Looking forward to the next episode

The blurb says: “A team of scientists discover intelligent alien life, and start a dangerous race to capitalize on the opportunity…” Five centuries later… “The mercenaries of Specialized Support Contractors were only looking for small jobs befitting their fledgling company, but soon find themselves forced into the limelight when their employers place an ancient alien weapon in their possession.”

That neatly summarises the plot, except the weapon is intelligent and malevolent. It wants to eat all the humans, well, just their lifeforce, but that’s nit-picking. It is captured by the scientists of a fictitious country on Earth that *sounds* like the USA but might not be. Then manages to escape when the mercenaries are attacked by other mercenaries bent on stealing their cargo. Except it only partially escapes. It is still contained in the trap sprung by its captors, but has an opening created by a railgun round that passes through the cargo bay of the transport taking it for deployment.

The book switches timelines frequently at the start, which can be a little confusing, BUT IT ISN’T. Graham writes it so well, you slide between time periods with ease, aided by a cast of well developed, highly motivated, and interesting characters. The plot has twists and turns, the writing is easy, humorous, and flows well, and the dialogue sparkles. I was seriously impressed by “I Guess We’re Heroes”, and it seems to me that it deserves better than struggling to gain attention, when it could easily stand up against more illustrious writers.

If it has a fault (for me) it is the cliff-hanger at the end. There is no proper denouement. This is probably to persuade you that buying the next episode is worth doing. It is anyway, and I will.

Highly recommended if you want something different that isn’t too difficult to read yet retains your interest throughout.

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