Shadow Ops: Control Point [Mass Market Paperback]

Myke Cole (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 31, 2012 | Series: Shadow Ops (Book 1)

Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze. 
Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.
 
The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cross The For­ever War with Witch­world, add in the real world mod­ern mil­i­tary of Black Hawk Down, and you get Control Point, the mile-a-minute story of some­one try­ing to find pur­pose in a war he never asked for. - Jack Camp­bell / New York Times Bestselling author of The Lost Fleet series

“Cross The Forever War with Witchworld, add in the real world modern military of Black Hawk Down, and you get Control Point, the mile-a-minute story of someone trying to find purpose in a war he never asked for.” –—Jack Campbell, New York Times bestselling author of the Lost Fleet series

“Control Point is Black Hawk Down meets the X-Men. Fast-paced and thrilling from start to finish...military fantasy like you’ve never seen it before.”—Peter V. Brett, bestselling author of The Warded Man
“Myke Cole takes you down range where the bullets fly and the magic burns with precision-guided fericity that’ll put you on the edge of your seat before blowing you right out of it.”—Chris Evans, author of the Iron Elves Series

“Hands down, the best military fantasy I’ve ever read; Control Point is a chilling, enthralling story. Myke Cole just might be a wizard himself.”—Ann Aguirre, national bestselling author of Enclave

“A debut by a former military officer that will attract readers who like their urban fantasies with more of a military edge.”—Library Journal

“High recommendation. A sold and entertaining novel, a real kick-ass premise/milieu … Cole has launched a solid series that I hope to continue reading, and he’s written a novel that starts the year off very strongly.”—SFF World

“A fun, fast-paced entertaining debut novel from a promising author…I wonder what Cole’s got up his sleeve for us next.”—SF Signal

About the Author

As a security contractor, government civilian and military officer, Myke Cole 's career has run the gamut from Counterterrorism to Cyber Warfare to Federal Law Enforcement. He has done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A lifelong fan of fantasy novels, comic books and Dungeons & Dragons, Myke now lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is his first novel. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace; Original edition (January 31, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781937007249
• ISBN-13: 978-1937007249
• ASIN: 1937007243
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a secu­rity con­tractor, gov­ern­ment civilian and mil­i­tary officer, Myke Cole's career has run the gamut from Coun­tert­er­rorism to Cyber War­fare to Fed­eral Law Enforce­ment. He's done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deep­water Horizon oil spill.

All that con­flict can wear a guy out. Thank good­ness for fan­tasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dun­geons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 56 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great World, Lousy Lead February 26, 2012

By Laszlo Kovacs

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

To kick off, I'd like to mention I was looking forward to this after hearing about it in IO9.com, the mix of otherwise disparate concepts tickled the proper portions of my brain. I was, sadly, underwhelmed... but there are some good nuggets that I hope are better developed in Cole's next novel.

The Good: The world is well thought-out and, while not perfectly fleshed out, offers tantalizing hints of the grater change the Reawakening of powers has had on the global landscape. That the militaries of the world would jump at the chance of using super-powered assets rather than fight a failing genocide is fresh, and their on-the-fly attempts to understand control and cultivate these abilities has the right flavor of bureaucratic BS and boots-on-ground practicality. The US Army isn't dumb, as often portrayed in these kinds of novels, just amoral and lacking a certain amount of imagination and neither are they purely fascist evil. Points for that.

The Bad: Simply put I hate Oscar Britton as the lead character. As a character he suits the world, don't get me wrong, but his constant flip-flopping of attitudes between 'loving the corps' and 'hating the inhumanity of it all' really really bugs me. I just can't sympathize with him when he can't stop blaming everyone else. Every time he acts selfishly people die, horribly, and he never really owns up to it, even by the end of the novel when he's leading an psuedo-rebellion. Pick a goddamn side, Oscar, and stick with it.

When you compound this with the idea that he learns to sling portals and martial arts in a couple weeks, plus gets the hot healer babe as a girlfriend, plus a blood-dept from a native price, despite being dumb as a bowling ball, it just sits as more phony than the magic.

When I'd rather be seeing the story form Harlequin's POV, the BAD GUY, something is wrong. But Harlequin seems to have a concept of... oh I dunno... consequences for his actions. If there's a sequel I really hope it's from another character's POV.

The Awesome: I have to give props to how the fights are handled. The internal choreography is pretty slick, from how the powers are handled, to the spec-ops tactics, to the vehicle mayhem. The writing set up these action pieces well, and rarely was I lost wondering who was doing what. And no one comes out clean from these fight, I appreciate that.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars ISSUE BOOK-2342: Infuriatingly Thick Main Character February 26, 2012

By Jeff Minard

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

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Bug Report
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The main characters brain seems to be addled. Please address this very critical issue.

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Steps to Reproduce
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Chapter 10:

"Hey Mr. Main Character Dude, here is a bomb in your heart, so work with us or we kill you."

Chapter 11:

"Hey Mr. Main Character Dude, you could use this rare alter-reality bug to eat the bomb out from your heart."

Chapter 12:

"Hey Mr. Main Character Dude, here's a guy that, if he had the bug, would be more than happy to use it properly to eat the bomb."

Chapter 13:

"Hey Mr. Main Character Dude, you've now learned how you use your unrestricted and unmonitored ability to pull animals through holes in reality."

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Expected Results
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Chapter 14:

"Mr. Main Character Dude acquires bug and friend and has the bug eat the bomb, thus allowing him to explore this awesome world of opportunities without the threat of death on his shoulders and does awesome things."

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Actual Results
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Chapter 14:

Mr. Main Character Dude spews, "You know, why don't I release this super psychotic, crazy-as-all-get-out, killer woman into the wild. There's certainly no other possible way I could have gotten rid of this bomb. Because pulling that animal through one of my portals would be silly. And I can't put 1 and 1 together without melting half an army base down to its fundamental elements. Hurrr durrrrrr."

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Comments
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I swear, every single bad choice (or indecision) this character could have made he DID make. It was infuriating. I expect in scifi/fantasy series that the main character will have a few flaws and make a few mistakes, but by the end of this book I hated the main character. And not in a "oh, the main character is a bad guy, so I should hate him and that makes the book good. But instead more like "I dislike this characters existence in the written word, because he's just dumb."

(Chapter numbers are make believe, simply in place to illustrate the progression of events.)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Because the author is Capable Of 'A' Work, that's why! August 30, 2012

By CavalierAttitude1660

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Okay, the author has some great ideas, and the writing is good - BUT the "hero" is the single most annoying character I've ever encountered in fiction. He whipped the title away from its long-time co-holders, Anna Karenina and Emma Bovary, in less than five pages. And his wishywashy-ness made those consummate drips Raoul de Bragelonne and Louise de la Valliere look like Terminators One and Two. One reviewer called the lead in SO: CP "Waffles" because it's his main characteristic. I nearly threw the book across the room many times, because Waffles changed his mind constantly. Sometimes he whipped his opinion around 180 degrees in the middle of a sentence! Pick a mindset and STICK WITH IT, man. And hey, listen up, Waffles: if a teenager is frying other teens AND melts my fellow soldier's face, I don't know about you, but I'M going to shoot the little...now, what can one call the dear child, I wonder, that Amazon won't yank the review for? Well, I'm sure you readers of this review can figure it out, or supply your own invective. (Now, I don't want a hero who will happily shoot a 15-year-old girl; that scene could have and should have been fixed: show her yelling to the other teens to run because she can't control her pyro. Something, anything, to show us she's not in control and is trying to keep from hurting people. Throw us a frickin' bone here.)

The author kept me reading, but I'm still trying to decide whether to buy the next book or not. If Waffles doesn't stop, well, waffling, then for me this series will be toast...