I'm pretty familiar with J.C. Hutchins' work -- I've listened to his podcast fiction for some time, and I've been very eager to see how it would translate to the printed page. I wasn't disappointed at all.
In the wake of a presidential assassination, seven men named John Michael Smith are abducted from around the country, brought together at a secret complex, and told the truth about their lives. They're part of an enormous experiment, one that has shaped every moment of their lives, and one that makes them the only people capable of hunting down the assassin before he does something even worse.
Hutchins has done some really impressive work here. He comes up with not just one, but several intriguing concepts that could each support a story of their own -- the 7th Son project, NEPTH-Charge, the Mem/RI and so on -- and combines them all into a tense, powerfully charged thriller. The John Smiths, although obviously having a common origin, are each different, unique individuals with their own personal story arcs that make them more than placeholders in the story. The puzzles and challenges they face are tailored for these characters, and the cliffhanger sets things up very nicely for the next two installments of the trilogy. That's the other thing -- this is the first book of three, but unlike so many trilogies, you don't feel like this was padded to stretch it out. There's plenty enough going on here to sustain the story across three volumes.
You don't often see a really original twist on the thriller, but Hutchins has brought something new to the table. Fans of thrillers and contemporary sci-fi would do well to check this one out.
