The Quebec Connection

Fifteenth in the Penetrator series. The book opens with the Penetrator pursuing a Quebecois separatist group who are commiting a number of terrorist acts, including some in the U.S. Big mistake on their part. The Penetrator goes up to Canada to catch them and ends up having a fun speedboat chase with them. He discovers that they are being funded through the sale of a new designer drug. Turns out the drug has a bad side effect: it permanently alters the DNA of its users, such that any offspring they have will be genetic dwarfs. Not good. The Penetrator travels to France to disrupt the drug factory and discovers that the whole thing is being masterminded by a cabal of evil dwarfs who want to make the entire human race like them.

Somewhere show more along the way in previous books, the Penetrator made an enemy of some kind of Chinese criminal secret society and they are now pursuing him. They send multiple teams of assasins after him, and almost succeed in a drive-by shooting in France. Not sure what these guys are all about, as I have not yet read the book where he initially encounters them. At some point in the future, I'm sure that there will be a final showdown with this organization.

It's a fun adventure and I like the premise and locations used in the book. I wish that some of the campy / cinematic elements had been dialed up a bit though. Evil dwarfs and a designer drug that creates more? Wacky. I wanted more of this. When the Penetrator confronts the dwarfs, he kills them just like all his other foes; I wanted a unique kind of fight here. Not a bad adventure though.

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers show less