The Athena Protocol
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The Athena Protocol
The slam is still echoing in the room when I am up. Since I need to avoid the floor, I jump lightly onto Amber’s much-loved countertop in my socks, pulling off the belt from my jeans. My heart is pounding, but it feeds my system the right amount of adrenaline to get the job done. I toss the end of my belt over the exposed ventilation pipes that run across the ceiling between the counter and the lock boxes. The buckle sticks between pipes. Wrapping the other end of the belt around my wrist, I leap and grasp hold of the top of the lockers with my other hand. Not bad - though Hala, the parkour champion of the world could doubtless do much better.
Having got this far, I pause to listen for Amber, but it’s only been thirty seconds, and there is no sound except for my own ragged breathing. I inhale deeply to slow it, then improve my grip on the cool metal and lean forward until I’m almost upside down. In my other hand is the key card that I just picked from Amber’s jacket pocket. I reach down to insert the card into my own locker. It slips open smoothly, and I move fast, picking out comms units, the phone, two passports, and a sealed bag with some ID cards. My hand hesitates over a gun before I decide to leave it.
Jessie Archer was recruited by a special training school at age 16, and she is now a member of black-ops vigilante group the Athena Protocol. If your Greek mythology is rusty, Athene or Athena was the Olympian goddess of (among other things) wisdom, war, and heroic endeavour. Aspiring to those attributes, members of the Athena Protocol act as protectresses to girls and women from those who would do them harm. As the book opens, the team is in Africa attempting to extricate 50 kidnapped girls when Jessie makes a split second decision that results in her being expelled from the group. While subsequently struggling to come to terms with her actions, she knows that Athena needs her expertise to pull off their next planned mission. But going rogue means that nobody has her back. And going rogue means that her former teammates have been ordered to take her down.
Gregory Pavlic is suspected of trafficking women out of Eastern Europe. The local government knows about his business but has been unable to close it down because he is blackmailing high-ranking judges and politicians. Athena’s investigation into Gregory has also revealed that he is operating a secret clinic that is kidnapping young girls to harvest their eggs for sale. In a shocking twist that turns out to be only the tip of the iceberg, Jessie, acting alone, is left to stop it.
This intense action thriller is highly effective in great part due to strong character development. Jessie is definitely a flawed character, but this provides plenty of room for the author to explore her growth. Jessie finds herself in a difficult place at the beginning of the novel, struggling to come to terms with the ethics of Athena’s mandate to take down kidnappers and traffickers outside of the law. Some readers may also struggle to reconcile this sort of vigilante justice. Secondary characters, including the two other operants and Athena’s three founders, are well- written. Additional entrants in this series will likely explore these characters further. Jessie’s relationship with her mother, Kit (one of Athena’s founders), is explored in detail. Kit was a famous singer, but her touring left Jessie alone to fend for herself. A lie involving Jessie’s father has further fractured their bond.
The all-female team is diverse, including African American, Palestinian, and South Asian British, all with their own layered backstories. Additionally, Jessie’s love interest is villain Gregory’s daughter Paulina. Their slow-burn romance acts to heighten this novel’s suspense as Jessie tries to manipulate Paulina to learn more about her father.
This take-no-prisoners thriller brings heightened action, solid pacing and strong female characters and will be devoured by fans of action thrillers. The sequel, The Shadow Mission is in the works and promises to be even bigger and better.
Author Shamim Sarif is a novelist, screenwriter, and director. As of this writing, Sharif is directing an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. She lives in London with her wife, Hanan, and their two sons. The Athena Protocol is her first novel for New Adults.
Chris Laurie is an Outreach Librarian at Winnipeg Public Library in Winnipeg, Manitoba.