Peacemaker - Marianne de Pierres

Peacemaker - Marianne de Pierres

ISBN - 9780857664181 (US) | 9780857664174 (UK)

Publisher - Angry Robot

Release date - April 29 2014 (US) | April 17 2014 (UK)

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Virgin Jackson is the senior ranger in Birrimun Park - the world's last natural landscape, overshadowed though it is by a sprawling coastal megacity. She maintains public safety and order in the park, but her bosses have brought out a hotshot cowboy to help her catch some drug runners who are affecting tourism. She senses the company is holding something back from her, and she's not keen on working with an outsider like Nate Sixkiller.

When an imaginary animal from her troubled teenage years reappears, Virgin takes it to mean one of two things: a breakdown (hers!) or a warning. Dead bodies start piling up around her, so she decides on the latter. Something terrible is about to happen in the park and Virgin and her new partner, U.S. Marshall Nate Sixkiller, are standing in its path...

I think anyone who's a regular reader of this blog knows that I happen to be a fan of Marianne de Pierres' work. I read Nylon Angel back in 2011 and since then I've read most of her available books so I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to read Peacemaker! The one thing I love about Marianne de Pierres is that you know you are going to be amazed at some point by the way she blends her genres together effortlessly and Peacemaker is no exception. Part sci-fi, part western and part crime thriller with a dash of romance I was hooked from the first page to the last by some of the most brilliant genre blending I've read in a while!

After witnessing a murder that was supposedly impossible in Australia's National Park Virgin is assigned a US Marshal who is coming in to help solve problems the Park bosses are having with drugs & various other things. Disgusted at the thought at having to play babysitter to Nate Sixkiller Virgin goes out of her way to ditch him, except Nate has the innate ability to turn up right when she's got herself into trouble or just when her lover, Heart, makes an appearance... Heart is a stripper and together they make the odd un-couple, Virgin neither wants or needs a boyfriend and she certainly doesn't want a stranger complicating things even further. Just when it looks like things can't get any worse Virgin discovers that all may not be as it seems and Sixkiller may not be the only hiding things.

Peacemaker is one of the most original novels I've read in a long time. Apart from the completely seamless blending of genres de Pierres' characters just about leap off the page in both characterization and dialogue. Virgin is sarcastic, funny, sharp and everything else you want in a strong female character and I adore both Heart and Sixkiller as the other points of the (not) love triangle. This has only endeared me even more to Marianne's writing and trust me, both Peacemaker and Mythmaker (review coming later this week) are definitely worth looking out for!

Thanks to Angry Robot and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for a fair & unbiased review.