Jezebel's Ladder is the first book in the sci-fi series by Scott Rhine which is quite spectacular. His imagination continues to innovate at all levels as he creates new technologies that are of alien origin; alien in the sense that the origin is unknown and clearly not human. This first book is far more then a set up for the rest of the series, it is a self contained thriller all by itself, and Scott pulls out all the stops as he plunges the reader headlong into a war between multiple factions. To say that it is exciting would be like saying 0 degrees Kelvin is cold.

THE PLOT: There are alien artifacts – called pages, because that is what they look like. They currently are spread across the globe. Elias Fortune, an aerospace and porn tycoon, has amassed a number of pages, and is recruiting people to help him get more. Jezebel is one of the people who gets recruited. She was a mathematics major in college before she became a dancer in Vegas, and a magician's assistant. As time goes on, she is exposed to a number of pages, and becomes amazingly talented at a great number of things. Because the pages provide breakthrough abilities, countries and corporations around the world would kill for those pages, and so Fortune Aerospace is at war with a number of different entities; each wanting the other's pages and not shy about spilling blood to get them. An organization within Fortune Aerospace is built to detect, defuse, and debrief any incoming threats as well as recruit new people for the organization. There has to be a reason for the abilities that pages give people, but what is it? Do aliens want to talk to us? Meet us? Is there something close by that will send out a signal when we are close to achieving our goal? It is not only a multi-sided war for pages themselves, but a search for the area where the pages originated, and a sci-fi tale of alien technologies that are so innovative they are beyond conception. This was a tightly plotted tale, with enough twists and turns to please any mystery buff, but don't be fooled by the magic, keep your eye on the sky and you'll finally see what's going on. For plot, I give this novel, a 9/10.

CHARACTERIZATION: Scott has a way with characterization in all of his novels. He writes his characters so that you feel that you really know them, with all their conflicted feelings, their romantic fumblings, their quirks and foibles, and even the evil people are understandable – which makes him a rarity in the sci-fi world, where instead of shades of gray things tend toward black and white. There are so many shades of gray in the world of Mr. Rhine, that you can't help but feel for his characters, because they come across as human as you or I, and you want them to succeed at what they are trying to do. In this novel, Jezebel, our protagonist, has some obvious faults, but has the biggest heart in the world. She would do anything for anyone under her protection, to the detriment of herself. That type of loyalty is so rare in this day and age. For characterization, I give this novel a 10/10.

IMAGERY: Scott has a way with words that has always surprised me. While sparing on the prose, he gets his point across quite well while having an image of the action render in your head like a cinematic experience. Even without his beautiful book covers, It would be easy to image Jezebel and the others on the Fortune Aerospace Team fighting the war for the alien pages, being kidnapped, questioning enemy agents and such. Rhine makes it all believable with his descriptions which makes up a facet of the characterization of each member. One image stands out especially, Jezebel is being tortured by the enemy, tied up in the steam tunnels of a building. She is stalling for time, so that her rescuers can get there before the psychopath who kidnapped her can kill her. She is distracting him by getting him to rant about the things that made him go rogue. It is a dangerous game that she plays. If he gets too mad, he will kill her there and then. The clock is ticking and the madman is ranting, but who will wind up reaching the deadline first. At the same time, Jezebel is trying to loosen her bonds and is making headway – so a third option may be open to her, if she can just keep him talking, but not make him too mad, it is a balancing act like the man with the spinning plates on the sticks, the more plates he adds, the higher the odds are that one will drop. The dramatic tension in this scene is gripping to say the least. For imagery, I give this novel, a 9/10.

THE GORE SCORE: There is actually quite a lot of violence in this book. As the Fortune Aerospace Team is a at war with a number of factions, it is not surprising that there is violence, but Rhine does not glory in the violence at all, he just plainly states what occurs, and keeps right up with his rapid pacing. I give this novel a gore score of 5/10.

DIALOGUE: The dialogue in this novel is snappy and modern, with a bit of humor thrown in. It makes the book more entertaining with the wit it provides. Each character has their own voice. My favorite voice is that of Claudette who is Southern and speaks with wonderful colloquialisms common to the South, but maybe unknown elsewhere. It makes her character more sympathetic and likeable when she speaks like that. It reminds me of some people I know who are the same way – big hearted and friendly, but fierce when defending friends and family. Rhine gets that Southern accent just right. For Dialogue, I give this novel a 9 / 10. .

PACING: The pacing of all Rhine's novels is lickety-split-quick or LSQ, and this is no different, it's as if you are strapped on the back of a missile and when you breach the cover of the book, you launch. Up you go at tremendous speed, and because this is a smart missile, you dodge and weave from enemy fire, until finally you reach your target, exploding on impact, which is the last sentence of the last page. Then you put the book down, thinking of the wild strange trip you've just been on. This novel is no different. The pacing doesn't slow at any point, You go through the book from different points of view, and the transitions are easy as pie. For pacing, I give this novel, a 10/10.

THE ENDING: This novel built up dramatic tension until I was literally biting my nails, it was almost impossible to guess at the ultimate problem represented by the reaction of humans to alien technologies and so by the time you get to the last third of the book you are stunned into speechlessness by the problem presented to the characters you are reading about. It is so enormous, almost beyond comprehension and the clock is ticking, that you whip through those pages at warp speed. What a movie this novel would make! As we get down to the very ending, with little time to go, and all the world watching, I found myself holding my breath until the final resolution. Not only did it come out the way I wanted, I came out with a smile on my face, how's that for an ending. I give this novel, a 10/10 for ending.

THE UPSHOT: This is not your typical sci-fi space opera, it is more like Mission Impossible meets Close Encounters, with a dash of romance thrown in. The hard science is quite innovate and definitely present in this novel. The alien technology as I mentioned before is so innovative that I was amazed at Rhine's creativity in this book's conception. I would recommend this book to fans of action/adventure, mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy novels. It is also a great human interest story about what we human's would do if we were confronted with alien technologies without governments first controlling them. This is a wonderful novel and the first in a series. The second is Sirius Academy, which is out now. I give this novel a rating of 57/60, a very high rating of five stars.

MLB SCORE CHART

50 – 60 5 STARS
40 – 49 4 STARS
30 – 39 3 STARS
20 – 29 2 STARS
10 – 19 1 STARS
00 – 09 0 STARS ( )

Disclosure: I edited this book, but do not receive any remuneration for sales. My having edited the book in no way affects my opinion of the story.

My synopsis: This fast-paced novel, which includes a segment of formerly released novella The Icarus Transformation, centers around a fascinating idea – what if some … entity had, at some point in the past, distributed special documents throughout the world – ones that, when read, gave the reader amazing new knowledge and abilities, that could help them become rich and powerful – or dangerously insane? Jezebel (or Jez), the title character of the book, is a former Vegas showgirl, a former magician’s assistant, and formerly an ambitious go-getter. However, ever since the death of her fiancé Chance at the hands of carjackers, she has sought assiduously to drink herself to death. This night, however, something different is about to happen – this night, men have arrived, seeking to kill her. She is saved by an unlikely hero and catapulted into the adventure of her lifetime when she unknowingly is the first woman to read a page and not only survive, but actually absorb the information and no go insane. Soon she is dodging assassins, recruiting new members to the top-secret group of which she has become a part, and starting plans for a space colony.

My Thoughts: This is one of the books that I had a chance to read very early and it was a page-turner even in rough form. To watch it develop was a truly wonderful thing. Scott’s characters are well-developed and each have a unique voice. The concept he has developed in this story is fresh and exciting. I highly recommend this to fans of speculative science fiction, or anyone who enjoys a good book. It is my understanding that there will be at least one sequel, which I will be eagerly awaiting. ( )