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In an America driven to near bankruptcy by crushing foreign debt and susceptible to outside forces, the Talos Corporation stands out as a major success story, training soldiers and security forces from around the world and providing logistics and troops for nearly all branches of the United States government. But Talos has other plans. Three FBI agents, first encountered in Quantico, stand between Taloss CEO Axel Price and absolute control. When the President is shot and her second-in-command is found at the scene of a horrific crime, Rebecca Rose- on extended sabbatical from the FBI-is thrust back into service to investigate threads that lead deeper and deeper into Prices organization. Fouad Al-Husam is working undercover in Lion City, Texas, at the core of Talos, where he has uncovered and hidden critical information. Meanwhile agent William Griffin follows a bloody trail of domestic terrorism fro the Midwest into the heart of Taloss influence. Enter Nathan trace, victim of a violent incident in the Middle East that led to post-traumatic stress disorder and forced him to enroll in a treatment program, code-named Mariposa. The Mariposa subjects begin to experience unexpected side effects that indicate something has gone terribly wrong. Liberated from nearly all human emotions and concerns-and all mental limits-they have become brilliant and lethal sociopaths. They are out of control-the smartest men on the planet, the deadliest. Yet without Traces help, Rose and her fellow agents will be unable to stop the plan that Price has set into motion-a plan that could leave America shattered and utterly unable to defend itself.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Three characters from the preceding thriller Quantico, the FBI agents Rebecca Rose, William Griffin and Fouad Al-Husam, re-appear here, but this novel is about a much more serious threat to America than lone bombers, even ones using biological weapons.
In the opening scene the Vice-President murders his wife. Rebecca is brought in to find out why: the trail leads back to 'Mariposa', a project to counter combat PTSD by re-booting a person's DNA. The VP was the first through this programme, but Rebecca went through it later...Meanwhile Fouad is undercover in Talos Corporation, a Texas-based defence and security multi-national run by Axel Rose. It has contacts at all levels in the US government and overseas. Fouad is there as an interpreter at a big meeting with Arab heads of state is in the offing. But Fouad has in his blood 'prochines' containing the results of a hack into Talos's systems by the mysterious Quiet Man, who manifests only as a voice on a telephone. To get those prochines Wllliam infiltrates Talos during a prisoner exchange, hoping to use three robot snakes as couriers to get blood samples from Faoud.
The switch-backing plot is a bit of a challenge to follow but there are plenty of science-fictional ideas here. I thought it was going to be a routine follow-on from Quantico but it has an energy of its own.
In the opening scene the Vice-President murders his wife. Rebecca is brought in to find out why: the trail leads back to 'Mariposa', a project to counter combat PTSD by re-booting a person's DNA. The VP was the first through this programme, but Rebecca went through it later...Meanwhile Fouad is undercover in Talos Corporation, a Texas-based defence and security multi-national run by Axel Rose. It has contacts at all levels in the US government and overseas. Fouad is there as an interpreter at a big meeting with Arab heads of state is in the offing. But Fouad has in his blood 'prochines' containing the results of a hack into Talos's systems by the mysterious Quiet Man, who manifests only as a voice on a telephone. To get those prochines Wllliam infiltrates Talos during a prisoner exchange, hoping to use three robot snakes as couriers to get blood samples from Faoud.
The switch-backing plot is a bit of a challenge to follow but there are plenty of science-fictional ideas here. I thought it was going to be a routine follow-on from Quantico but it has an energy of its own.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
More Bear retreads
31 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have just finished reading two Greg Bear books: City at the End of Time, and Mariposa.
Mariposa is the better book; a tightly plotted political thriller. City at the End of Time is just awful: amorphous and bloated, it makes little sense, and the ending provides no satisfaction at all.
The books share a common trait, though; they are both inferior retreads of previous Bear works.
City at tne End of Time is very similar to the his alternate reality fantasy from the 80's about the young wizard. The second book, The Serpent Mage, is about a world whose foundations are fallling apart and need a new creation to be saved. City has basically the same plot, but with a ridiculous many-worlds pseudo-quantum physics underpinning. Just as in Serpent Mage, the fate of the world lies with "breeds" who have unusual and unexpected powers. The old gods in Serpent Mage have the names of the gods of earth, while in City they are called Typhon, Sangmer, et. al.
Mariposa reads like Queen of Angels, with similar plot devices and even some of the same characters.
The themes---about how technology, computers and medicine will unleash new and sometimes dangerous capabilities, are interesting, but Mariposa says nothing that wasn't said better in Queen of Angels.
Also, like Queen of Angels, Mariposa falls apart near the end with a completely unbelievable, operatic weaving together of the storylines in the book.
By itself, Mariposa is not bad. It's just so disappointing to find a talented and interesting writer with nothing new to say. He could have skipped this one and City and we'd all think the better of him.
Mariposa is the better book; a tightly plotted political thriller. City at the End of Time is just awful: amorphous and bloated, it makes little sense, and the ending provides no satisfaction at all.
The books share a common trait, though; they are both inferior retreads of previous Bear works.
City at tne End of Time is very similar to the his alternate reality fantasy from the 80's about the young wizard. The second book, The Serpent Mage, is about a world whose foundations are fallling apart and need a new creation to be saved. City has basically the same plot, but with a ridiculous many-worlds pseudo-quantum physics underpinning. Just as in Serpent Mage, the fate of the world lies with "breeds" who have unusual and unexpected powers. The old gods in Serpent Mage have the names of the gods of earth, while in City they are called Typhon, Sangmer, et. al.
Mariposa reads like Queen of Angels, with similar plot devices and even some of the same characters.
The themes---about how technology, computers and medicine will unleash new and sometimes dangerous capabilities, are interesting, but Mariposa says nothing that wasn't said better in Queen of Angels.
Also, like Queen of Angels, Mariposa falls apart near the end with a completely unbelievable, operatic weaving together of the storylines in the book.
By itself, Mariposa is not bad. It's just so disappointing to find a talented and interesting writer with nothing new to say. He could have skipped this one and City and we'd all think the better of him.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Lots of complexities
5 Mar 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mariposa by Greg Bear is a story laden with complexities. There are a lot of characters of and a lot going on. It's one of those books where you have to mentally keep track of who is where and what's happening. This only adds to the mystery and suspense of the story, allowing you to exercise your brain while enjoying it all. Basically the government is on the verge of financial collapse and the various security agencies are competing against each other for survival. There is also a rogue computer and a hand full of people coping with the fact that the eugenics treatment used to save them is turning some of them into psychopaths. It's like reading four books at the same time, though everything is well connected and the randomness of events keeps the suspense tuned on high throughout the story. The science is especially well handled with real, almost real and yet to come, all seamlessly melded together, leaving you to wonder which things are already developed and what is yet to come.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Suprisingly good book
14 Aug 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I didn't really expect to like this - from the reviews it seemed a little too pro-spook and right-wing for my tastes. I took a chance because I've enjoyed other Bear books over the years, especially "Darwins Radio". Fortunately Bear's politics turn out to be pretty centrist and don't interfere with a great read. And the political intrigue was laced with the kind of first rate sci-fi that I love. I zipped though this book in 2 days, finding myself stealing time from other activities to keep reading it. It's a page-turner.
Bear's imaginary Mercenary company Talos seems to be a thinly disguised version of real-life Blackwater Security. Mariposa's villian, Talos CEO Axel Price is portrayed as a murderous thug months before real life Blackwater CEO Eric Prince was implicated in political murders: [...]. And (I'll try to avoid spoilers here) other actions Price takes in the book are very close to the latest rumors about Prince. Bear is either a very lucky guesser, or very, very sharp.
The technologies Bear creates here are also fascinating. The idea of a PTSD treatment slowly having unexpected side effects was presented in a very believable and entertaining way. Some of the message passing technologies, while not exactly new, were very clever. To say any more would be a spoiler - just watch out for snakes.
Unlike a lot of sci-fi the characters were believable. I found myself upset when good guys died, and happy when they got rewarded. The end of the book was very satisfying. It left me feeling like I'd glimpsed the near future of America, and there was hope.
My only complaint with this book is that it was over too soon. I guess I'll have to go back and read it's predecessor, Quantico.
Bear's imaginary Mercenary company Talos seems to be a thinly disguised version of real-life Blackwater Security. Mariposa's villian, Talos CEO Axel Price is portrayed as a murderous thug months before real life Blackwater CEO Eric Prince was implicated in political murders: [...]. And (I'll try to avoid spoilers here) other actions Price takes in the book are very close to the latest rumors about Prince. Bear is either a very lucky guesser, or very, very sharp.
The technologies Bear creates here are also fascinating. The idea of a PTSD treatment slowly having unexpected side effects was presented in a very believable and entertaining way. Some of the message passing technologies, while not exactly new, were very clever. To say any more would be a spoiler - just watch out for snakes.
Unlike a lot of sci-fi the characters were believable. I found myself upset when good guys died, and happy when they got rewarded. The end of the book was very satisfying. It left me feeling like I'd glimpsed the near future of America, and there was hope.
My only complaint with this book is that it was over too soon. I guess I'll have to go back and read it's predecessor, Quantico.
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