The Prisoner by Carlos J. Cortes

Published by Spectra on October 27, 2009

In 2049, prisons have been replaced by facilities that house prisoners in hibernation tanks.  The private corporation that runs them has hidden some tanks in the middle of each facility that are used to house Russian mafia types and political prisoners who never receive a trial.  Why these folks aren’t just killed rather than hidden away (presumably forever) is never satisfactorily explained.  Even more far-fetched is the plot:  a senator’s son who became a political activist is one of the occupants of the hidden tanks (for patently absurd reasons that, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I won't reveal) and three lawyers (yes, lawyers, not former special forces types who might be trained to do this sort of thing, but lawyers) are recruited to bust the activist out of the hibernation tank.

Putting aside the ridiculous plot, most of the novel reads like a well written thriller, as powerful but relatively incompetent agents of Homeland Security chase the lawyers and the thawed activist through the D.C. sewer system.  The characters suffer from the single dimensionality that is common enough in thrillers, but the action sustains the novel until the novel reaches it's stunningly bad (but oh-so-happy) ending.

Tempted though I am to steer readers away from this novel, I must admit that I enjoyed reading much of it.  The writing is polished, the story is action-filled (as befits a thriller), and the pace is furious (which makes it possible to read without thinking much about the plot holes).  The last few pages, however, are rather dull polemic, in contrast to the lively writing that precedes them.  It's a shame that so much good writing was wasted on such a silly plot, but readers looking for an exciting science fiction thriller might want to take a look at this one.  Just check your common sense at the door if you want to enjoy it.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS