review

not my usual genre, struggled to get going, but glad I persevered to the end

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Trouble with immortality on Mars

Many books have featured the quest for immortality, but this one is more about the kind of world that would result afterwards particularly when the immortals need monthly doses of serum that can only be made from a woman's eggs and demand is so high that the black market trade in kidnapped young women is very lucrative to criminals.

While the books features numerous flashbacks to the time when the treatment was first invented and the aftermath of it that led to the titular December Protocol that outlawed it, the primary focus of this book is on three characters who all live on Mars in the 24th Century.

These characters each give a different perspective of the ongoing black market trade, you have Angeline who is a young martian girl who starts out as a victim kidnapped to fuel the black market supply. Then you have a colonial marshal named Min, who seeks to put a stop to this illegal trade even though he himself has undergone the treatment and requires legal doses of it on a monthly basis and finally you have a man named Marcus for whom the treatment (legal or otherwise) is his last hope since he is rapidly dying of cancer.

The author successfully builds a compelling overall story that intertwines these main characters along with a varied supporting cast and a well-described vision of the Martian colonies, but he has left things open-ended enough that he can return to that world again at a later date, not mention that other worlds have also been colonised in this book's universe.

On the whole I found the performance of the narrator to be a strong one, his speech was clear and he had distinctive voices for all the main and supporting characters, albeit I found his choice for the marshal to be a little overdone at times.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the performance of it a lot and will definitely be looking out for further works from this author in the future.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

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1 person found this helpful

Limited resources and infinite time.

When a scientist is interviewed about the claim that she can give immortality to the world, the sceptical reporter laughingly asks, 'Who wants to live forever, anyway?'
Six years later, her claim is a fact with two differently working possibilities. But later, with hundreds of thousands already having become the new immortals and social problems growing, Earth passes legislation banning all of them from Earth, those who have received the Helix Rebuild being sent to Venus, whilst the more straightforward cell regeneration recipients were banished from Earth for life. Most of these went to the developing colony on Mars. Many died, the trouble being that the restorative injection had to be repeated on a monthly basis without fail or the body instantly starts to painfully destroy itself.

This cleverly plotted science fiction story slowly leaks historic and social facts about the two methods as the main story unfolds. In the relatively unrestricted life on Mars, an old Marshall, a title a little like an FBI agent - cum bounty hunter is asked by his new superior to look into the case of a missing girl, believed kidnapped. Reluctant at first since he has just made a literal killing and earned a fortune sufficient for him to retire for a while, he soon gets drawn into the search when he learns that not one but two girls are missing. And it helps that he'll earn another smaller bounty for finding them also.. A secondary arm to the story also follows a wealthy émigré to Mars, looking to get the treatment after a recent diagnosis of lung cancer. This is a fast action, gun shooting, blood gushing action thriller with well formed characterisations, atmospheric world building and a look at the potential difficulties for a society where human life, barring mishaps, can continue for centuries, if not for ever. Exciting and thought provoking, this is a really compelling read.

The book is further enhanced by the imaginative reading by Rhett Samuel Price, whose slightly gruff reading seems to capture the more gritty atmosphere of Mars. Every character, and there are many, is voiced convincingly and individually, whilst the connecting text is related at a good pace with clarity and good intonation. A fine performance.

My thanks to the rights holder who freely gifted me a complimentary copy of The December Protocol, at my request, via Audiobook Boom. it certainly exceeded.my expectations and had me rivetted to my player through the night. I will most certainly look out for further books from Mr.Devin Hanson in the future. Recommended.

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