Into a Dark Frontier

Into the Dark Frontier is a apparently a first novel for John Mangan, and thanks to NetGalley for sending the book along. In the not too distant future, the entire continent of Africa has become a failed state. In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity for some, danger for most. Slade Crawford, a former SEAL, has run into some trouble. His son died, his wife divorced him, and he was falsely accused of terrorism. Crawford fled to African in hopes of starting over, but he ran into the hopeless, the insane, and the sociopaths who were drawn to the situation. Crawford is a compelling character, as is the 15-year-old Elizabeth who was accidentally pulled into this anarchy. I was less impressed with Crawford’s antagonist, Colonel Gary Kraven.

The story was fast paced and Slade worked his way across the continent and through some unbelievably horrendous situations. Ultimately, it is my conclusion that this story is not simply in a genre that holds my interest. In the end, it was clearly a treatise on anti-globalism, and the blame for the troubles in Africa was blamed on the last few decades of decisions in support of globalism.