A cutting edge spy playing hardball!

Agent G is one of 26 hitmen for hire, working for the International Refugee Society (IRS). His memories of his previous life were wiped away even as cyber enhancements were installed. With the promise of restoring his memories, Agent G patiently works off his time for the IRS. His current mission is to infiltrate the opposition, the Carnivale, which is run by Caesar and his family. However, a mole within the IRS is making this a tricky, and possibly deadly, assignment.

Once again, Phipps brings me quality entertainment. This was a very fun read that had just enough seriousness to make me care about the characters and their fates. As Agent G wonders what kind of man he was before his time with the IRS, I too hoped he would find out and that it would be good for him. Each agent is assigned a handler (or personal assistant) and Marissa is assigned to Agent G. The two have a connection on a personal level. Marissa, like the Agents, has also had her memories wiped and has been enhanced to some extent by the IRS. However, she is much more replaceable than Agent G, so he sometimes worries about jeopardizing her life.

Besides the great characters, there’s plenty of fancy tech for us cyberpunk fans. Weapons, drugs, and criminal intrigue permeate this story. Agent G has plenty of mods and many of them come into play as he tries to wend his way through this double crossing, mole infested plot.

I also really enjoyed the ‘bad guys’, some of which are truly bad guys. Caesar and his adult kids bring out another side to Agent G, especially when he has to allow himself to be seduced. Yep, there’s a few sexytimes scenes sprinkled throughout the book. They were fine though not terribly erotic. That’s OK because Agent’s G’s sex appeal is written all over him with his competency and focus.

All around, it was a very fun listen and I look forward to seeing where Phipps takes this story next.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Jeffrey Kafer is still one of my favorite narrators. He has the perfect voice for Agent G. It’s a touch gravelly but still sounds like a man in his 30s. I liked his mild Italian accent for the Casesar. Also his voice for Persephone (one of the people in charge at the IRS) was clipped and domineering, just like I pictured her.