Rogue Sequence: A Novel

by Zac Topping

Overview

It's 2091 and independent contract companies around the world are producing genetically modified soldiers…to be sold to the highest bidders.

Ander Rade is a super-soldier, a genetically engineered living weapon, and has been dutifully following orders since he gave himself to Xyphos Industries’ Gene-Mod Program several years ago. But when a mission goes sideways, he’s captured, imprisoned, and forced into brutally violent fighting pits for the better part of the next decade…until agents from the Genetic Compliance Department of the United American Provinces appear in the visiting room.

Things have changed since Rade was captured. Shortly after his incarceration, the World Unity Council banned human genetic engineering and deemed all modified individuals a threat to society. Overnight, an entire subculture of people became outlaws simply for existing. But instead of leaving Rade locked behind bars, the GCD agents have come with an offer: Freedom in exchange for his help tracking down one of his former teammates from that ill-fated mission all those years ago.

It's an offer Rade can't refuse, but he soon realizes that the situation is far more volatile than anyone had anticipated, and is forced to take matters into his own hands as he tries to figure out whose side he’s really on, and why.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250322432
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Series:	Ander Rade , #1
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	361,534
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

ZAC TOPPING grew up in Eastern Connecticut and discovered a passion for writing early in life. He is a veteran of the United States Army and has served two tours in Iraq, and is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Wake of War. He lives with his wife and dog in a quiet farm town and currently works as a career firefighter.

Editorial Reviews

04/08/2024

Dazzling high-tech combat pervades this roiling Ramboesque thriller from Topping (Wake of War). In a dismal near future, Ander Rade is a genetically modified combat mercenary working for Xyphos Industries, a U.S. producer of killer assault teams. After a mission goes suspiciously wrong, he ends up imprisoned in Bolivia, where he’s caged and forced to fight other prisoners. Fortunately, Agent Moreno with the U.S. Genetic Compliance Department negotiates his release in exchange for Rade’s help tracking down Xyphos team member Darius Turin, who has gone rogue and is suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on an upcoming World Unity Summit in Atlanta. Rade agrees, and Moreno smuggles him back to the U.S., where “mods” have been declared illegal. Together, they conduct a top-secret investigation that leads them ever deeper into a “corpopolitical” drama involving a Russian arms smuggler, the dark net, and a multibillion-dollar holding company invested in embryonic cloning. The plot is plausible enough to frame all the violent action, and Topping drives things to a flashy, cinematic finish. Despite skimping on backstory for Rade and Moreno, he does a decent job developing their relationship from deep distrust to soldierly camaraderie. In the infrequent breathers between fight scenes, there are some lovely, spare descriptions of the near-future American wasteland. Readers who prefer their action in overdrive should check this out. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Rogue Sequence reads like a thriller and resonates like a prophecy.”

—Elliot Ackerman, New York Times bestselling author

“A fast-moving, action-packed thriller, with shades of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon and William Gibson’s Count Zero.”

—Marko Kloos, bestselling author of the Frontlines and Palladium Wars series’

“A visceral look into an all too realistic future. Beliefs are challenged, loyalties tested, and moral boundaries pushed to their limits as the characters are thrust into a viper’s nest of corporate and political greed.”

—J.S. Dewes, author of the Divide Series

“A breakneck thriller set in a complex near-future of gene modification that pulls no punches, kicks, or body slams.”

—Dan Moren, author of the Galactic Cold War series

“Readers who prefer their action in overdrive should check this out.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Topping’s military experience shines in the vivid fight scenes and his descriptions of the characters’ surroundings. It makes the action more believable and compelling. Recommended for fans of espionage thrillers, as well as military science fiction readers.”

—Booklist

From the Publisher