The Scoloderus Conspiracy
by D.A. Blankinship

    THE SCOLODERUS CONSPIRACY by D.A. Blankinship
    Category:  Science Fiction
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  12/15/06
    Publisher:  Leathers Publishing
    Reviewed by:  Candace Cunard
    Rating:  4 Stars


    It’s been more than three-hundred years since a series of natural disasters destroyed the Earth we know and plunged
    the world into chaos, but despite the efforts of many to rebuild civilization, peace and stability are slow in coming.

    In the Northern Hemisphere, the major power of the United Americas Trade Federation (UATF) has consolidated
    information from the time before the cataclysm and used these rediscovered pieces of Earth’s history to attempt to
    create order out of chaos. Their plan is unification, but they’re opposed by a group known as the Libre Voyageurs,
    known colloquially as the LV, and a war breaks out between the two camps over who will control North America.
            
    The story kicks off when Colonel Hammond, leader of a team of UATF Shadow Warriors deployed in combat
    against the LV, is kidnapped in a surprise attack upon his camp that wounds many of his soldiers and leaves Captain
    Marcus as the officer in charge. Now, Marcus must handle the investigation into the reason for Hammond’s
    disappearance, before he can be made to reveal important military secrets to the Libre Voyageurs that could
    compromise the UATF’s precarious position in the war.
           
    Although many of the primary characters in this novel are soldiers, the focus of the delicately-constructed, ever-
    twisting plot is upon the strategic games that the UATF and the LV are playing. Rather than being solely about the
    physical battlefield, the conflict operates simultaneously on the levels of traditional warfare and conspiratorial mind-
    games. It’s this balance that gives the book its drive.

    Although the large cast of characters and number of intersecting storylines may lead the reader to some confusion at
    the beginning, the story that does establish itself is one that will keep you on your toes until the very end.