“Once Dead” by Richard Phillips – The Best Laid Plans of Aliens

When Richard Phillips began writing the original Rho Agenda trilogy, it felt like he was writing in a style made to cater to young adults more than anyone.

However, it feels as if his progression through the story pushed him more and more towards the boundaries of adult storytelling... as if the author was still searching for the approach he liked best.

Feeling he could make a good expansion of his universe, he set out to write The Rho Agenda Inception series, with the first book being Once Dead.

To give a brief overview of the main story, we are presented with Jack Gregory and Janet Price, two number one-type assassins who, in the previous stories, weren't much more than a supporting cast.

In any case, as Jack Gregory is bleeding to death on an operation table, an alarming second chance presents itself. Some strange alien entity, Anchanchu, is offering him a deal: he gets to live, but the alien uses Jack as a host, essentially possessing him. Needless to say, when Jack had to make the decision between certain death and potential doom, he chose the latter.

One year later, things are going rather decently for him, except for all the weird compulsions, visions, thoughts and premonitions haunting him on an almost-daily basis... in addition to his irresistible attraction to adrenaline-pumping events.

Throw into this mix Price who turns into an ally, the Koenigs with a great plan to change the universe, Big John an NSA computer, a Russian mobster named Rostov, the directors of the NSA and CIA, and you've got a recipe for an adventure where there will be many more questions than answers.

First of all, it really shows that Phillips has improved upon his writing since last time. Whereas his previous works had a few writing and plot mistakes that had the potential to knock you out of your immersion for a little bit, there's none of that to be found here. Phillips advances the plot rather quickly and has jam-packed it with action sequences that will make you forget how fast you're flipping the pages.

As a matter of fact, these scenes of violence are captivating in their own right as they truly show that the author has knowledge and experience on various aspects of combat, whether it's a gunfight or hand-to-hand. The details he provides are excellent for making the reader feel how gruesome that world can sometimes be.

Another subject of note is the accuracy with which the author depicted the many locales and settings his characters visit across the United States. They are travelling from one end to the other in order to prevent a major disaster (leaving an ever-increasing pile of bodies on the way, naturally), and so go through many different towns, each one having its own atmosphere and way of functioning.

Though I certainly haven't been to these places, the depth in which they are described really makes you feel as if you're there, witnessing it all first-hand.

While things do move rather quickly for the most part, it ought to be said that in this book you'll find more character development than you did in the previous trilogy.

This is especially true for Jack and Janet who go from zeroes to heroes, in the sense that they get fully-developed, becoming interesting and multi-faceted, with enough room left for further character exploration in the next books.

All in all, Once Dead is a fantastic beginning to a new series, one in which the author really demonstrated some tangible improvements in his style, which only further complements the exciting narrative that never lets you have a moment of boredom.

If you are looking for an action-packed science-fiction thriller that is solid in all aspects and will take up a chunk of your time, then this novel is a perfect place to start.

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Richard Phillips Richard Phillips an American merchant mariner, and much more recently, an author, who famously served as the captain of the MV Maersk Alabama which was hijacked by Somali pirates back in 2009. He wrote a couple of books detailing his experiences overseas, titled A Captain's Duty and My Story, by the REAL Captain Phillips. His story was also turned into a silver screen adaptation where he was portrayed by Tom Hanks.