Literary rating: ★½
Kick-butt quotient: ☆☆½
This is another entry in the sprawling Kurtherian Gambit universe, which must have well over a hundred books in it, by a slew of different authors. I’m gradually coming to a couple of conclusions: a) it’s a very loosely-tied series, and b) the quality varies. When you give your book a title like this, evoking the spirit of Judge Dredd, you are setting certain expectations. Unfortunately, this is a book which fails to meet them, with a heroine who never achieves the level of intensity necessary to live up to the series title: Judge, Jury, Executioner. It has reached 16 volumes, which suggests either there’s a market for it, or the author has too much time on their hands. No prizes for guessing my opinion.
I guess this is loosely “legal space opera,” with the heroine being Rivka Anoa, a barrister who has the talent to read people’s memories and feelings through simple physical contact. When a criminal she knows is guilty gets released, she can’t control herself and kills him. Arrested, she’s given the Nikita choice. Work for the government as an all-in-one justice system, or pay the price for her homicide. Not exactly a difficult choice, and she is quickly pumped full of nanomachines to enhance her physical abilities, trained in lethal arts by her mentor, Grainger, and sent off across the universe with a bodyguard, Red… to troubleshoot a family squabble.
Yeah, my disappointment was palpable. I get it’s a governor’s family squabble: still, it felt like James Bond being assigned to direct traffic. The other mission in this book, brokering a treaty between two squabbling planets, wasn’t particularly interesting, exciting or a good use of her newly-acquired talents either. Indeed, her original ability, being able to sense emotions and history by touch – something you’d think would make her unstoppable as a member of the legal profession – is hardly ever used. Speaking of which, in terms of law, this is so unconvincing, to the degree it can only be read as childish parody.
With the emphasis there firmly on “childish”. Rivka doesn’t sound at all like a barrister, and even less like a judge. You get absolutely no sense about the moral weightiness of having to hand down capital punishment, and the attempts at witty banter between her and Grainger are flat-out cringe inducing. Do not even get me started on an alien species being vulnerable to being kicked in the crotch. Yeah, we are literally at the “Ow! My Balls!” level of entertainment here, folks. I was quite glad the last 12% of the book was unnecessary filler like the author’s outline, which I could skip entirely. I don’t know how much input Anderle had into this, but I would strongly recommend he exercise a greater degree of quality control over the material which goes out under his imprint. This kind of rubbish leaves me very cautious about buying other Kurtherian Gambit books.
Author: Craig Martelle and Michael Anderle
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing, available through Amazon, both as a paperback and an e-book
Book 1 of 16 in the Judge, Jury, Executioner Book series.