This will be the most interesting mission you’ll ever forget.

These words are spoken to assassin Peter Caswell by his handler, Monique Pendleton, as he sets off on the main story arc of ZERO WORLD. Peter is good at his job. At least he thinks he is. He believes he has to be since he continually gets work from his employer, the Archon Corporation. But in this futuristic world, once he completes his mission and eliminates his targets, his memory is wiped. He remembers nothing about what he has done or who he has destroyed. He has secretly devised a count system, employing bottles of beer that he turns so that his re-awoken self knows how many souls he took before the reset, and he recites lines from a Queensryche song to keep himself centered as his memory is erased.

This new mission is more than he bargained for. He has been chosen to enter a rift in space-time and pursue a target --- scientist Alice Vale --- who has likely begun to manipulate life on a duplicate Earth, known as Gartien. A duplicate, but not an exact copy. This other Earth is beset by craters, its people are behind in the technological development, and there are some pretty stark racial issues. Peter pursues his mark, but his plans are turned upside down when he meets Melni, a spy from the duplicate Earth who is also after the same target, though her goals do not mirror his. Alice has been using her knowledge of the advancements of our world to benefit herself socially and monetarily on Gartien, providing technological improvements for the North. Melni, the covert operative from the South, seeks to gain access to the Think Tank and obtain the secrets behind these advancements. She wants Vale alive.

"Hough has crafted a great read. Story, character, world building, action --- all points are firing on all cylinders here. Should you be a moderate science fiction reader or a diehard fan of the genre, ZERO WORLD will work for you."

When the three all meet inside the Think Tank, the chaotic arc of the story kicks into gear, and Peter and Melni are running for their lives.

ZERO WORLD is a fast-paced cinematic novel full of action. While it has moments that slow down, much of the book really explodes and keeps the pages turning. The beauty of those slowed sections is that author Jason M. Hough has built a great world to take in and explore. Though much of Gartien is like the Earth of, say, the 1950s, there are enough nuances to keep them fresh and worth investigating.

Melni and Peter are interesting characters. Both are minorities from their respective worlds (Melni is “desoa,” an outcast from the Desolation, and Peter is Korean), and so some of the racial conflict on Gartien touches both people. Melni, like all the people of Gartien, don’t use contractions in their speech, and their hand gestures hold different meanings --- which leads to some confusion as Peter and Melni try to escape from Alice’s compound. The two form an odd but symbiotic team.

ZERO WORLD tries to ask some larger questions. What would you be willing to do if you knew that the memory of your actions would be erased, leaving you with a clear conscience? Are the actions more important than the memory of those actions? Are they only important if you remember them? Peter is confronted with these questions, and wrapped within the larger story is the question of his redemption. The truths you think you know at the beginning may not be what you find at the end. The twists and turns are nicely done.

Hough has crafted a great read. Story, character, world building, action --- all points are firing on all cylinders here. Should you be a moderate science fiction reader or a diehard fan of the genre, ZERO WORLD will work for you. It’s a grand adventure in space-time with the feel of a modern-day thriller a la Jason Bourne. And while Peter may forget the mission, the book’s true success is that you won’t.

Please note: ZERO WORLD is listed at 592 pages, but this is slightly misleading. Included is a complete novella, THE DIRE EARTH, which is a prequel to Hough’s previous novel, THE DARWIN ELEVATOR.