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leons1701's review against another edition
4.0
A very solid conclusion, though not quite as amazing as I had hoped for. (I blame Howard Tayler). Asks the questions of rights vs responsibilities when it comes to super human powers far, far better than anything Marvel ever did with Civil War (so it's not a high bar to clear, but Cole clears it with style).
kevinhanes's review against another edition
3.0
Tom Clancy meets Dresden. It's been a while since I've read 1 and 2, might be 4 stars.
conalo's review against another edition
5.0
A great finish to an entertaining series. I especially enjoyed the alternating chapters between present time and the past. Hopefully Myke Cole will continue in this universe and give us more stories related to the characters used in this series.
5 stars for a fully entertaining read. Recommended for any fan of military or urban fantasy.
5 stars for a fully entertaining read. Recommended for any fan of military or urban fantasy.
susanmasf's review against another edition
4.0
Breach Zone is the conclusion of Myke Cole's Shadow Ops trilogy. Overall, I felt the series was a solid first effort by a new author, and I look forward to trying out his future books, especially when he branches out from a military theme.
In this particular book, Cole focuses on two main characters who appeared as side characters in previous books. I liked the unexpected shift in focus between the first and the second books and thought that continuing it here made sense. My favorite "main" character from the second book - Bookbinder - also reappeared here. I thought the development and growth of that character was impressive in books 2 and 3. Cole does a very good job of showing the flaws of his heroes and writes so that their choices have very real consequences.
I don't think this series was "me" though - it's not the author's fault: the series was well written, the characters were interesting and had depth, and the choices were unexpected (not cliche writing) but made sense for the characters and situations. I just couldn't get that into the books; it wasn't a stay up all night reading series for me. I put the books in my husband's reading pile, as this genre fits his tastes better, and I'm eager to hear what he thinks of them.
**Copy received free through Goodreads First Reads**
In this particular book, Cole focuses on two main characters who appeared as side characters in previous books. I liked the unexpected shift in focus between the first and the second books and thought that continuing it here made sense. My favorite "main" character from the second book - Bookbinder - also reappeared here. I thought the development and growth of that character was impressive in books 2 and 3. Cole does a very good job of showing the flaws of his heroes and writes so that their choices have very real consequences.
I don't think this series was "me" though - it's not the author's fault: the series was well written, the characters were interesting and had depth, and the choices were unexpected (not cliche writing) but made sense for the characters and situations. I just couldn't get that into the books; it wasn't a stay up all night reading series for me. I put the books in my husband's reading pile, as this genre fits his tastes better, and I'm eager to hear what he thinks of them.
**Copy received free through Goodreads First Reads**
icfasntw's review against another edition
2.0
VERDICT: An okay beach read set in a thought-provoking alternate universe. Terrible cover and title. Lots of politics. This volume was the most disappointing book of the series. I lost interest about halfway through, but was able to pick it back up and finish the story.
QUICK PITCH: Tom Clancy meets Avatar: The Last Airbender, or an Americanized version of [a:Ben Aaronovitch|363130|Ben Aaronovitch|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1308855588p2/363130.jpg]'s Peter Grant series. Bad guys kick the crap out of New York City, as they're wont to do.
Two things made it difficult for this book to hold my attention: fight scenes and shifting POV. I'm not one for fight scenes, especially with guns or hand-to-hand combat, and this book contained many. (The magical fight scenes were pretty good, actually.) Shifting POV doesn't usually bother me, but here all the shifts were too jarring. Harlequin's story didn't mesh clearly with Bookbinders, and the addition of the "six years ago" version of Harlequin added to the mess. The "six years ago" stuff could've been moved to an introduction, or an interlude, or something, but interspersing it with other chapters was weird.
In this volume, Harlequin suffered from acute protagonist syndrome. He was a perfectly hate-able antagonist in the first book, and a reluctant helper in the second. In this book, he's a split personality. The "six years ago" stuff matches with his antagonist persona from book one, but the present-day stuff sounds like Oscar Britton all over again. I understand that he's probably changed between six years ago and the present, but I don't buy that Harlequin is that torn about magic and magic users. I also don't believe that he's suddenly started agreeing with all of Britton's arguments. It would've made more sense to give someone else the POV, and show Harlequin's growth through someone else's eyes.
Nearly the opposite thing happened to Crucible, a secondary/minor character in the series, which made me sad. In [b:Control Point|11783484|Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg|15964749], he's someone Oscar Britton nearly trusts. In [b:Fortress Frontier|14759319|Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops, #2)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344889489s/14759319.jpg|20408847], he's the person who pushes Bookbinder to grow, and becomes someone you want to like. In Control Point, particularly in the flashbacks, he nearly becomes an antagonist. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth about a character I enjoyed, which was frustrating.
And then there's Grace/Scylla--the deadly, power-hungry antagonist unleashed by Oscar Britton in [b:Control Point|11783484|Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg|15964749]. The reason she's so evil is finally revealed. It sucks. She's evil because she's been poisoned by the drug she takes to control her power in the first place. She's evil because the side effects of the drug include "psychotic tendencies". It's a cop-out, especially because the other characters have put Scylla through enough to make her vengeful without any medical intervention.
During this book, it's also revealed that Grace has a twin, and that their mother called them Scylla and Charybdis. Alas, Charybdis never appears to counter her sister. I wish she had. (Maybe Scylla killed Charybdis when she Manifested, but I don't remember them mentioning that. It just seems like a wasted opportunity.)
QUICK PITCH: Tom Clancy meets Avatar: The Last Airbender, or an Americanized version of [a:Ben Aaronovitch|363130|Ben Aaronovitch|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1308855588p2/363130.jpg]'s Peter Grant series. Bad guys kick the crap out of New York City, as they're wont to do.
Two things made it difficult for this book to hold my attention: fight scenes and shifting POV. I'm not one for fight scenes, especially with guns or hand-to-hand combat, and this book contained many. (The magical fight scenes were pretty good, actually.) Shifting POV doesn't usually bother me, but here all the shifts were too jarring. Harlequin's story didn't mesh clearly with Bookbinders, and the addition of the "six years ago" version of Harlequin added to the mess. The "six years ago" stuff could've been moved to an introduction, or an interlude, or something, but interspersing it with other chapters was weird.
In this volume, Harlequin suffered from acute protagonist syndrome. He was a perfectly hate-able antagonist in the first book, and a reluctant helper in the second. In this book, he's a split personality. The "six years ago" stuff matches with his antagonist persona from book one, but the present-day stuff sounds like Oscar Britton all over again. I understand that he's probably changed between six years ago and the present, but I don't buy that Harlequin is that torn about magic and magic users. I also don't believe that he's suddenly started agreeing with all of Britton's arguments. It would've made more sense to give someone else the POV, and show Harlequin's growth through someone else's eyes.
Nearly the opposite thing happened to Crucible, a secondary/minor character in the series, which made me sad. In [b:Control Point|11783484|Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg|15964749], he's someone Oscar Britton nearly trusts. In [b:Fortress Frontier|14759319|Fortress Frontier (Shadow Ops, #2)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344889489s/14759319.jpg|20408847], he's the person who pushes Bookbinder to grow, and becomes someone you want to like. In Control Point, particularly in the flashbacks, he nearly becomes an antagonist. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth about a character I enjoyed, which was frustrating.
And then there's Grace/Scylla--the deadly, power-hungry antagonist unleashed by Oscar Britton in [b:Control Point|11783484|Control Point (Shadow Ops, #1)|Myke Cole|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309460843s/11783484.jpg|15964749]. The reason she's so evil is finally revealed. It sucks. She's evil because she's been poisoned by the drug she takes to control her power in the first place. She's evil because the side effects of the drug include "psychotic tendencies". It's a cop-out, especially because the other characters have put Scylla through enough to make her vengeful without any medical intervention.
During this book, it's also revealed that Grace has a twin, and that their mother called them Scylla and Charybdis. Alas, Charybdis never appears to counter her sister. I wish she had. (Maybe Scylla killed Charybdis when she Manifested, but I don't remember them mentioning that. It just seems like a wasted opportunity.)
vinayvasan's review against another edition
4.0
Fast paced, action packed end to a great trilogy. While there is non-stop action, the quieter moments are well developed and a great way to flesh out unsympathetic characters from the 1st 2 books into characters one can relate to.. The lone disappointment being the importance given to armed conflict but not to the political conflict that brews up. The series ends as the armed conflict ends.
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