Mainline

by Deborah Christian

Overview

Reva, the assassin, always gets her man, and anyone caught in the crossfire won't live to tell about it. But don't tell that to bodyguard Yavobo. His alien physiology and resistance to pain make him a walking machine of destruction. And when Reva takes out his boss, Yavobo swears a blood oath to track down and kill the assassin.384 pp.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765383389
Publisher:	St. Martins Press-3pl
Publication date:	08/28/1997
Pages:	386
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.86(d)

What People are Saying About This

Larry Niven

Splendid. A fast, fun read...Ambitious...Dynamite.

Stephen R. Donaldson

Fascinating.

Editorial Reviews

A fascinating, complex high-tech thriller.

Locus

Mainline is an excellent read. There’s plenty of action in a well thought out world. Characters that actually grow, a plot that seems predictable and then shifts unexpectedly. Christian is a very good writer, and I look forward to reading more books from her.

Pixel Planet

The high-tech action in Christian's debut is propelled by an intriguing conceit: that Reva, an assassin, can pick her way across different realities branching out from her "Now," allowing her to choose an alternate "line" where she can take advantage of gaps in a victim's security system. Once Reva has switched one line too many, however, she has no way of recognizing, and returning to, her original "Mainline." Reva has spent her entire life learning to adapt to this truth, which has rendered friends, relatives and lovers into slightly, or even wholly, different people than the ones she first knew. But now Reva has grown infatuated with Lish, a female "holdout" who smuggles illicit goods to the watery planet R'debh. Reva desperately wants to remain on Lish's Mainline. As the action reaches a frantic peak, smugglers, cops, aliens and sea gods converge, and it seems ever more unlikely that Reva will be able to stay in the reality she knows, with the people she has grown to love. Christian uses this premise to explore the opacity of other's true selves. While she does not give this theme the full care it deserves, she manages to pack a lot of plot into an intelligent and thoughtful package. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Reva, an assassin for hire, can slip between alternate timelines to evade detection. When the smuggler Lish befriends her, Reva vows to remain in the mainline to protect this woman-a commitment she's never before made. When security agent Vask infiltrates Lish's organization and discovers Reva's secret, the three must escape an alien hunter, foil terrorists, and outwit a crime boss while saving Lish's assets. The intricately drawn characterizations and the believability of Reva and Vask's timeslips strengthen the solid plotting. This first novel contains all the ingredients of a science fiction thriller, making this a good choice for sf collections.

Library Journal

Impressive

Detroit Free Press

On planet R'debh, Reva grew up with an unusual psychic talent: She can view, and move among, the various probability-worlds that constitute reality. Since she can appear seemingly out of nowhere, do a deed, and vanish without trace into a nearby timeline, her lucrative adult occupation is that of assassin. As a consequence of her lifestyle, however, Reva has no friends—until, in the course of her work, she meets young, ambitious smuggler Lish, and a bond develops between them. Soon, the mysterious Vask the Fixer attaches himself to the pair by making himself useful in various ways. Like Reva, Vask is a Mutate: His psionic talent enables him to slip out of phase, so he becomes invisible and can even move through solid matter. What Vask never reveals is that he works for Commander Obray of security. Lish gets herself into trouble by triple- crossing a powerful double-crossing criminal associate. Reva's problem, meanwhile, is that she's being pursued by the bodyguard of one of her victims, the seemingly unkillable, huge, red-and-black alien warrior, Yavobo, who's sworn a blood oath of vengeance.

Christian's well-articulated, cleverly constructed plot hurtles along at a blistering pace, and those new psi-power wrinkles provide additional gratification: a debut of splendid promise.

Kirkus Reviews

"Impressively ambitious....Fast, clever, and substantial....A writer to watch." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Splendid. A fast fun read....Ambitious....Dynamite." —Larry Niven

"A smart, tightly plotted thriller....Explosive." —Walter Jon Williams

"Impressive....****" —Detroit Free Press

"A fascinating, complex high-tech thriller." —Locus

"Enthralling....Suspenseful." —Science Fiction Chronicle

From the Publisher