Crimes Against Humanity (9)

Jurisdiction #8

by Susan R. Matthews

THE BEST-SELLING UNDER JURISDICTION SERIES FROM CAMPBELL AWARD-NOMINATED AUTHOR SUSAN R. MATTHEWS CONTINUES. A new installment in the Phillip K. Dick-nominated series that Janis Ian called "a very scary series." Fleet Inquisitor Andrej Koscuisko finds himself out of the frying pan and into the to fight back against a devious crime syndicate that is trying to murder him and bring slavery and darkness to Gonebeyond Space.

GONEBEYOND JUSTICE

Gonebeyond get there and you may find freedom from torture and genocide under Jurisdiction. Yet go there at your own risk. The Rule of Law has only a tenuous hold on Gonebeyond, and undefended settlements can be exploited with impunity.

Until now. The Langsariks’ Hilton Shires has forged a coalition to bring the worst of the Gonebeyond criminals—slavers—to justice. The criminal cartels that have profited from the freedom of Gonebeyond for so long aren’t having any of it, and they know the key to taking down Shires is to get rid of his ally, renegade Fleet Inquisitor Andrej Koscuisko. But where can they find an assassin with the moxie to “disappear” Andrej Koscuisko? Many have tried. None have succeeded.

Enter his Excellency Danyo Pefisct. But this torturer from the Jurisdiction hasn't reckoned on one Andrej Koscuisko is even more relentless and effective than before. The difference? Now Andrej serves the cause of Gonebeyond justice!

Priase for Crimes Against

"...a tightly styled, simply plotted examination of ambition, obsession, and the many faces of justice..."— Publishers Weekly

"Fans of space opera with a dark or grim twist will enjoy the idiosyncratic setting, full of former torturers and mind-control devices. . . ."— Booklist

About Blood

"A very satisfying entry in a very scary series!"—Janis Ian

"Starting with An Exchange of Hostages , I devoured Susan R. Matthews 'Koscuisko' novels—all six of them—when they first appeared. Books with this much courage, clarity, and empathy are rare. The Under Jurisdiction series is a remarkable and unprecedented accomplishment.”—Stephen R. Donaldson, New York Times best-selling author of the Thomas Covenant series.

More praise for Susan R.

“[Matthews] brilliantly uses science fiction’s freedom of creation to make a world in which she can explore deep moral conflicts.”— Denver Post

“. . . has a dark energy . . . an extremely compelling read.”— New York Review of Science Fiction

“A chilling and engaging novel of false accusation and the power of personal responsibility.”— Booklist on Angel of Drestruction

“A tightly woven space opera full of grand heroic gestures and characters strong enough to sustain all the action.”— Booklist on The Devil and Deep Space

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

After earning an undergraduate degree in psychology, Susan R. Matthews was commisioned into the United States Army, where she was the operations and security officer for a combat support hospital specializing in nuclear, biological, and radiological warfare. Currently working as an auditor for an aerospace manufacturer, Susan lives with her partner in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

[Metaphorosis · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Andrej Koscuisko, a reluctant inquisitor who found he had a taste for torture, has found a home in the lawless Gonebeyond space. But ex-colleague Danyo Pefisct, recently demoted, has a commission from a patron obsessed with Koscuisko, and he's found a way to reach him.

Review
Much as with the last book I reviewed, Misha Handman’s Shadow Stitcher, I had an unexpected experience with this book. While that book had several strikes against it from the outset, but turned out well, this book had several things going for it. Mainly, I’d read the first two books in the series, An Exchange of Hostages and Prisoner of Conscience, when they first came out in the late 90s. I liked them, mostly; they were well written and unusual. I didn’t have ready access to bookstores for a year or two after that, but every now and then I’d think about picking up the next in the series. Now, I’m glad I didn’t.

I came into this book familiar with the general context and some of the characters, and I figured I’d find my feet pretty quickly. I was looking forward to an interesting read. Neither of those turned out to be correct.

Much to my surprise, I found this book a chore to read almost from the start. While Matthews does her best to provide a ‘what has gone before’ summary, it simply underlined for me that it was late to step into the series, even with a pretty good grounding in books 1 and 2. Much more to my surprise, the prose isn’t strong (nor is the proofing). Worse, I’d lost interest in the book before I finished Chapter 1 – and it never got better. It was both too technical and too brutal. The book spends most of its time shifting between characters and detailing minutiae of what they’re doing, without much effort to tie the threads together. Even knowing some of the characters already, I found many of them effectively indistinguishable – they’re all effectively on all sides, all good and all bad. They constantly refer to each other, but not in a way that connects anything.

I had no real chance of following the strategies the various players follow – it mostly felt random, and often inconsistent. Halfway through the book, I still had no idea what it was about. I also didn’t much care; none of the characters was very engaging, and certainly none were sympathetic. Andrej Koscuisko, the hero of the first two books, is a key part of the ensemble, and everyone cuts him slack on all fronts, though it’s clear that he’s by now just as bad as any of the others who are criticized, and probably worse.

I found the book extremely hard to get through. The epilogue, oddly, is the smoothest, clearest, and most engaging part, but by then, it’s far too late. I’m not sure what happened to this series from the last time I saw it – or perhaps to Ms. Matthews, or to me. I was impressed with Matthews’ first books. Now, though, I’m glad that chance led me to get out of this series when I did. I’m certainly not planning revisit it again.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrej is pitted against another ex-inquisitor fled to Gonebeyond space when a kidnapping plot intervenes into a war against slavers. There was a lot of emotional closure in the previous book, primarily for cast but also for setting. In theory I like continuing past beyond the point of resolution to see the lived consequences of the series--particularly the romantic friendship between Andrej and Stildyne, which is a rich & underrepresented relationship dynamic. But nothing particularly substantial happens here: it continues but doesn't progress. Nonetheless an adequate installment, with worldbuilding that's come into its own and a successfully constrained plot; but the tension rests on "will Andrej's men protect him?" which has such a foregone conclusion that there are no stakes. I liked this fine, but would have happily stopped with the previous book; but I am glad to have finished the series (to date)!

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former Fleet Inquisitor Andrej Koscuisko is the target in Matthews' latest Under Jurisdiction tale.

[William Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first chapters took me a bit. The rhythms of the language and the characters weren’t as familiar as they were when I first read the series. I was concerned I might set the book aside because it seemed a bit of a struggle to read.

Then I realized I was halfway through the book and it was getting late and...wait just a few more minutes? Something dragged me into the narrative and wouldn’t let go.

I think it’s because our favorite torturer and his crew of clinically insane henchmen weren’t in the early chapters. New-ish people were being introduced to set the plot in motion.

In the end, I was pleased with this expansion of the Jurisdiction universe. It’s not really a reintroduction to the incredibly dark world His Excellency once ruled with a sick and disturbed aplomb. It’s quite a bit lighter; he doesn’t really do that sort of thing anymore. But the shadow of his former calling haunts the book.

If you like your heroes dark and twisted, start at the beginning of this series.