Book Review: (aka)

Fiction

(aka)

Mike Fontenot

Trafford Publishing

2007

ISBN: 978-1-4251-0639-3

Soft cover

677 pages

In Mike Fontenot's action novel, (aka), 20-something Jordan Paramore is recruited by a specialized group of the CIA to act as a "distraction" during overseas missions. Jordan's responsibilities include creating an alter ego who will prove to be both an asset and a burden to the agents with whom she works.

While searching for a job shortly after graduating from Colorado State University, Jordan is offered an opportunity that will take her away from her own life and put her in the role of a spy. Her contact, Walter Ellington, explains to Jordan that his organization watched her as she progressed through college. She was chosen for her physical beauty and her casual attitude about sex. Jordan, being both intelligent and blunt, plainly summarizes the job description: she will be a prostitute for the government. With wavering trepidation, she accepts the position and begins a journey that will take her away from her true self and her safe, carefree life.

The book offers adventure, violence, and sex; the triumvirate of action stories. Jordan is a fantasy girl who is also smart and tough, but presents a soft side when faced with repeat tragedy. She takes her role beyond the scope originally defined by Ellington and has sex with "marks" she has not been instructed to bed.  Between missions as her alter Rebecca Ashcroft, Jordan also becomes intimate with the eight male agents she lives with.

Fontenot offers a wealth of detail about the various locations Jordan visits as Rebecca: Rome, Paris, Berlin, among others. The German, Italian, and French languages are also showcased. The detailed writing and the length of this tome require a commitment from the reader. While the author develops Jordan's character completely, allowing insight into her personal and professional lives, the agent she plays, Rebecca, is not fully formed. The author has a tendency to "tell" the story of Rebecca's missions as opposed to "showing" through a well paced unfolding of events. When Jordan ends her term with the agency early, Rebecca is "killed" off violently. But the author leaves the door open for a return to Jordan's story post-CIA.

Boasting a violence-filled, complicated plot and sex-tangled relationships, Fontenot's (aka) is a tale that action-adventure junkies will fall hard for.

Melissa Levine

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