Did any of you play Assassin in college? The game where you were given a "target" and had to hunt him/her down between classes and shoot them with a water gun (or Nerf gun, rubber band gun, etc…), while avoiding getting "killed" yourself? The new book Children of Paranoia, by first time author Trevor Shane, describes a world in which a world-wide, real-life game of Assassin has been going on for generations. And by "real-life", I mean none of this "Nerf" stuff, but instead: "you must kill the target until he's dead".

The war only has three rules:

- No killing innocent bystanders
- No killing anyone under the age of 18
- Any children born to those under 18 are forfeit to the other side

In this world, we meet Joseph. At the age of 16 he learned of "the war", and the truth behind the deaths of his father, brother, uncle, cousins -- pretty much everyone in his family but his mother. And at 18, he joined the war itself, soon becoming one of the top assassins for the good guys. At least, he's always been told that his side is the Good side, fighting against Evil, and the evidence of what happened to his family easily convinces him of this.

Joseph's life becomes complicated when, on a particularly complex mission, he meets Marie, a college student and complete innocent in the war. Her presence causes Joseph to question, for the first time, the war in general, and his place in it, going as far as to wonder if it's possible to even leave the war completely. But getting out is difficult when a) it's the only life you've really known, and b) anyone, anywhere, could be a member of the other side. Hence the "paranoia" of the title.

This really is an interesting book. The characters and situation are quite believable, and the reader really gets behind Joseph as a protagonist as he starts to struggle with understanding his place in life and in the War, and whether or not the War is really worth it. Along with the action, which is well-written and exciting, the plot takes some interesting and unexpected turns. I was intrigued throughout.

The structure of the book, though, is a bit odd. It's written as a journal from Joseph to Marie, so while it is written in first person, there are lots of references to "you" (i.e. Marie). It takes a little time to get used to, if only because the book overall doesn't have the full structure one would expect from a journal. There aren't many individual pages for dates or anything… it's more of a narrative. So it feels like you are reading a normal, first-person story, which makes the various references/asides to "you" are a little jarring. It works…it's just a bit odd.

One of the underlying questions throughout the entire book is the question of "Why", as in "why is this war being fought?" Joseph asks that question several times, and a few potential reasons are given, but SPOLER ALERT we don't get an answer by the end of the book. True, not knowing adds to the atmosphere. But it would still be good to know.

Luckily, this book is the first in a reported trilogy. I find this both good and bad news, actually. I won't spoil the ending of the book at all, but I think it would have worked better overall if Children of Paranoia was a stand-alone. Follow-ups could then… well… follow-up, but it feels as if it should be a stand-alone book. That's not to say that it ends randomly or abruptly or anything, but maybe it was a little too forced in setting up the next in the trilogy. Perhaps when it is all said and done, though, it'll be easier to see how everything will fit together.

But until then, the book is worth giving a try, so have at it. Meanwhile, I will be seeing if our magazine travel budget allows for us to get an international game of Assassin going amongst our staff.

(Nerf guns rule.)

   -- K. Burtt