Fearful Symmetries

This book is the fourth in a series, but you don't have to have read the others to enjoy this one. The books opens with a bang and ends with one. The twists and turns will keep you guessing, but the author does play fair and gives you all you need to figure out what is going on if you pay attention and read between the lines here and there. This is not a good book to read if you want a pick-me-up. This story is dark and does not paint a very cheerful picture of the world or humanity. I happen to love these sort of books, and Andrew Swann's in particular. As long as you know what your getting into I can't recommend a book much better than this.

The moreau books can be read individually, but this is the only direct sequel in the series (so far). Picking up about 15 years after the first, things start off bad and only get worse. Swann seems to have a bit of a formula here, and his books are almost predictable in ther chaotic messiness, but you know what? It works.My heart sank when I found out that my favorite part of the first book, Nohar and Stephie's love story, didn't make it. But the book was still next to impossible to put down. I read it and the first book in just a few nights and was exausted. The tension just sucks the life out of you. And if you thought the first book was intense (and painful), HA! You haven't seen anything yet. The punishment Nohar takes in this book is unreal. You practically have bruises just from reading it.Secrets and people from the past emerge to make Nohar's life hell, and as a character I feel that he grows just as much here as he did in the first book. And while the future looks bleaker than ever, there still seems to be a ray of hope.

This is the first time I have read any of the "Moreau" series by S. Andrew Swann, and I was duly impressed. Nohar Rajasthan is a noble and quixotic character, for I think he is only trying to survive a world where moreaus are only considered 2nd-class citizens by the very beings that created them: humans. The situation that Nohar finds himself in and the subsequent discovery of his "mule" son Manuel is filled with believable tension. The ending is great too, and I hope to read more of Swann's "Moreau" books in the future.

Oh,it's so -good- to have another book about Nohar Rajasthan. And this is a real page-turner, too. Body and mind, Nohar is one of the most interesting beings to come up the pike in some time, and I'm really glad to see him back. He takes a lot of punishment in this one, and he's getting old--Swann had better work on that age problem. I'd like to see Nohar go on and on.

Nohar Rajasthan is no human. He is a genetically mutated tiger, a moreau. He is a predator, designed to fight by humans who did not want to risk their own in the bloody wars. But once the wars were over, the moreau had to be tolerated by the humans who created them. So now they are second class citizens. Nohar makes his living as a detective, serving only the moreau, never touching a human case but once. And once was enough. He learned his lesson. Now, retired at forty, and feeling his age more every day, Nohar is approached by someone who wants to hire him, a young crossbreed moreau. Nohar refuses, which leads to his home being destroyed, which leads to Nohar seeking out the man who contacted him, only to find him dead. And all of this leads to a shocking discovery. Nohar has a son, and his son is in danger. S. Andrew Swann has a knack for making the unbelievable seem believable. Fearful Symmetries humanizes Nohar to the point that he becomes a completely believable hero, while retaining his exotic differences. Engrossing.Rickey R. Mallory