Book Review: Cryogenic Nightmare by Lionel Derrick
“Preacher” Mann got that nickname when he converted to vegetarianism and became one of those obnoxious people who insist on telling you about it and their newfound superiority for not eating meat. But because he’s a murderous crimelord who controls West Palm Beach, very few people are willing to criticize him for that tendency. The law can’t touch him any more, so it’s time for Mark Hardin, the Penetrator, to take a hand.
This is the twenty-fourth installment of the Penetrator men’s adventure series, last seen on this blog in my review of High Disaster. Quick recap: Mark Hardin, the Penetrator, is in many ways typical of the genre. He’s a Vietnam veteran who got a medical discharge after being beaten nearly to death for exposing a military black market ring, then his girlfriend was killed by the Mafia. What makes him a little different is that he had a Cheyenne mother, something he was not aware of (due to being an orphan) until after his stint in ‘Nam. His wise Native American personal trainer David Red Eagle has trained Mark in the ways of their people, adding on to his already formidable skills.
Unlike some other men’s adventure heroes, the Penetrator does not have a secretive government agency backing him, just Red Eagle and Professor Haskins, the uncle of his dead girlfriend, and they work out of a converted mineshaft known as the Stronghold.
Our heroes don’t even know that Preacher Mann has a master plan at the beginning of the book. He’s just floated to the top of their list of untouchable crimelords and there’s nothing more pressing to do. But Mann has a better organization than most mobsters and the Penetrator runs into difficulties from the moment he lands his private plane. It turns out that a survivor of one of his Las Vegas operations has a photographic memory for faces, and was hired specifically to hang out at the airport in case the Penetrator ever came to town. Mark remembers the fellow just in time to escape the first assassination attempt, but loses his first cover identity in the process.
After several shootouts and near-misses, Mark makes his way to Preacher Mann’s heavily fortified island off the coast of Florida. Turns out Mann’s master plan is to use cold sleep to preserve the stock for his sex trafficking enterprise. HIs illegal drug distribution might pull in more money, but he’s proudest of his ability to procure exactly the kind of woman his wealthy clients demand. (No mention of male prostitution.)
Unfortunately, his scientists haven’t quite perfected the process, so right now his millions in investments have resulted in thawed corpses. Good thing he has lots of test subjects!
Good: Plenty of violent action with loving descriptions of military hardware. Preacher Mann’s organization is loaded for bear, with even a random shark pit to keep our hero on his toes. Mark’s night vision gets a workout and it turns out that it’s got a weakness. It works by magnifying trace light, and if there’s no light to amplify…
Preacher Mann himself is a decent opponent, though he’s built up more in the narration than being memorable in himself. He’s noted as an equal-opportunity employer, even hiring on a native Hawaiian. His big moment is being suckered into a quarterstaff duel with the Penetrator. He barely escapes at the end, so might get reused.
Less good: The treatment of women. The primary female character is Joanna Tabler, a high-ranking Justice Department agent who is of course extremely good-looking, and has worked with the Penetrator before. She’s been assigned to infiltrate the Mann organization. Unfortunately, they have a mole in the Justice Department, so already know she’s coming. She’s sexually assaulted (on-page) and raped (off-page), then sits around waiting to be rescued until Mark shows up. Then they have celebration sex (off-page.)
There’s also a kindergarten teacher that helps Mark at one point, and gets killed to cause him manpain. Plus some nameless prostitutes and secretaries primarily there for decoration. One does get to pick up a gun and promptly get killed by the Penetrator.
Content note: Lots of killing, including the Penetrator using white phosphorus grenades, which are ethically dubious when used against humans (but technically not a war crime.) Sharks die. At least one dog dies. Sexual assault (on-page), rape (off-page.) Prostitution and consensual extramarital sex (off-page.) Human trafficking. Mark deliberately uses the N-work and other ethnic slurs to try to enrage Preacher Mann.
About average for a men’s adventure paperback. Might have been more fun if the cryogenic subplot had gotten a bit more focus and science fiction expansion. (The back cover blurb tries to sell it as the main point of the book.) Recommended primarily to fans of this sort of thing.
