'An Agent turned rogue poses an apocalyptic threat to the Division, unless her former friends can eliminate her first, in this rip-roaring instalment of the Operation Crossroads series. Division agent Maira Kanhai is alive. Maira Kanhai has gone rogue. When Brenda Wells learns that her old recruit’s – and close friend’s – watch has turned red, she refuses to believe it. Yet the agents sent to track Maira down have irrefutable evidence saying otherwise. With the threads holding the Division together fraying under heavy assault, Brenda desperately assembles a specialized Division cell and heads out to learn the truth. In the blistering heat of the American Southwest, they face grave danger at every turn. There they learn that other deadly parties are stalking Maira too, hoping to use her to destroy the Division once and for all.'
The second instalment of Thomas Parrott's The Division series ended on something of a shocking note. Series lead Maira Kanhai appeared to be killed in the final confrontation, but in the final pages of the book we learned that she was in fact still alive, taken prisoner by a mysterious new faction. The third book picks up where that story left off, with the surviving members of Maira's team, and Brenda, the woman who brought her into the Division, learning that she's still alive and trying to bring her home. Unfortunately, Some within the Division believe that Maira has gone rogue, and it becomes a race against time for her team not just to rescue her, but to clear her name too.
Each of the books in this series have told a single, cohesive story, yet manage to feel like they have their own tone and focus, and this book is very much more character driven, with the team having to come together to save one of their own, rather than having to deal with some huge looming threat (though of course there is that too).
Because of this, a good portion of the start of the book is focused on Maira, on both where she is and what she's doing in the present, but also her past. We've gotten a decent idea of who the character is up to now, especially in the first book in the series, but this feels like the first time in a while we've had this deep a dive on the character; and it's done really well. Parrott makes Maira feel like a more conflicted and complex character than would first appear, and for what you'd expect for a character who's essentially an action game star.
One of the things that surprised me during the focus on her, though it has features in small ways in previous books, is Maira's sexuality. Of course, her being attracted to a woman will cause certain fans of the series to cry in outrage, and I've already seen a review that calls her sexuality 'forced' and decided to use a slur to describe her. This is what happens when something that 'gamers' latch onto in any way includes a minority group or representation. The same week that I'm writing this review I've seen people playing the new Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League complain about a progress flag being in the game; a game where you can play as a canonically bisexual character, and Batman is voiced by his most famous actor who is himself a gay man who based his portrayal of Batman on his own experiences as a gay man. Despite what these people will say, Maira's queerness isn't forced, isn't being done for 'PC points' or any such rubbish, but is simply a realistic inclusion of people from different backgrounds, and it's handled really well.
As with any book in this series The Division: Hunted includes a good deal of action and gunfights, and there are parts of the book that are so well done. Parrott is able to write action with such attention to detail and well crafted descriptions that it feels like you've been dropped right into the middle of things. You don't have any trouble picturing the flying bullets and the explosions, and it almost feels like you're watching an action movie over simply reading the descriptions. Parrott is so good at immersive action that whenever you know an action scene is coming up you can't help but get excited for it.
With The Division being such a popular game series with fans who've put hundreds of hours into them it could be hard to bring that to life in book form in a way that doesn't feel like it's missing out on something, but this book manages to be an almost perfect addition to that universe. It slips into what's come before without disrupting things, and eagle eyed fans will notice connections to the games that are sure to delight. Whether you're someone who loves the franchise, or are simply looking for some cool Tom Clancy inspired reading, this book has you covered.
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