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MAJESTIC-12 #3
MJ-12: Endgame
A Cold War fought by superhuman agents reaches a boiling point in the thrilling finale to the MAJESTIC-12 historical thriller/superhero mash-up series from Michael J. Martinez.
Josef Stalin is dead. In the aftermath, the Soviet Union is thrown into crisis, giving former secret police chief Laverentiy Beria exactly the opening he needs. Beria’s plan is to secretly place his country’s Variants—ordinary people mysteriously embued with strange, superhuman powers—into the very highest levels of leadership, where he can use them to stage a government coup and seize control of the USSR.
America's response comes from its intelligence communities, including the American Variants recruited for the top-secret MAJESTIC-12 program, who are suddenly thrown into their most dangerous and important assignment yet. From the halls of the Kremlin to the battlefields of Korea, superpowered covert agents face off to determine the future of the planet—a future their very existence may ultimately threaten.
Josef Stalin is dead. In the aftermath, the Soviet Union is thrown into crisis, giving former secret police chief Laverentiy Beria exactly the opening he needs. Beria’s plan is to secretly place his country’s Variants—ordinary people mysteriously embued with strange, superhuman powers—into the very highest levels of leadership, where he can use them to stage a government coup and seize control of the USSR.
America's response comes from its intelligence communities, including the American Variants recruited for the top-secret MAJESTIC-12 program, who are suddenly thrown into their most dangerous and important assignment yet. From the halls of the Kremlin to the battlefields of Korea, superpowered covert agents face off to determine the future of the planet—a future their very existence may ultimately threaten.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 4, 2018
13 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Michael J. Martinez
13 books123 followersI’m a father and writer living the dream in the Golden State. I’ve spent nearly 20 years as a professional writer and journalist, including stints at The Associated Press and ABCNEWS.com. After telling other people’s stories for the bulk of my career, I’m happy that I can now be telling a few of my own creation.
When not being a parent or writer, I enjoy beer and homebrewing, cooking and eating, the outdoors and travel.
When not being a parent or writer, I enjoy beer and homebrewing, cooking and eating, the outdoors and travel.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 25, 2019
Damn...
Finishing this is like saying goodbye to old friends without any expectation of seeing them again. I first picked up this series because it sounded like a cool genre mash-up and the reviews were all consistently good, but what I did not expect is the level on which I connected with the characters and the depth in which I cared for them. With that being said these are amazingly fun books with carefully constructed storylines relying on and incorporating real life events and people. I had never heard of this author before and with all I have read over the years that is a shame, because this guy deserves to be a household name. I am sincerely impressed and can only hope for more from this world in the future. Bravo Mr. Martinez you have my respect.
Finishing this is like saying goodbye to old friends without any expectation of seeing them again. I first picked up this series because it sounded like a cool genre mash-up and the reviews were all consistently good, but what I did not expect is the level on which I connected with the characters and the depth in which I cared for them. With that being said these are amazingly fun books with carefully constructed storylines relying on and incorporating real life events and people. I had never heard of this author before and with all I have read over the years that is a shame, because this guy deserves to be a household name. I am sincerely impressed and can only hope for more from this world in the future. Bravo Mr. Martinez you have my respect.
October 17, 2018
Martinez delivers a fantastic finale in MJ-12: Endgame. This series is essentially about superhero operatives in the earliest years of the Cold War. The books are fun and action-packed with a diverse cast and loads of interesting historical info. I'm a history buff, but I haven't read much on the Cold War; through these books, I feel like I learned a lot about the time period and the intrigues of America and Russia. The second book was illuminating on the condition of Syria at the time, and this last book explores the Korean War.
Then, of course, there are the superpowers. In this book, the cast finds their powers are getting stronger, sometimes in disturbing ways. I won't give away any spoilers, but a big question all along has been "where do these abilities come from?" Endgame answers that in a satisfying way.
Everything about this book is satisfying, really. I highly recommend the entire series and I'm excited to read whatever Martinez writes next!
Then, of course, there are the superpowers. In this book, the cast finds their powers are getting stronger, sometimes in disturbing ways. I won't give away any spoilers, but a big question all along has been "where do these abilities come from?" Endgame answers that in a satisfying way.
Everything about this book is satisfying, really. I highly recommend the entire series and I'm excited to read whatever Martinez writes next!
September 10, 2018
Martinez really stuck the landing with the 3rd book in the MJ-12 trilogy. The agents go all in for a mission behind the Iron Curtian and not one thing about it is easy for them. Their job is made even more difficult as the side-effects of their powers are becoming increasingly worse. Constant twists and turns that keep you guessing, not because they're out of the blue, but because they're all so well set up that they could honestly go either way until the dominoes finally fall. He also does an incredible job juggling the large cast of characters without making any of them feel forgotten about or shoehorned in just for the sake of being there.
Everything is wrapped up nicely, if not cleanly, and we finally get the answers we've been waiting for about he nature of the Vortexes and the origin of the Variants' powers.
Everything is wrapped up nicely, if not cleanly, and we finally get the answers we've been waiting for about he nature of the Vortexes and the origin of the Variants' powers.
December 1, 2025
Good conclusion to an interesting series that plays around with the idea of how the Cold War could play out if you interjected super-powers into the mix.
The characters Martinez has created are interesting because they're not very rote characters at all, and don't fall into the tradition super-hero lines very neatly, both in attitudes and in the powers they possess. Instead of doing much with the classic FISS (flight, invulnerability, super-strength; thanks to Aaron Williams for that one) power set, he's working with templates much closer to WildCards, where straight combat applications are a little more varied, powers have real drawbacks or challenges to utilize effectively. And they've mostly been drafted into government service, rather than all being eager volunteers.
Navigating the aftermath of Stalin's death and the upheaval it caused, especially with an empowered Russian looking to take control is a big challenge, and it's additionally complicated by the US government's growing distrust of its own operatives. How the crew we've been following gets through this is more interesting than the actual geopolitics in a lot of ways, because unfortunately by this point it seems clear that Martinez isn't interested in substantively changing history too much, at least from a results perspective. That's understandable, to a point, but it starts to become hard to accept that things would a) stay in the shadows as much as they do, and b) things would continue to turn out the way they essentially did IRL, especially since some of them were a result of people being dumb.
That said, it's still quite interesting and fun, especially for people that find this era of world history compelling.
The characters Martinez has created are interesting because they're not very rote characters at all, and don't fall into the tradition super-hero lines very neatly, both in attitudes and in the powers they possess. Instead of doing much with the classic FISS (flight, invulnerability, super-strength; thanks to Aaron Williams for that one) power set, he's working with templates much closer to WildCards, where straight combat applications are a little more varied, powers have real drawbacks or challenges to utilize effectively. And they've mostly been drafted into government service, rather than all being eager volunteers.
Navigating the aftermath of Stalin's death and the upheaval it caused, especially with an empowered Russian looking to take control is a big challenge, and it's additionally complicated by the US government's growing distrust of its own operatives. How the crew we've been following gets through this is more interesting than the actual geopolitics in a lot of ways, because unfortunately by this point it seems clear that Martinez isn't interested in substantively changing history too much, at least from a results perspective. That's understandable, to a point, but it starts to become hard to accept that things would a) stay in the shadows as much as they do, and b) things would continue to turn out the way they essentially did IRL, especially since some of them were a result of people being dumb.
That said, it's still quite interesting and fun, especially for people that find this era of world history compelling.
October 10, 2018
I've enjoyed this Cold War historical science-fiction trilogy. This is a fitting end to it. I don't read a lot of books involving the Cold War, so this was quite interesting to me. Well-written and a nice ending.
November 30, 2018
A FINE SUPER UP SPY THRILLER IT IS.....
Hello, I really liked this series and really, really hate to see it end on such a sad note. Excellent writing with good characters. Great job. Thanks.
Hello, I really liked this series and really, really hate to see it end on such a sad note. Excellent writing with good characters. Great job. Thanks.
February 8, 2020
In spite of my reservations about this being a trilogy instead of a full series, I found myself tearing up by the end of this novel. It was allergies! It wasn't emotional investment in the characters! (cough, cough) Nice wrap up to an overall worthwhile group of books. Good stuff, Maynard.
September 11, 2018
See my full review here: https://infinitefreetime.com/2018/09/...
September 12, 2018
All in all, MJ-12: Endgame is a super satisfying conclusion to the Majestic 12 series. It ties up all the loose elements left scattered throughout the series in a way that feels both satisfying and dramatically earned. It continues to develop the characters in ways that feel true to who they are but that also challenge their beliefs. All the main questions left hanging from previous novels are answered and, even if I would've liked a bit more explanation to those answers, they're satisfying answers that feel dramatically earned and make sense within the context of the story. MJ-12: Endgame is a great novel that maintains all the great aspects of the previous books in the series while continuing to improve upon them. It's engaging, surprising, suspenseful, action-packed, and genuinely emotional. The alternate history is handled with such care, research, and interest from Martinez that it's easy to find yourself lost in it and start to believe it's not fiction at all. The social commentary is a bit less strong in this book than in previous ones, but it's still there and (unfortunately) still timely as ever. Martinez has a gift for these kinds of stories. He has a gift for creating diverse, fully formed characters with captivating backstories. He has a gift for building compelling universes that readers want to spend time in. And he has a gift for crafting interesting, well-paced narratives. His stories are able to appeal to a number of people. This is a spy novel, a superhero novel, an action/adventure novel, and a political drama. He writes for such a broad audience and the characters are so varied and diverse that it's easy for a reader to find someone in the story they can identify with. MJ-12: Endgame is just a really good time and a really good way to end this series.
Full review can be found on my blog
Full review can be found on my blog
May 18, 2024
Excellent
A very well written engrossing read. I loved the characters, I was so upset but not surprised Danny did not make it. I really enjoyed this series, can't wait for the next.
A very well written engrossing read. I loved the characters, I was so upset but not surprised Danny did not make it. I really enjoyed this series, can't wait for the next.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews