Angel of Destruction

Bench Intelligence Specialist Garol Vogel is one of an elite few, chartered by the Bench to uphold the rule of Law by any means he sees fit, answerable only to a Judge Presiding.

Over the years he’s exercised his powers of “extraordinary discretion” to rewrite policy, assassinate corrupt officials, topple planetary governments; but the achievement he treasures above all others is the amnesty he brokered between the Langsarik rebel “pirates” and the Bench.

Yes, they have to surrender their ships, and can never fly again.  Yes, they’ll be condemned to indentured servitude, working for subsistence wages to develop Port Charid’s infrastructure.  Yes, it will be eight years before they can go home, if “home” will have them; as long as they serve out the terms of the amnesty, they’ll be free.

But someone is raiding depot stations around port Charid, torturing and murdering with unprecedented savagery.  Who could be to blame, if not the Langsariks?  What can Chilleau Judiciary do when the citizens of Port Charid demand the assignment of a Fleet Interrogations Group to investigate, wielding the entire apparatus of judicial torture against a captive population?

Garol Vogel finds the answer on the wrong side of the Judicial order he’s served faithfully all his life, and once he sets foot on a path of subversion and sabotage there will be no going back for him, forever.

Praise

"A chilling and engaging novel of false accusation and the power of personal responsibility."

—Booklist

"Matthews will stand out in a field dominated (in numbers if not in stature) by mediocre imitators."

—Analog