Review: Politics Kills, by Declan Finn

The first book was the easy part.

In Declan Finn’s White Ops, Sean Patrick Ryan and Associates defeated a belligerent alien race and staved off attacks from the true enemy, the Animi, as well as finally getting the goods to take down the tyrannical President Douglas Wills.

That, however, was the easy part.

The story

Having learned the truth of Animi and their desire to not just dominate, but eat most of the life in the galaxy, Sean Ryan and his White Ops team decide to take the fight to them. With the help of Admiral Sherman Newcomb – hero of the Pharmakoi War – they manage to forge an alliance amongst the sentient races of the galaxy to form a united front against a common enemy.

However, behind the scenes, Wills and his loyalists are working with the Animi to undermine it all. Wills works to orchestrate assassination attempts, military coups and far more through his telepathic Thought Police and a shadowy special operations group known only as The Division. Those efforts create plenty of problems for White Ops, above and beyond the Animi themselves. Between civil wars and rescue missions the team is plenty busy.

In fact, if I were to make one complaint, it would be that there is too much going on. Wars that could be books unto themselves are usually dealt with over the course of a chapter or two. I wouldn’t even mind seeing expanded stories since I know Finn can also slow things down and focus on the characters more. Still, it is fun to see how much creative destruction is handed out to the bad guys as Ryan and crew jump from conflict to conflict.

The characters

The cast of characters expands in Politics Kills and those that were smaller players in White Ops play a bigger role here. For instance, Kami Figlia moves from the main female member of the team, to a presumed second in command of White Ops, as demonstrated when no one even thinks of questioning her stepping up during Sean’s unexpected absence.

Arthur Sharpe, the intelligence operative that provided the evidence to take down Wills also turns out to be someone with a large affinity for explosives. That makes him a perfect fit with the team, given the frequent need to blow up…everything.

Perhaps the most interesting new addition to the cast is Fr. Healy, the head of the Holy Order of St. Patrick. The team gets to spend some time with him while making a stop to thwart an attack on the order’s headquarters known as the Foundation. Fr. Healy is huge, has a large collection of whiskey, and enjoys singing songs about defeating the forces of evil. Armed with this knowledge, Kami finds it much easier to understand Ryan’s unusual disposition.

There are a few others that Ryan adds to his band of misfits, each of whom has a unique aspect, whether they be blind, a former black ops operator turned merc, or a sociopathic love of violence, the team has never been more dangerous.

The world

The galaxy is a dangerous place. It is full of telepathic aliens that want to eat you, politicians that will launch entire fleets of warships to settle an imagined personal grudge, angry generals that desire global domination and shadowy government organizations with their own agendas. Fortunately, there is Sean Patrick Ryan and Associates to make it safer. By nuking the hell out of everything in their way.

There are also quiet spaces and moments in between. It’s a world that Ryan insists still has time and room for the better things in life, like protecting the innocent and even falling in love. There are multiple cases of characters finally admitting their feelings for each other. By the end of things, several characters, even Ryan, come to terms with not just their emotions but their pasts that might have been getting in the way.

The politics

The name of the book is Politics Kills, so as you might imagine the politics of the book definitely doesn’t have much nice to say about business-as-usual politics. But the true politics of the book are formed by Ryan and his way of seeing the world. In his vision, evil is evil and good will triumph, all it takes is good people with the vision and the will to fight.

Content warning

If you don’t like positive views of monastic life, action heroes that don’t jump into bed with the femme fatale at the first chance, and evil punished with extreme prejudice, then you won’t much care for this. If that sounds good to you – buckle up.

Who is it for?

Thinking about this segment, my mind went back to the many action comics of the 1990’s. For those unfamiliar, many of them featured a paramilitary team who hit their enemies ‘hard and fast’. However, White Ops doesn’t have the grim and cynical feel of those books. Imagine instead the violence of X-Force with the cheerful “I’m gonna kick your ass” attitude and smirk of John McClain.

Why read it?

Because in this day and age I think we don’t need another reminder of how messed up the world is. What need is to be reminded that it is possible to push back, to go forth with a strong moral vision in your heart and mind, a sword in your hand, and a song on your lips.