Perfectly Invisible

by Michael A. Stackpole

From New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole comes the first in a brand new series of stories set in a world very close to our own, and yet so very different. In the world of Homeland Security Services, the 1993 attack on the Twin Towers brought them down, killing over 60,000. In response, American ratified the Patriot Amendment to the Constitution and went to war with Al Qaeda. In 1996, terrorists attacked the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, wiping out the left wing of American politics and vaulting Newt Gingrich into the White House.Miracle Dunn has just joined the elite Homeland Security Services. On her first day she catches two cases. The first is a seemingly simple murder of a drug company employee. The second is a twelve year old murder discovered because of the first; the resolution of which threatens the leadership of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.The world of HSS is one filled with many secrets, and just as many ways of ferreting them out. For Miracle Dunn, the question is how far can someone go to protect people who truly have no clue as to how much danger is lurking out there."Michael A. Stackpole is incapable of writing a book that isn't imaginative and intelligent." — Stephen R. Donaldson

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Alternate History, Fiction

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 29, 2011

Reviews

[Bryan Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on my Kindle for a long flight home and Mike Stackpole delivered on a couple of fascinating levels.

First, he gave me a very solid police procedural story that kept me reading, curious to see what would happen next. But he also gave me a fascinating window into an alternate reality where the World Trade Center bombing in the 90s actually succeeded and the Patriot Act level loss of liberty was accelerated in the 90s.

And since Mike has such a sick mind, he put Newt Gingrich in the presidency.

The characters are well sketched and fascinating and it's a lesson for writers to keep things taut.

I can't wait for more in the series.

[Eero · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this as part of StoryBundle's Cosmic Sci-Fi bundle, but this novel is barely science fiction. It is set in an alternate timeline where the WTC bombing of 1993 actually destroyed the towers, and president Clinton was killed in another terrorist attack a couple of years later. This has turned USA into a kind of dystopian, conservative police state, although the world is seen from the POV of Homeland Security agents who do not see it as a dystopia. In fact, the worst aspects of the world never take center stage, but are merely alluded to offhand, and are not even pertinent to the plot.

Basically this is a basic police procedural where these HSS agents investigate a murder case where the lethal bullet pierces a wall into a secret room with another, older body. Apart from the fact that the investigators have fewer rules and restrictions than in this reality, the investigation is not that remarkable.

Familiar brands such as iPads and iPods are mentioned all the time. Considering that the history diverged so far back, I would assume that butterfly effect would have pushed technological innovation, especially brand naming, along somewhat different routes.

Then there's this bit:

Though she knew this was the best way to operate, she always liked Sherlock Holmes' suggestion that once the possible had been eliminated, what remained, though impossible, was the truth.

If this inversion of Holmes is meant as a joke, I do not get it at all. Otherwise it is just messed up.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent procedural mystery that definitely feels like the precursor to a larger work as it introduces the characters and, more importantly the environment. This DC is an alternate present, where World Trade Center came down in 1993, and the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1996 was bombed, killing the president and basically the entire Democratic party. Consequently, the world took a hard right turn, which shows up in numerous varied ways throughout the story. The central mystery, of a woman whose murder exposes another murder from 12 years previous, is interesting, but considering one of the two doesn't actually get resolved in the book, doesn't exist as much more than a backdrop to get to know the characters. Not bad, but not one of his best either.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: https://derailmentsofthought.wordpres...

[Erik Sapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is really good. I loved the background, and the overarching plot was good. Getting down to the details, however, made my love of the book fade.

The setting for the world is never really defined. I understand that terrorist events in the 90's turned the US into a totalitarian state. The details of that state are never defined though. What is HSS? How does it relate to the FBI? What does it mean to be a "Citizen," or a "Patriot" or a "Guest?" Can a person change their status?

There are a lot of characters. Miracle and her team are easy to keep track of, but the rest of the characters are thrown out so fast that none of them are developed. Maybe it would have been easier if I could have read the book in one sitting, but that was not possible. Every time I picked up the book to read more, I had to try to remember who any given person was. Even when I finished the book, I was not sure exactly what had happened and how everyone played into it.

I want to read the next book, as there was enough good stuff in this one to catch my attention. I just wish more would have been done to make this one clearer

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little unnerving reading this book about Homeland Security Service Agent Miracle Dunn. She lives in a world somewhat like our own, only more conservative, more family focused, somewhat more homophobic. A world where the Twin Towers fell in 1993 and the more liberal of the Democratic Party were lost in 1996.

So it's a little strange to find myself liking Agent Dunn. Not that I have any reason to dislike her, she's a good investigator and doesn't misuse her powers, but she is part of an all-powerful, all-seeing government agency, something that people are continually more suspicious of in our world.

As Dunn investigates a murder, we learn more about her world as well as Dunn herself. And as we go, we see that of course there is more to this murder than originally seems.

I've been a fan of Michael A. Stackpole since I was a teen, reading his many Star Wars novels. Though it shames me to say this is the first non-Star Wars story I've read of his, outside of short stories.

I was a little confused at this alternate reality and why Stackpole chose to make such a different world. I understand it gives him the freedom to create his own security force without worrying about the differences, but I'm not sure what his aim was in creating a vastly more conservative world.

The most curious part for me is that it's written in a very neutral way. Stackpole isn't suggesting this is a better or worse world, it's just different. I suspect certain elements will be addressed in future stories, though for right now it allows the reader to come to their own decision.

The main plot, the murder investigation kept my attention, there are enough twists and turns to keep me wondering and enough questions left unanswered to entice me back. And the added curiosity of this strange alternate world is an added bonus.

[Erin Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good beginning to a new series. A little heavy-handed with the character development; the characters describe and dissect each other instead of the readers learning about them as we go along - but they are detectives/investigators. They take people apart for motive all the time.

Normally I do not like alternate history/universe stories; they always feel like something is missing. If you remove one piece from our history, a cascade reaction results. Mr. Stackpole GETS THAT. Initially you are reading along the story going "I know this universe. I live in it. This is is a nice fictional story set in our real world with names changed to prove it is fictional." And then you discover the reaction of the public to the terrorist attacks at the end of the 20th century went in a very different way. **This is not our America.** The more I read of the story, the more I hope it never will be. But I believe this universe could exist and that makes it an excellent alternate history story, spooky, but excellent.

The mystery being investigated is two-fold; a cold case and a hot one linked by the crime scene. The question is are they linked by more than location? The further you go in the story, the more you wonder. Mr. Stackpole keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. And the closing scene gives you a glimpse into the personal journey the main character will take during the next book. The story worked as a stand-alone, but the hint for the future makes the series intriguing as well.

[BJ Haun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read some of the works of this author in the past...but to be honest, I don't think I had read a book of his that didn't have "STAR WARS" emblazoned on the cover.

...What? Have you seen my booklist? I'm a nerd. Get over it.

So, when I picked up Perfectly Invisible as part of a bundle, I didn't know what I was in for.

What I got was a pretty good police procedural set against the backdrop of an alternate history U.S.A. In this story, the back story of the history didn't have much to do with the plot, other than the Homeland Security Service can do things that would make even a Fox News anchor blush (for example an HSS agent plants a data gathering virus on a suspect's computer, and then retroactively requests a search warrant).

I get the feeling that this is kinda of a "test the waters" book, and such, I'll keep my eye open for the next one in the series, if there is one. I'd like to see where Stackpole goes with it.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this. I like the primary character (Miracle Dunn) and the members of her homeland security team - in an alternate earth in which terrorist plots in the '90s were successful--and devastating to America. I also like the way Michael Stackpole writes. His style is mentally comfortable to read. The book doesn't get 4 stars because (1) for some reason I had trouble tracking who-was-who among all the characters, which typically is not a problem for me, and (2) it didn't leave me with a sense of completion. They settle on a low-level "solution" to two of three cases they are working. And although Miracle reflects on the bigger questions of the case, and her frustration at not being able to dig into them more, the "ending" felt rather flat.

Yet because I like Stackpole's writing style, his characters, and this world he has created, I'll definitely read the next one in this series (Homeland Security Services)if/when there is one.

[Erin Klitzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can certainly tell that this book is meant to be the header for a larger, longer series, because by the end, not every end is tied up. You know just enough about the characters to be left wanting more at the end.

I felt like it was too short! There could have been some subplots layered in that would have lengthened the novel and developed the characters a bit more, but the taste that I got was just barely enough.

The alternate world Stackpole developed for his Homeland Security Services series is believable--it's a logical extrapolation for what might have happened if the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center had actually succeeded in bringing the towers down.

Perfectly Invisible was a good, fast read. I'm looking forward to the day that Miracle (or someone else) punches Colt Lincoln in the face, though.

[John Uhri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read several of Mr. Stackpole's books, and even had the occasion to see him speak at a Con. I like him and his writing. But Perfectly Invisible didn't do it for me. For whatever reason, I had trouble keeping track of characters, and was only able to sort them out in my head by assigning them to character's from the TV show The Closer.

I realize this is the opening book in his HSS series, but I also felt like things wrapped up too quickly and didn't have the depth I was hoping for in the story. I hope future stories set in this world expound on that, and that I'll come back to this review with a different perspective.

[Daniel Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give it more than three stars. The "what if" premise is scary and realistic. The lead character was interesting, and someone to like and root for, but perhaps a bit incomplete. That sums up my feeling of the book: the author prides himself on how quickly (or how many words per day) he can write. But my sense on this book was he went too fast. I could not keep track of the action; it did not seem to transition well. Characters were introduced so quickly I could not recall whom they were, or what they did. There were a lot of typos and such in the text also. Had potential to be a great book; maybe a sequel with Miracle Dunn will come out.

[Brian Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A police procedural in a world where terrorists succeeded in causing huge devastation in the US in 1993 and 1996 (tens of thousands dead, leading to results similar to the Patriot Act/Homeland Security etc but wider-ranging). This lets Stackpole write a thriller and ramp up the government's presence without coming across as paranoid about the real world climate today. A nicely executed concept, particularly as the details are only part of the background.

Clearly setting up for longer novels and series in the same setting, I'm looking forward to it.

[John Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really intriguing and somewhat chilling sort of "alternate present" story, set in a world where the Twin Towers came down in the '90s and completely remapped the American political landscape. A quick, fun read.

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disturbingly plausible alternate history, starting from the 2003 attempt on the World Trade Center. As a mystery it wasn't compelling, the exploration of the alternate US society is what kept me reading.