HELIX

Olesya is an agent with an unnamed agency.

I do not know if those that she works with would even qualify as an organization; it seems to me more of a group of determined individuals with a single purpose in mind. That purpose is the destruciton of a vast international cabal known as the Fifth Column (FC). To grasp the reach and the power that the FC has is enough to unnerve the staunchest opponent. As we are told in a blurb, the FC is "the world's most powerful and secretive organization. They run our militaries. They run our governments. They run our terrorist cells." Who exactly is the 'our' here? Apparently everyone. Russia, China, the US, the UK, you name it, the FC has their iron grip on the hands that wield any power. And they are constantly looking for better ways to first maintain and then expand that frightening grip.

The adventures of which Olesya is the starring player is really a continuation of the Fifth Column series of stories. While that set of capers might be named for the organizaiton in question, it dealt with the actions of a trio of former FC operatives turned into resistance fighters: Sophia, Damien, and Jay. These three had dedicated their lives to bringing down the FC.

The stories told in this second collection deal with a different set of resistance-oriented operatives spearheaded (IMHO) by Olesya; this second set is primarily Russian in origin. We will soon run into that first group and they will become intimately connected to Olesya and those told in these Helix adventures.

The name Helix is very important to these stories because of the now famous double helix of DNA, the blueprint and building block that make up each of us (and all living things). Some time before the stories begin, the FC under the cover of a well-respected scientific program to map the Human Genome started being able to recognize extremely exceptional young people from around the world. The potentially best of the best of the best are offered scholarships to a prestigious school. That school would, however, turn out to be a rigidly run training facility for future operative assassins working for the FC. Those who survived the intensive training would go on to have careers serving the masters of the FC; those that fell short would not be allowed to rise again.

Olesya is one of those that succeeded and became a near legendary operative. Over time, though, she began to realize what she was working for and eventually decided to not only make a break from it, she began to try to destroy it.

I did not care for the Fifth Column series because it was really hard [for me] to grasp what was going on and that is a major no-no for me. The writing and the action and the characters were pretty darn good; the confusion was just too annoying for me.

This series is a whole lot better in that regard. Again the writing is well done and the characters, especially Olesya and her companions (Xiu was a favorite) were very interesting. I still was confused a lot as to what the group from the first series was doing in the second series but what the second group was doing made a lot of sense and was fun to follow.

That is an improvement that is worth noting.

One other aspect to this series that was a good point in its favor is the fact that while I did not ever believe the conspiracy behind it all - one ginormous secret organization out for total world domination, this series made me take a moment or three and think about the possibility for a moment before I blissfully assured myself that it couldn't be. Self-delusion is very handy at times.