectly used moving the plot forward. And then there is the action. I might have mentioned it is continuous? It is. And well done. I breezed through the book in two sittings. JADE SKY is taut, and tense. The suspense builds, and builds, and spurts like machine gun fire, is expelled here, and there, and up there, and down there . . .Thankfully, I was wise enough when I ordered this book, to purchase Book 2, BLACK TIDE, at the same time. I will begin reading that tomorrow. And if I am not mistaken, a third book is going to be released soon. One thing I like when I find a new author to read, is reading everything that author ever wrote. In other words, Frievald, I am a fan!Phillip TomassoAuthor of Severed Empire: Wizard's Rise, and Vaccination
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the first novel I’ve read from Patrick Freivald, and what strikes me most is the fast-action pace, and the dialogue and narration that hits you like a freight train, all good qualities in a novel. Freivald has created an interesting world in this novel. His main character leads a team of augmented agents, himself being augmented. This makes them superhuman in many ways. The augmentations do different things for the different characters. Some have incredible strength; most have amazing recuperative abilities; some have pre-cognitive abilities. Their main mission is to put down other augmented people who have lost their minds, mostly from abuse of the drug, jade.The novel starts off as more of an action, sci-fi novel than anything else. Despite the superhuman characteristics of the characters, everything is explained through natural means. That is until there was a supernatural element introduced to it. For me, the book got better with the introduction of this supernatural element. It added a nice layer of texture to the story, and made for more intrigue rather than people just being augmented by jade and these treatments. There are some spiritual and religious elements to the story as well. From a technical perspective, the writing is sound and all of the story telling elements were well done. The action builds to a crescendo, and the ride was enjoyable. I’m not quite sure how to classify this novel as horror or fantasy or dark fiction, but whatever classification, it simply works.Carl Alves - author of Blood Street
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jade Sky is full of action and suspense. It also has elements of horror and the super-nautual. It has non-stop action but also has fully developed characters. Each chapter ups the ante on the thrills and action. You will not want to put this book down until the very end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book a series that at times feels like the second, like maybe the reader is missing something. Also, the way the book starts might have you checking to see if you are really on page one. This aside, this is a pretty good book. Once you get going, the story picks up and the lost feeling fades as Freivald lets you in on what's going on. After that, it's full speed ahead with a fast paced story in a well built world.The action is solid, the dialogue is natural and the characters likable. If this continues as a series, it is a series I look forward to.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I really wanted to like this book. I sounded like something I would have normally enjoyed reading, but it just didn't grab me like I hoped it would.Overall, not a bad read, just a bit confusing at times. Like a few other readers noted, it seems to be an amalgamation of several different books rolled into one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jade Sky written by Patrick Freivald is an action packed story that can’t decide whether it wants to fight a war to eliminate the drug “Jade,” take on an Indiana Jones like mission to hunt down and kill an evil angels, or get to the bottom of a government conspiracy . Mix this with the main character's guilty feelings about why he is doing what he is doing and wanting to get out of the business of killing so he can support his wife and soon-to-be newborn child. This story is not for the squeamish – action, explosions, and hand-to-hand combat with a lot of gushing blood with body parts flying everywhere. The main character, Matt Rowley, an augmented human (who constantly is being upgraded) is a likable character. He struggles to have a normal life and keeping his humanity while fighting the constant babbling of voices that urge him on to violence. Although the story is uneven as Mr. Freivald weaves government conspiracy and the supernatural with an underlying theme of the endless war on drugs (no matter what century humankind is in), there is a good story development story. The last 50 pages reveals all and feels a little rushed. There are pop culture references (such as Justin Beiber singing on tinny speakers) that don’t seem to connect in this futuristic dystopic society. These specific details that have no importance tend and confuse the reader. The ending certainly indicates there will be a sequel in the works.Jade Sky is entertaining and could be made into a solid action flick. The writing, while choppy at times, uses good imagery and creates a sympathetic character who, like us all, constantly questions and second guesses his decisions while plodding down the path of life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've read other works by Patrick Freivald, so I had an idea of what to expect when I opened this book; however, I was disappointed. This book was a mixture of the Walking Dead, Fast and the Furious, and a Dan Brown conspiracy theory thriller rolled into one. In the near future, humans will be augmented with a drug called Jade. This drug makes users "bonk out," causing them to kill the closest person to them. A government orgnization, ICAP, was born out of this problem, and ICAP's mission is to kill the drug dealers and rid the world of Jade. One scene features zombies in a jail, then one scene was a car race through a city, and another scene about a Holocaust survivor who turned out to be an angel. Too many different storylines crammed into one, made for a "I-don't-know-what-I just-read" feeling. I did love the Harry Potter reference ("Are we fighting Voldemort?"), though.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sometime in the near future, augment soldiers are the most powerful weapons on the battlefield. Many having multiple augmentations, they heal normally fatal injuries in minutes, enjoy super strength and tireless endurance, and may even see briefly into the future, helping them react to incoming attacks. Seems like a good gig if you can get it...except there is one thing common with all "augs." They eventually "bonk" and spiral into an uncontrollable rage, killing anyone they can get their hands on. Part of the job of "augs" involve putting down "bonks" who go, well, bonkers.This premise should be enough for a wealth of material, but for some reason the author decided to incorporate this into Christian mythology. An ancient creature was found during an excavation of Nazi bunkers years after the war ended...this creature was still alive and turns out to be some kind of fallen angel. She is responsible for making the substance that infuses and controls the augs. But she has other designs on them.The story was often disjointed, as if shifting scenes in a movie. This interrupted the flow of the story, and often I had to read on in confusion until things started to clear up (then re-read the confusing parts to make sure I didn't miss anything). The characters were well done, and the action scenes vivid. If only the story was a more coherent whole.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was not my general choice for what to read, but it was definitely interesting and engaging. I will first note that if you have a weak stomach, this probably isn't the book for you, as it's pretty graphic in the blood and guts department, but that's not something I have a problem with, so it wasn't a problem for me. In general, this is definitely a plot driven book, with a ton of action, which was quite a bit of fun. I basically thought of it as being a lot like Wolverine meets Dan Brown conspiracy theories. The world that was depicted was really fascinating, with people who have the ability to be augmented ("aug"ed), which can give them a variety of skills, from being able to be healed, to see the future. At first it's billed as just a new drug that allows for these enhancements, but as the novel progresses, the truth comes to light...and it isn't pretty. Tying in the nephelim was what originally caught my attention, and without giving away anything more, it was really kind of cool. Anyhow, overall if you're looking for a good beach read (and don't mind a little b&g) then this one's for you!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book from LibraryThing. When I first read the description of the book I felt like I knew what type of book it was going to be. The blurb mentioned that the main character, Matt Rowley, was a commando for the International Council on Augmented Phenomena and that he hunted down superhuman monsters with his own augmented abilities. In my mind I thought that meant that this book was going to be a cross between Monster Hunter International and the Dresden Files. I love those series so I figured I would love this as well.As I started reading I found out that it wasn't going to be anything like those series, but that this wasn't a bad thing. Patrick Freivald was giving us something new. Imagine you are in a world that has the ability to augment humans. They can make them super strong, super-fast, give them the ability to regenerate and in some cases even see a few seconds in the future. There is a catch, however. If you augment yourself too much you will end up succumbing to the whispers in your mind and "bonking out". You end up killing anything else that is near. The more you augment the louder and stronger the whispering gets. With people augmenting themselves the government decided they needed a group of their own to handle these creatures, and so ICAP was born.In this book you follow Matt on a journey as he seeks answers to what has been done to him and whether what he has believed from the beginning is true. This book is full of furious, fast and blood drenched fighting. The story is fast paced and the main character is likable and is someone to whom you can relate (Even though he can reattach a limb that has been hacked off). The book takes you places you do not expect and dives into some esoteric religious topics. If you are looking for a fast read (the book is only 236 pages) that has a lot of action and some religion and magic thrown in then this is the book for you.Rating 4.25/5 Stars
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story is set in a future with manipulated super soldiers produced to police the activities of addicts using the compounds required for those manipulations. Addicts eventually go crazy and a killing spree follows (turns out the soldiers go crazy, too). The novel is very violent and really graphic about that violence. The twist comes in the origins of the chemicals used to produce the drugs. It's very conspiracy heavy with good guys and bad guys a little hard to discriminate. Overall, I thought it had a pretty good pace and an interesting story line. Character development was a light, but who could tell with all of the blood that was flowing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyable read overall.This novel was a little slow in the beginning and I got the feeling like I'd missed something. Possibly this was a book 2 or there was a prologue I missed but that went away fairly quickly and I found myself enjoying this one.Am looking forward to seeing what's next.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Second in a series, but I didn't need to read the first to get a sense of what was going on. Matt is an augmented human, a commando tasked with hunting down author augs and eliminating them when they bonk (aka go bonkers). His wife is struggling with addiction recovery and carrying a baby to term, his team has some new members that he may not be able to trust. Blossom is a superfast Japanese woman, Connor's an Irish hot head who wields a katana, Akash is the Canadian comic relief, Garrett is an 8 foot tall former Marine with impulse control problems. They're trying to bring down the drug lord who's spreading Jade, the street version of the augmentation drug that is highly addictive and leads quickly to bonking. It's a fast paced action book, focused mostly on the ass kicking since the team does it so well, but with a side of mystery as they try to figure out where the drugs are coming from and why certain cults have sprung up.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I am not a fan of the military science fiction subgenre, of which "Jade Sky" is a particularly gruesome and ultra-violent example. Despite that, it is well written. And he almost had me caring about the main character. I will give Patrick Freivald that much credit. Out of all things I've ever read, this most reminds me of Richard K. Morgan's "Altered Carbon". That is a compliment. But I'm still happy that it was so mercifully short.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jade Sky from Patrick Freivald, features Matt Rowley a normal Joe fighting the good fight except this guy heals super fast from the deadliest of injuries and has other adaptations. He works for ICAP (the International Council on Augmented Phenomena) who are in battle, fighting to control a super drug called Jade and the spread of Gerstner technologies.The characters are believable and the dialogue well written. The story is fast paced and most of the action and plot lines work well. If you like sci-fi/horror then you will like this book although a bit of a gorefest for me at times.However the ending was disappointing and would have prefered the chief baddie to have a more scientific base.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting twist on how to take over the world. Not having read any of Mr Freivald's other works, I was surprised by the ending. The big-bad was a surprise, also. Definitely need to see how Matt fares in his next adventure.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This was an Early Reviewers copy. I had a hard time with this one, and never managed to really get into it. It had a fairly hard war/gore edge that I am not a fan of (despite all the zombie books in my library). It also had a strongly Christian undertone, which I have a hard time not finding irritating. In general, if a novel is advertised as being Christian/overtly religious I tend to stay away from it, personal preference. If I had known this was written with a Christian agenda I would not have been interested.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pros: lots of action, realistic relationships Cons: a few plot points were problematic, esoteric slant might put off some readers, gory descriptions, some name confusionICAP agent Matt Rowley is given a small team of fellow augmented agents and tasked with taking down the Jade drug king pin Dawkins. But a lot of smaller problems must be dealt with before getting to the big one, and Matt starts to realize that not everything he believes about his crew, the augmentations they’re using, the drug, and ICAP itself is true.This is a high octane action adventure story with lots of blood, guts and gore. The first half of the book focuses on the drugs and augmentations (including bonks - people whose augmentations have made them go insane), giving it a military SF feel. The second half of the book becomes more of a cat and mouse chase with an esoteric plot element eventually taking the fore. There’s still a lot of action, but readers looking for a full on military style near future SF story might be thrown by the more religious and relationship elements that crop up.I loved that the relationships in the book were portrayed so realistically. The ICAP crew had communications and personality clashes, while still working well as a team. Meanwhile Matt and his wife, with her complicated pregnancy and fear of another miscarriage, helped ground the second half of the book. Matt’s motivations are solid and believable throughout the novel.I did question a few of the plot points in the last quarter of the book, which I’ll mention in the spoiler section below. I’m not a fan of excessive gore, but the book’s use of it wasn’t gratuitous, and it did emphasize the difficulty in killing augmented people. The esoteric antagonist had some pretty cool powers, making it a worthy bad guy for the team.Several characters were introduced together by first and last name. After that, they were sometimes called by first name, and sometimes by last - often by different people as part of the same conversation. I personally found this confusing and it took me a while to get all the names and people straight.While not perfect, this is an entertaining read that will keep you guessing.SpoilersI couldn’t understand how Janet was still employed by ICAP - and in such a high security position - when Dawkins was her brother. Sure Dawkins split off 10 years prior to this novel, but someone at the company must have known their connection and would have removed her. The fact that the book never addresses this issue is a problem as I constantly wondered when ICAP would attack her house, especially once Dawkins was freed from prison.The second plot point I had trouble with also occurred at the end of the book and comes in two parts. One, how and when did Blossom get the augments she used? And two, after reading that Matt felt sick after getting his own augments and that they took a day or two to surface, how did he inject himself during the final battle and have almost instantaneous use of his powers without any nausea or other negative side-effects? That directly contradicts what we’re told only a few chapters earlier.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A good story let down a little by some of the characterisation.The story starts in mid action as Matt Rowley and his fellow ICAP members are engaged in battle as part of their war to rid the world of Jade, a devastating new drug. However, despite the action, the story is slow to pick up as we are left to guess the meaning/significance of some of the comments and references that are specific to the story - for example it takes a while to work out what a ‘bonk’ is (nothing to do with the UK slang word)! It’s not that I would suggest that everything should be explained in great detail but I do think that the balance is slightly off.Nevertheless, it is worth sticking it out as the story itself is a very good one and, despite the slow start, it becomes an easy read as one picks up the terminology. The pace is good and it never becomes boring.In terms of the writing style I thought that Freivald handled the suspense well and both the dialogue and narrative feel natural and uncontrived. However, there were a few minor irritations for me such as the overuse of certain words (snorted and worry for example) and contemporary cultural references that make a setting some years ahead in the current century less believable.My biggest complaint though involves the female characters who are all some kind of one dimensional male fantasy with far too much focus on their sex appeal and a very unpleasant scene where our ‘hero’ (and in all other respects he fits the bill) plays the letch by watching an unsuspecting naked women through her window and making lewd comments. This really didn’t seem to fit with his character.I liked the story but think it would have been better without the Bond Girl characters.I received an Early Reviewer copy of this book via Library Thing in exchange for my honest review. I do not know the author personally and have no connection with the publisher, nor have I been offered any reward (monetary or otherwise) in exchange for a positive review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jade Sky (A Matt Rowley Novel) by Patrick FreivaldI received a review copy of this book thru LibraryThing Early ReviewersThe novel opens with augmented super soldiers from, ICAP (the International Council on Augmented Phenomena) in a pitched battle with smugglers, trying to close the trade in the drug Jade and stop the spread illegal augmentation to criminals.And the action continues when Sergeant Matt Rowley an augmented super soldier gets to form his own team to go after Dawkins, the biggest smuggler of all, and rumoured to be a former agent of ICAP.But when his own organisation, ICAP, send men after him and his family, Matt needs to quickly work out who he can trust.Jade sky is a fast pace story with plenty of action, and a couple of twists near the end.I was a little disappointed when the source of the augmentation turns out to be religious/ mystical/ magic, rather than scientific genetic manipulation.Overall a good book to start a new series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It took me a bit to get into this story, but once I did....it was 'Buckle up Buttercup'! What a thrill ride! Matt Rowley is a sort of regular Joe...if regular Joes were augmented to heal quickly, move fast, and hunt superhuman monsters. This is a helluva thriller about a guy and his team of augmented peeps. The language and slang took a bit to get used to, but I got into the swing soon enough. There's drug traffickers to chase down as well as angels...big scary ones who seem to be in charge of the drug trade. No one is as they appear to be, perfect for fast page-turning action. Cannot wait to read the next in the series. An author to follow fer shure!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It took me a while to really get into this book, because I couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be near-future Science Fiction or Cthulu style horror. However, once I determined that it was supposed to be BOTH, the book was a very good read. There's a lot of action, and the world-building is excellent.As you get further into the book, you can add historical fiction and conspiracy theory literature to the mix. All in all, a very fast paced, enjoyable read. I'll be looking forward to the next book in the series, if the author opts to write more. The ending of the story certainly left that open as an option, without making it a requirement.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review copyA great opening line will get your attention, draw you in, and make you want to know everything about what you're about to get yourself into as a reader. "Blood rained from the ceiling." And I'm hooked.Jade Sky, the new novel from Patrick Freivald, gets right to the action with ICAP (the International Council on Augmented Phenomena) engaged in battle, fighting to control a super drug called Jade and the spread of Gerstner technologies."ICAP agents walked the line between Captain America and Bane and were the only law enforcement capable of hunting down other augs." Augs are "augmented" individuals, and the reason ICAP agents where so good at hunting down other augs is because the agents themselves had augmented powers. Think X-Men where you get to choose what powers you get.It took me a little while to get into Jade Sky, but once I got comfortable with what was going on, I settled in and enjoyed the experience. Kind of like and old-school roller-coaster where you get slowly pulled to the crest of the first peak and then there's the rush of adrenaline that carries you from that first drop right through to the end of the ride. Just like a great coaster, there are plenty of twists and turns, too. Everytime, I though I had an idea where the author was going, BAM, another twist.Jade Sky is part action-adventure, part horror, part sci-fi and part urban fantasy, all woven into a very enjoyable story. I could see myself in the theater watching this on the big screen, chewing on some popcorn.Jade Sky is from the team at Journalstone Publishing who have been releasing some great product in recent years and is scheduled for publication on May 16th, in a variety of formats. Check their website for details or you can purchase from Amazon.com.Recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    More action than Terminator!Jade sky is the story of a group of soldiers that have been "augmented" into superior life forms, but they are still human at heart, when not killing the bad guys, they have regular home lives, well most of them. These super soldiers have the capability of almost immediate healing from any injury except for things like getting their heads cut off. They can have their guts spilling out and a few hours later – all you see are some pink scars. They are also huge – some over 8 ft tall. Their mission is to kill the augmented men and women that are evil. It used to be easy to determine who the bad guys are – but not anymore. The line between good and bad is getting pretty blurry. Turns out one of the good guys secretly became very evil, killing over 100 people, including his family. Matt, the main character has some issues with his pregnant wife and will do anything he has to in order to protect her and their unborn child. Matt decides to hide her at the rectory where her ex-lover, his former best friend is now a priest at. This book has a lot going on, mainly battles. Score cards are needed for the players because things move very fast. Folks jump sides without even knowing it. The fact that these augmented characters heal themselves in no time allows readers to experience some pretty gruesome situations. I found myself having to go back and forth a few times because I felt like I missed something. This book is not for the faint of heart. If you cannot handle blood, guts and battle, then this book is not for you.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Got this through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Forced myself through the first hundred-fifty pages and doubt I'll finish it. All the the concept and science are clearly well thought-out, it just isn't compelling to me.There are too many characters who seem interchangeable, and the main character's moral dilemma doesn't seem to actually matter that much to him.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A near-future action thriller about a law enforcement agency waging a war on the drugs that "augment" people. A combination of super-steroids and cybernetic enhancements, augmented people tend to go violently insane.A page-turning adventure with surprising metaphysical twists, this book doesn't have a lot of depth but it makes up for it with a plenty of intense action and a quick-moving plot. The writing style is professional, engaging, and well-edited. I'd have no problem recommending the book to anyone interested in this type of story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Synopsis: Matt Rowley is an augmented human warrior fighting a war against drugs. During one of their operations he sees something supernatural, he thinks. Shortly thereafter one of his friends goes insane killing his family and several people. Matt must determine whether these two occurrences are connected and if one of the drug lords has the real answer.Review: There is lots of violence, lots of 'gun jargon', and very little plot. Had there been a better balance of violence and plot the book would have been substantially better. The characters are rather two dimensional but the settings are fairly well developed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this fast Paced sci fi action novel. Enough so that I would certainly purchase the next book in the series. It had a few problems though, minor plot holes, some story components that make zero sense until the very end and the fight scenes are written so tight that it can be difficult to get a real sense of what just happened(I found myself rereading thing 2-3 Times in certain places). Despite these flaws it's quick and fun and worth a read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Early on in my reading of [book:Jade Sky|20556698] I wasn't so sure that I would like it. Thankfully I continued to read it and I hit a point in the book where things started coming together, and from then I was hooked and flew through the rest of the book. It is not an exact match, but I liken Jade Sky to a futuristic military Sci-Fi version of an Indiana Jones. The characters are well defined and easy to relate to. I highly recommend Jade Sky.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Overall a short but solid read. In the beginning I was confused as to who some of the people were and what their motives were. However once the book got to the mystery these issues did not bother me too much. The action and the mystery kept me reading despite any issues I had with the book. While some people may not like how this turns out in the end but in the end this is an enjoyable book. I liked this book enough that I would buy the next one.

Book preview

Jade Sky - Patrick Freivald

Sky

Chapter 1

Blood rained from the ceiling. Matt Rowley gasped cordite-stained air into his lungs as crimson drizzle spattered his face. I hope that's not mine. His shoulder, knee, and gut itched, the tell-tale sign of muscle and bone knitting together. Whispered, alien gibberish clawed through his mind, warning him. He rolled to his left and squeezed his eyes shut against the coming shrapnel. Bullets raked the floor where he'd been lying, peppering his face with chips of concrete. An unaugmented man would have died twice in the past five seconds.

He slithered backward under the steel loading-dock platform, opened his eyes, and swore. His helmet lay across the factory floor, next to the face-down Sergeant Karle. Tendrils of smoke rose from Karle's ruined body, his entrails smeared across the shelving unit above him. So much for radio. He couldn't see the others, but heard the unmistakable chatter of their REC7 assault rifles outside. The throatier return fire probably belonged to German-made HK's.

A quick inventory wasn't promising: one flash-bang grenade, a bandolier of shotgun rounds, and a Beretta M9A1 with three bullets. He unholstered the pistol and took two shots. The room went black as the remains of the fluorescent lights tinkled to the floor. He cringed as bullets pinged off of the platform. He risked a look when they stopped. The heat rendered his infrared vision useless, but his brain processed the ultraviolet spectrum into a black-and-white picture.

The claustrophobic room, narrow with thick walls and not enough cover, could have been tailor-made for an ambush. The explosion had converted the door they'd just retreated through into a pile of smoking cinder blocks and twisted metal. The stock of his AA-12 combat shotgun stuck out from the rubble, too far out of reach, and he didn't see Karle's REC7 anywhere. The two men near the back door lowered goggles onto their faces. Perfect. Matt shot the one on the left. The man screamed, blood spurting from his neck, and stumbled back through the door as his partner returned fire.

Matt hissed when a ricochet hit his bicep. His carbon fiber sleeve spared him the worst, but it still hurt like hell. The man reached for his belt, and the whispers filled Matt's mind with future possibilities. He picked the one he liked best then reacted to what hadn't yet happened. He rolled from under the platform and kicked as the object skittered toward him. The man stumbled back in surprise, and the grenade followed him out the door. Matt accompanied the dull explosion with a prayer of thanksgiving for late-second precognitive therapy.

He pulled the combat shotgun out of the rubble and put on his helmet. Room's clear, Karle's dead, he said into the mic. His heads-up display showed his own elevated heart rate and adrenaline levels, but no moving targets. Status? he asked no one in particular.

Lieutenant Kifer responded through the radio, an edge of panic to his voice. Ryan's dead, and I'm pinned down behind these barrels. Can you give me some covering fire? Small arms fire peppered the doorway. Matt ducked back.

A REC7 fired from the left, full-auto, then Conor Flynn's voice broke over the radio. Brilliant, mates. I leave you guys alone for two minutes and you get in this kind of trouble? He fired again. Rowley, I got your shooters shitting themselves. Get Kifer. Two more bursts came from his direction.

Matt peered around the corner for a quick look, then jerked his head back. The recalled image flashed onto his visor, crisp and clean. Seven hostiles, armed to the teeth, covered each other as they closed in on Kifer's position from three directions. Little more than a stack of 55-gallon drums and a small shack, Kifer’s poor defilade left him exposed. Matt looked out again.

Kifer, the guys at eight o'clock are about to break cover. Take them, and I'll get the two at three. Ready? Go! Matt's AA-12 roared four times, the finned projectiles adjusting to the information fed through his helmet. They hit their targets and exploded, spraying gore and organs across the ground. Kifer's first target grabbed his shattered leg and wailed. His companion dragged him back behind a burning, upended delivery truck.

I'm out, Conor said. Give me a minute.

Matt ducked behind the wall as Conor reloaded. Bullets chipped the brick from the right. Rastogi, Conor said, I'm going to pin those assholes on Rowley again. Go get 'em.

Got it, Akash Rastogi said. Matt waited while the gunfire intensified, then silenced, and bolted out the door toward Kifer.

Echo company ETA two minutes, a professional, male voice said in his headset.

Might be late for that, Kifer said between wheezy breaths. Rowley, how good are these things at lungs?

Matt dove behind a pile of pallets as Akash and Conor kept the rest of the hostiles pinned with short, controlled bursts. He couldn't see Kifer, or any movement, but took comfort that regenerates could repair anything short of death. He fired his last three shots over the burning car, and they exploded downward as programmed.

Someone screamed, and everything went silent. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Are we clear?

Hope so, Kifer said. A grenade lobbed over the barrels toward Kifer's position. Shit. Never mind.

The barrels erupted in a spray of blue fire. The shockwave knocked Matt back twenty feet. His head rang as he hit the wall, the tang of blood filling his mouth. The stink of petrochemicals overwhelmed everything else, and flame bathed the stockyard in flickering light. His foot hurt with a casual dullness. He looked down at the fire licking up past his boot onto his pant leg. Shaking off the concussion, he slashed through the boot laces with his knife and kicked it free, then scrambled deeper into the rubble. Rolling to his stomach, he crawled into the ambush room and took aim at the door.

A short silhouette stepped into view, face hidden by a reflective visor, and Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Conor's Friend or Foe transponder would have shown up green on Matt's helmet, were he wearing it. Still, he'd recognize the build and gait anywhere. Conor held out his hand. Matt took it, and Conor hauled him to his feet. Brilliant, you're alive.

The sound of helicopters had never been more welcome.

*   *   *

Matt watched the third squad disgorge from their helicopter, then walked barefoot to greet his boss, whose black flat-top stood immune to the prop wash. Bean-pole tall, Jeff Hannes wore a $300 suit that matched his gray eyes, a windbreaker bearing the International Council on Augmented Phenomena eye-and-thunderbolt logo, and a constipated grimace. Matt shook his hand, and let Jeff lead him far enough from the chopper that they could hear each other.

Well, that was a clusterfuck, Jeff said. His eyes hovered over the grunts dragging corpses into a line. They'd covered the ICAP casualties with white sheets; Dawkins's goons had been left in the rising dawn.

Matt ran his tongue over his teeth. They knew we were coming. We'd all be dead if it weren't for the spidey-sense.

Jeff shook his head. If they knew you were coming, they wouldn't have been here.

Matt turned his head and spat, but didn't raise his voice. I'm not saying you're wrong, Jeff, but twelve dead agents, man. Three from the bonk, and the rest from these pricks. He gestured to the dead bodies behind him. Since when can seventeen normals take out four augs, if they didn't know beforehand?

The bonk lay on the ground next to the other bodies, a headless, eleven-foot-tall humanoid mass of muscle, bone, and bad attitude. Its head lay twenty feet away. Conor sat on it, katana on his knees, polishing the blade with meticulous care. The basketball-sized hole in the bonk's torso showed ribs fused to form a solid plate and a heart the size of a human head. The bonk was half-again bigger than even Russian military augs; Matt couldn't understand why anyone would augment themselves to the level of inevitable insanity.

Jeff said nothing for a moment, then nodded his head. Okay. Say you're right, and they knew you were coming. Anybody sane would have run. Why didn't they?

Don't know. Matt looked at the bodies of his squad-mates, then at the two prisoners, one barbequed beyond recognition and strapped to a gurney, the other unconscious with a bandaged leg. His brain felt glad they'd lived to be questioned and prosecuted, but his heart wanted to tear them limb from limb. Why don't we ask them?

We'll get them healed up and schedule an interrogation for oh-nine-hundred. Jeff put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. Meantime, why don't we find out what this butcher's bill bought us? Matt closed his eyes against an onslaught of whispers, the mindless, unintelligible side effect to Gerstner Augmentation. Matt? They died soldiers.

Matt opened his eyes. He felt numb, just as he had in the Siege of Baghdad. These men were older than those kids had been, but they were fathers, brothers, husbands, snuffed out in an orgy of violence. He exhaled, and realized he'd been holding his breath. The shakes, the crying, the hopeless rage, they would all come later. Meantime, he had work to do. Yeah.

Akash sauntered up, REC7 slung from his back, helmet under his arm. What are we talking about, eh? Though he was a soft-spoken, first-generation Canadian, his north-of-the-border accent clashed with his chocolate skin, short black hair, and dark brown eyes.

Jeff nodded toward the bodies and wandered away, giving the soldiers space.

They stood in silence for a moment. Akash licked his lips, then said, They died heroes.

Matt grunted. That's what Jeff said. It won't bring them back. He turned to walk away, and Akash grabbed his arm.

It's not your fault it was an ambush, Matt.

I know. And part of him even understood it. But a deeper, softer part would howl in terror and sadness, drowned under the need for men like him to do their jobs.

Akash opened his mouth to reply, but Matt cut him off.

Just don't, Rastogi. He forced his tone softer than he wanted to. I know what you're going to say, and I appreciate it. But I'd rather not hear it.

Sure, Akash said, and turned with him to watch the growing, well-ordered bedlam.

A legion of technicians, forensics staff, and scientists joined the squads of soldiers, and they got to work. It didn’t take long to find what intel told them they would: algae vats, centrifuges, distillation equipment, dehydration tanks, and countless glassware, all the components of a world-class chemistry and biology lab. The third building they opened had four tractor trailers parked inside, each with a different logo: Joe's Meats, Lynne's Dairy, C.E.L. Trucking, and Midwest Cargo, Inc.

Conor ran a hand over his shaved head. Bet you a pint what's inside.

Jade? Akash asked.

Nothing.

They cut the lock and opened the first truck. Shrink-wrapped pallets packed two high and two across stretched as far as he could see.

Matt hopped up and tore the wrapping off the front-most pallet. He lifted off a wire crate and pulled out a plastic bag. He admired the emerald green crystalline powder. He tossed it to Conor, who handed it to Jeff.

I owe you a pint, Rastogi, Conor said.

Matt ignored them. Call it two kilos per bag, ten bags per crate, eighty crates per pallet, and, he peered into the back of the truck, looks like twenty-four pallets. So, forty thousand kilos? That's a lot of Jade.

One of the soldiers let out a low whistle. What's the value on this stuff, sir?

Jeff snapped out of a slack-jawed stupor. Uncut? Twenty bucks a gram wholesale, more or less. That's . . . Jesus, that's . . . .

An eight with a lot of zeroes, the soldier said, holding out the calculator on his phone's screen for them to see.

Akash let out a low whistle. You owe me eight hundred million pints, Conor.

Open the other trucks, Jeff said. The soldiers jumped to work. As the doors slid up, their incredulity grew. The first three were full, the last nearly so.

Matt snorted, then walked outside. The red sky heralded impending dawn, and the Atlantic looked like a sea of blood. It fit his mood.

Shoes crunched on gravel. A lighter flared next to him.

Jeff took a deep draw of his cigarette, held it, then blew the smoke downwind. What's on your mind, soldier?

Puzzles. If they knew we were coming, two full squads of augged agents and a platoon of regulars, with choppers and planes and the wrath of God behind us, why leave behind three billion dollars of Jade?

Fifteen billion, once it's cut.

Okay, then, fifteen. But the question remains—why leave behind that much?

Jeff took another draw on his smoke. Maybe they didn't have time to take it?

Okay, why protect it with so few guys? This place is set up for a garrison of what, two hundred? They could have met us in real force, turned it into a battle.

If they knew they didn't stand a chance—

—then why protect it at all? Cut your losses and run. They've got boats, a plane, trucks . . . Dawkins had to know that nobody was getting off this island once we showed up. He gestured toward the legion of soldiers outside. Seventeen guys against an army. It's just all wrong.

Jeff sighed, and they sat in silence as the sun freed itself from the horizon. An osprey danced through the light, hovered for a split second, then dove feet-first into the water, rising again with a fish in its talons.

Jeff opened his mouth, and Matt slammed his fist into the wall. The cinder block caved in a puff of dust, and Matt let the pain fuel his anger. But they did know, dammit! He locked eyes with his boss and realized that Jeff hadn't spoken. The only explanation is that they didn't know you were coming. Matt hadn't read his mind—he'd seen the future and reacted to it before it happened.

Jeff's face held the slightest of smirks. That stuff really works. He dropped the smirk and put his arm on Matt's shoulder. Anyway, I think you guys should have some leave time, after you talk to the shrinks. Matt didn't bother to complain, but Jeff kept on anyway. No use whining about it, even if it is a pain in the ass. I'll keep you posted.

Matt looked down at his knuckles. The skin had already healed over little specks of cinderblock—he'd have to clean it out later. Yeah.

Chapter 2

Two days later, Matt stepped out of the car into a cool August morning. The pine forest shadowed his two-story log cabin. Squirrels rustled in the low thickets, and a blue jay squawked its displeasure as he closed the door. He walked up the porch to the front door of his seventeen-hundred square feet of heaven. The third step creaked, and he added it to the mental list of things to repair.

Monica flashed a groggy smile as she opened the door. Her curly chestnut hair matched his but fell to her shoulders, and her soft blue eyes were glazed with sleep. His Blake Shelton shirt enveloped her, a tent that almost concealed the baby bump as she leaned against the doorframe. Her well-muscled, tan legs didn't show the slightest hint of pregnancy.

Hey, sugar. You weren't getting back until next week. She must have seen something in his expression, because her eyes widened in concern. You okay?

He stepped inside and kissed her, ignoring morning breath the coffee didn't quite mask. He pulled back and kissed her forehead, breathing in her scent. She kept herself in great shape—they'd met as pre-teens in a children's kung fu class, and she hadn't let up with her training—but in the past two years he'd grown strong enough to crush a person with his bare hands and had to mind his strength. He squeezed her just hard enough, and the cross between her breasts jabbed him in the sternum. No, I'm not, he whispered into her hair. But I can't talk about it. Not yet.

She snuggled into him. Is it . . . Baghdad bad?

It wasn't, but the immediacy of the loss made it worse. Not trusting his voice, he nodded and looked at the plain wooden cross on the living room wall. She squeezed him tighter, and they stood in the foyer like that, frozen in time, until a whine interrupted them. Matt smiled, let her go, and dropped to one knee. He grabbed the Basset hound by the ears and kissed his nose. How's my boy? Ted's tail thumped against the floor as he licked Matt's nose. His breath stank worse than Monica's.

Coffee? she asked.

Yeah.

She stepped into the kitchen, sniffed the dregs in the bottom of the pot, and poured it into the sink. I'll make a fresh one. She puttered in the kitchen, and he couldn't help but try to catch a peek under the T-shirt when she reached up for the can of Folgers. Granny-panties, white cotton, fraying elastic. Every husband's dream.

They talked about nothing over breakfast—Deputy Drake had arrested Kevin Bartell for screaming drunken poetry at his ex-girlfriend's house again, Jen and Bill found out they're having twins, and PanTex laid off twenty more people. Nothing changed in White Spruce; it just got older, more tired. As Monica cleared the dishes she paused at the sink. Are you home long?

He nodded. I reckon a week or two at least. I'll have paperwork, but I can do it from here, or if needs be, down at the local. ICAP didn't have an office in White Spruce, or anywhere else outside Washington, D.C., but the Clifford Davis Federal Building in Memphis wasn't too awful a commute once or twice a week.

Good. Pastor Joe's been asking about you, and you can take me to my appointment on Thursday.

Matt polished off the last of his coffee. I'd love to. A strong, proud, intelligent, willful woman, Monica remained . . . brittle. She'd lost their first baby just out of high school, ten months after their honeymoon, while he fought half a world away with the Third Infantry. They'd been trying again for eight years, and in that time his beautiful, loving wife had lurched in and out of depression and dependency. Now pregnant again, she lived in constant terror of losing their boy. Hmph.

What? She put the dishes in the sink and turned on the water.

He opened his mouth and wasn't sure what to say. At that moment he knew that she carried their son as sure as he knew his own name. Do we find out the sex this week?

She nodded, defensive. If we want to, and the bean cooperates on the ultrasound.

He smiled at her. Whatever you want to do, babe.

She put a fingertip to her lips and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. Um . . . I'll think about it. Her dazzling smile emerged from the uncertainty. It'll be fun to bounce around some names.

*   *   *

The conference call leached away two monotonous hours of Matt's life before anyone said anything interesting. He sat in his living room, staring aghast at his laptop, as Jeff defended the intelligence and their actions despite countless, repetitive questions that made it clear in no uncertain terms that the powers that be considered losing two squads of ICAP agents politically unacceptable.

Matt's mind leapt to dozens of choice comments about civilians in general and bureaucrats in particular, but he would never say them. It wasn't that he'd lose his job—the Six Million Dollar Man had nothing on your average aug—he just knew that it wouldn't help.

Can't some of your men read minds, Agent Hannes? the jowly pencil-pusher from Belgium asked.

Conor, onscreen next to Jeff, rolled his eyes. Jeff scowled for the millionth time. No. Late-second precognitive therapy has enabled a few select agents to utilize short-term prediction, so they can predict what someone is about to say or do, but only the barest moment beforehand. Think of it like ultra-fast reflexes. Nobody can read anybody's mind.

Though the chances of anyone even looking at him were remote, Matt schooled his face into a blank mask. So-called late-second precognition, no more than a second or two out, happened all the time. Sometimes, beyond his control, his ability to predict future events would extend out two minutes or more. Or maybe months, if Monica carried a boy in her womb.

Mr. Jowly-guy continued. What about this interrogation, then?

Finally.

Jeff folded his hands on the tabletop. The prisoners were recalcitrant. We were able to ascertain that they are a part of Dawkins's cartel and that they knew we were coming.

The gray-haired Dutchman leaned toward his screen. How did they know this?

They claim to have been tipped off an hour before we touched down.

Tipped off by whom? Do we have a leak?

We have no idea. Dawkins told them, and gave them a choice: evacuate, or stay behind and earn a bonus. Most of them left.

What was this bonus for, Mr. Hannes?

Killing us, Conor said.

Jeff cleared his throat and leaned forward, blocking Conor from the screen. The survivors would split a bonus of one million euros for every ICAP agent killed. Blood gushed down the walls, and Jeff's face melted off his skull. Whispers gibbered and clawed at the empty sockets. Matt blinked, and the hallucination disappeared. What the hell? —send a message that further incursions into his business will not be tolerated.

Jowls flushed with rage. This drug dealer seeks to threaten us? Is he stupid?

Dumb as dumb, Conor muttered. Jeff shushed him.

The Frenchman rolled his eyes. By all indications he is not. One does not run a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise if one is stupid.

His phone buzzed. Akash's message read, Is Flynn trying to get fired?

Matt replied, Dunno.

Brian Frahm, Jeff’s immediate supervisor, a baby-faced American in his forties

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