Control Point by Myke Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would have to say that I found Shadow Ops: Control Point to be a very enjoyable read. It will not likely fall into the realm of classics, but frankly few books do. But that aside, it was a well written storyline that drew you into the conflict that the main character, Oscar Britton, was going through.

The story takes place in a alternate version of Earth where powers have manifested in the population. The government’s reaction to these powers was to demand that all individuals who manifest them turn themselves into the government. They are then indoctrinated into a Military service branch designed specifically for them. If you choose not to turn yourself in, you are dubbed a ‘Selfer’ and hunted down. A subset of these groups are ones who are labeled as ‘Probes’. They are individuals who manifest powers in what the government has labeled a ‘Prohibited’ powerset. These individuals are tracked down with a unsettling gusto.

Overall the story touches base on a lot of common items we see and struggle with in even our society. Bigotry, corruption, abuse of power, confusion and the government abusing groups for their own ends. I wouldn’t say that it has a negative light on the government as a whole though much of the feel the government in this story reminds me of the information that exists of the Government during the period where the United States was ‘Acquiring’ lands from the Native American population. The same level of confusion, misinformation, bigotry and abuse of power is rife through this story.

Its definitely an interesting story that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Modern fantasy with this single exception. If you don’t military stories, then you might not like this one. While the rest of the series appears to have the potential to not be as focused to a military setting, due to the nature of the characters involved and the setting in general, there is a considerable amount of military references and activities in this book.

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