One Jump Ahead
Mark L. Van Name
Baen, Jun 2007, $24.00
ISBN: 1416520856

Jon Moore is tired of war although nanotechnology enhancements make him the best known combatant in the galaxy even if at times like this he feels more like a combat machine than a human. Still he just wants to go home to live the rest of his life in peace and quiet on his planet. His only friend is Lobo, an artificially intelligent Predator-Class Assault Vehicle; a tank that works in any environs.

Jon Moore, soldier extraordinaire, arrives at the planet Macken for some needed R&R. However, the leaders of the two major corporations that dominate this orb and control the use of the jump gate see things differently as they feel Moore is a machine to be employed and discarded. They demand Moore handle a simple action for them; the abduction of an innocent to be used a pawn. What the bigwigs failed to account for is Moore learning the truth. So with Lobo directing him and with some anti galaxy-wide business allies, Moore begins an assault on the invincible armies of the corporate moguls to right the wrong he committed when they lied to get him to act before he realized that they double crossed him.

ONE JUMP AHEAD would be just another military science fiction in which a lone cowboy and his horse battle against avaricious corporations whose leaders are willing to kill to insure the bottom line is mega profitable. However, this rider and his steed turn Mark L. Van Name’s first Jon and Lobo thriller into a great opening triumph. Fans will appreciate the bone weary hero who needs a breather, but his “owners” treat him as a disposable machine as well as his sentient tank side kick Lobo who is more than just an advisor; this PCAV directs Jon as they battle the evil empire. Sub-genre fans will appreciate this terrific military science fiction novel.

Harriet Klausner