DREAD NOUGHT

Full Name:	Cassie Parker and Remy Tambook
Nationality:	American
Organization:	Dread Nought Corporation
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Marc Stiegler
Time Span:	2021 - 2023

ABOUT THE SERIES

Cassie Parker is a thief.

Remy Tambook is an agent with the Dread Nought Corporation.

The two worlds in which Parker and Tambook reside are wildly different and there is no logical pathway that would take one into the other's orbit - until it did. But I said logical and even Parker would admit that what she did when she did it was not in the sphere of logical. When she saw a van pull up a bit in front of her on a city street and black-masked fellows leap out to snatch up a young woman, she did something she would have bet she'd never do and got involved. I mean, really involved as in taking on a couple of the would-be kidnappers with the skill that she gained over the years in self-defense, although this was more in the line of offense. Meanwhile, the almost kidnapee, whom we learn soon is Tambook, was not just standing meekly by but was ably taking care of a couple more assailants. Within seconds, four guys are prone on the sidewalk and Tambook is leaping into the van and pulling Parker in with her and tossing the driver very unceremonially out and taking off, stealing the van the men had planned to use to steal her.

Parker is a bit dazed, first at the fact that she went against her nature and did a Good Samaritan act and then at the fact that Tambook would turn to her and call her by her name. As far as Parker knew the two had never met and yet ... One impulsive act will change both of their lives.

This is all told in the very first pages of the very first recorded adventure. After that, things get a whole lot more exciting. This is shown in part by a tagline for the first adventure, "Save the World? Or Kill Each Other? Tough Choices".

And now a brief moment to talk about Dread Nought (yes, the spelling with the 'o' instead of 'a' is correct here). The company is a privately held intelligence collection and black-ops conducting organization working on behalf of ... well, that sort of gets confusing. As Dale, another key player in these adventures, asks himself, "Was Dread Nought on the side of the angels? Was it the right hand of Satan? He knew neither of these simplistic depictions covered the truth. A more nuanced question beckoned. Did his company do more harm than good?"

This ambiguity makes the things that Parker and Tambook get involved in even more interesting. And then it got ... well, different!

BOOKS

Number of Books:	4
First Appearance:	2021
Last Appearance:	2023


1			Triple Cross Written by Marc Stiegler Copyright: 2021 "Save the World? Or Kill Each Other? Tough Choices Cat burglar Cassie Parker minds her own business. But when she screws up and plays Good Samaritan she finds herself on the run with Remy, her new best friend and worst enemy. In a world where the most ruthless clandestine organizations run the conspiracy theory web sites for psych experiments, Remy holds the key to global domination. But as Cassie and Remy seek answers across the planet, eluding pursuers again and again, recruiting their deadliest enemies in a doomed alliance, Cassie sees a pattern emerge. Soon their fates will be decided, in the bowels of a fortress unbreeched for over two hundred years - The Kremlin.

2			Double Tap Written by Marc Stiegler Copyright: 2022 "If Cassie steals the answers, can Remy find the questions? At last the heat is off—the world of covert operators thinks Remy is dead. And they know Cassie has a deadman switch. Before the deadliest actors realize their mistake, Cassie and Remy must up their game. This would be considerably easier if Cassie had a clue where on earth Remy is. Couldn’t the girl at least drop her doppelganger a hint on her whereabouts? One thing is sure, they’re going to need to know a lot more before they can protect the world from the people chasing them.

3			Power Play Written by Marc Stiegler Copyright: 2023 "Who could be more dangerous to Cassie than the assassins now chasing her? Remy. Cassie and Remy, given the Key and the UDC, have learned enough to try to rescue Remy’s dad. But they’ll need serious firepower to have a chance. Could a few Predators from Creech Air Force Base do the trick? However, when they uncover her father’s fate, Remy’s cheerleader nature burns away as she learns a new emotion she has not yet known. Rage incarnate. On the run again, desperate and alone, Cassie must now face off against a walking, talking slaughter-bot--a martial arts expert with unimaginable training, with all the digital data of the world at her fingertips, and with a hundred Ph.ds of knowledge wired into her unparalleled brain."

4			Zero Sum Written by Marc Stiegler Copyright: 2023 "Illuminati. Skull and Bones. Freemasons. Bah. Mere Shadows of the Eldest Conspiracy Cassie and Remy have Awakened. Cassie and Remy had thought a nice jungle fortress might offer a little privacy. A Mach Five hypersonic cruise missile destroys that happy illusion. Time to remember an important safety tip: The best defense is a good offense. In theory they have the knowledge to defeat their enemies. Now they need the leverage. Too late. Hints and glimmers appear of a conspiracy deeper, darker, and more powerful than any they yet have known. A conspiracy that has waited for ages for someone like them."

5			Infinity Option Written by Marc Stiegler Copyright: 2023 Coming: "Held captive in a secret base under unimaginable security, can Remy escape with her knowledge and her life? The ages-deep conspiracy that has engineered so many other conspiracies has finally caught the cheerleader with the answers. Her tech is the last piece they need for their centuries old goal - To terminate the chaotic flow of uncontrolled history. Why? To replace it with a beautiful, joyful future fully scripted by the Elder Guides. Of course, Remy will become their first test subject. Can Cassie find her before it’s too late? Even if she does, what chance could the pair of them have of stopping the immense forces, prepared over centuries, now impatient to strike?"

MY COMMENTS

I was really into this series at first but then, as I ended the About The Series section, it got 'different'.

What I liked about it were the two main characters, Cassie and Remy, and their different approaches to things. That was very interesting and enjoyable. I was not too pleased with the two organizations which were after them or trying to help them or they were after or ... too confusing. The author could have made it a whole lot easily on this aging brain. I got the idea that AID was a bad organization even though they belonged to the NSA which are usually good guys. I thought Dread Nought was a good organization until they started to do things a bad guy group would do. Was this intentional or just writing in need of better editing?

Conspiracy nuts will absolutely adore this series, though.

GRADE

My Grade: B

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