A different kind of scifi/ murder mystery/ thriller. More and more I see the genres melt into one another, some with good results, some not. This one works. There is a serial killer on the loose but the victims all seem so random. The only connection so far is a number that has been sliced into the bodies. The CIA Analyst assigned to search the available data for clues has a troubled past but soon finds herself focusing all of her time and efforts to identifing the killer.

When revealed, the killer and their reasoning is pretty wild. A very unique twist.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to review a book that I didn't finish.

Wowsers! This book was one of those books that is leaving me hard to review and rate! It’s like a bomb exploding and you know it happens it seconds but the chaos if you could slowwww it down and watch it unfold it could be beautiful.

I was a little torn on this book because technothrillers are not really my fav, but I love a good political thriller, and the CIA/espionage element pulled me over to giving Scorpion for Christian Cantrell a try.

This book is a bit uneven in pacing, but overall I'll be looking to read more from Cantrell in the future.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

This one was a non win for me - first one in a while.
The writing style was cringy, the pacing is off. It touts as a techno thriller, but fell flat and I barely got through it.
I was disappointed as I was looking forward to a solid Blake Crouch like tale.

‘Quinn Mitchell is a nine-to-five spy—an intelligence analyst for the CIA during the day, and a suburban wife and mother on evenings and weekends. After her young daughter is killed in a tragic accident, sending her life into a tailspin, Quinn hopes to find a new start in her latest assignment: investigating a series of bizarre international assassinations whose victims have been found with numeric codes tattooed, burned, or carved into their flesh.’

If you’re a fan of In-Depth Mind-Bending Techno-Thrillers (Yes, Please!), then I think you’re going to like SCORPION, the first book that I have read by Christian Cantrell, and most definitely not the last.

I have to say; I really like how Henrietta is portrayed in the book—the childlike innocence coupled with a weeeeeeee bit more to her character (Sorry, no spoilers) that honestly had me glued to the pages.

Now, which Cantrell do I read next? Most likely, CONTAINMENT, though I am open to suggestions.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House, for loaning me an eBook of SCORPION in the request of an honest review.

Full disclosure: I received the ARC from netgalley.com and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for this opportunity.
Set in the near future, a nuclear attack on Seoul created the decision for the world to ban all nuclear weapons. Security technology is omnipresent. At the CIA, a Nuclear Terrorism Nonproliferation Task Force has completed its mandate. Post Seoul no major incidents have happened. Or have they?

Another threat is noticed. Al Morretti, has been assigned to cooperate with Interpol in finding the Elite Assassin. He/she/they? have the ability to kill any time anywhere. The victims appear to be chosen at random. The method of killing is ingenious, anything from computer hacking to a micro pellet of poison shot from a rifle. Most puzzling the victims are marked with a 4 digit number that appears to be randomly assigned.

Quinn Mitchell, a senior data annalist is assigned to Morretti's task force. Mitchell's present is more focused on grief. Her daughter drowned, her marriage did not survive the loss of a child.
A breakthrough in data sends her into the field after the assassin. Without training, but with determination her pursuit is breathtaking. The assassin? He/she/they could be a wizard, they are so very skilled.

Cantrell world building created a plausible future where interlocking networks are moving the world closer to totalitarianism in the name of personal safety. In the prologue we read "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." As enigmatic as Ophelia, this quote floats through the plot like a chimera drawing the reader forward.

A thoughtful thriller for the discerning reader.

I found this book to be quite enjoyable. The characters are complex and drive the story in interesting ways, the technology is well thought out, and it's got a lot of intrigue. This is my first read of this author and I will be on the lookout for more from them.

Published by Random House on May 25, 2021

Scorpion is a near-future thriller. The protagonists both work for the CIA. Quinn Mitchell is an analyst and Henrietta Yi is a quantum physicist. They approach the same mystery from very different perspectives.

The prologue tells us that while she was working on her doctorate, Henrietta reviewed data from the Large Hadron Collider particle detector. Buried in the data, she found an encryption header and encrypted data, as well as two lines of text from Shakespeare. The data comes to be known as the Epoch Index.

Quinn was assigned to a task force that searched for enriched nuclear material, a good bit of which has gone missing over the years. As that project ends, Deputy Director Vanessa Townes assigns Quinn to investigate a series of murders. That’s not a normal assignment for the CIA, which usually commits rather than solves murders, but these are international killings and Interpol has asked for an assist. Each victim has been killed in a different, usually high-tech way. The murders are clever and untraceable. The victims seem to have been killed in descending order by age, ending with a nine-month-old baby. The killer brands each body with a four-digit number for reasons that Quinn will eventually discern.

The killer is known to the CIA only as the Elite Assassin, but he is known to the reader as Ranveer. Christian Cantrell does not initially disclose how or why the victims were selected but makes it clear that the list of targets has been assigned to Ranveer. When the novel is well underway, the reader will begin to suspect that Ranveer is not quite who he seems to be. The reader will also be surprised to learn who has been assigning targets to him.

Townes’ boss is Alessandro Moretti. Henrietta now works for Moretti, who refers to her as his “tech guy.” Her job is to decrypt the Epoch Index, which she believes to be a message form the future. When Henrietta meets Quinn at Moretti’s direction to install a new app on Quinn’s phone — a task that seems well below Henrietta’s pay grade — the reader will suspect that the Epoch Index is connected to the murders that Quinn is investigating.

Cantrell traces the obstacles and obsessions that shape his protagonists without distracting from the plot. Henrietta lost her parents when Seoul was destroyed in a nuclear blast. She is an avid collector of Pokémon figures. Henrietta has an unusual disability that seems like a bit of color until it becomes directly relevant to the plot. Quinn no longer cuts herself, but she has engaged in “emotional cutting” since her daughter drowned. She carries a torch for her former husband and reignites it during the course of the novel. Both characters are socially isolated, although Henrietta is isolated more by nature than circumstance. Both are smart and good at their jobs. Quinn is particularly adept at using Artificial Intelligence to help her track down the Elite Assassin. Both feel conflicted about working for the CIA, although Henrietta comes to feel she has sold her soul to Morietti, in part because she might be empowering him to devise history’s most powerful weapon. Henrietta eventually seizes an opportunity to change her future, and perhaps the future of humanity. Character development is more than sufficient for a thriller that is driven by plot and ideas more than characters.

Quantum physics is full of surprises. Cantrell takes advantage of that fact to develop the plot in surprising ways. As the protagonists intertwine, they are forced to confront, and perhaps to change, their value systems as they weigh the greater good against lesser (but substantial) evils. The old philosophical thought experiment — would justice be served by killing Hitler as an infant, despite his youthful innocence? — becomes, by analogy, the story’s driving moral question. The story also raises questions that are familiar to science fiction fans about the nature of destiny and free will. Is it really necessary to kill Hitler? Might it possible to make small changes in his early life that, over the course of time, will prevent him from becoming a megalomaniac and German nationalist? Perhaps hugs can shape the future as effectively as bullets.

The near future in which Scorpion is set hasn’t changed much, apart from the destruction of Seoul, but Cantrell does suggest the occurrence of subtle changes that create a credible atmosphere. One thing that hasn’t changed is the revulsion the rest of world feels when America arrogantly pronounces itself to be exceptional.

While the plot is a bit convoluted, the unfolding mystery and the need to keep the reader engaged and guessing demands a certain complexity. An evolution in the relationship of two characters is abrupt, but it occurs during the untold story that occurs during a jump forward in the narrative. Cantrell probably made a wise choice not to waste time showing the reader how it happened. Why it happened seems clear enough. The novel leaves a few other questions unanswered, giving the reader room to wonder what might happen next. The story nevertheless feels complete. Science fiction and thriller fans should both enjoy it.

RECOMMENDED

When I read the blurb for Scorpion, I was intrigued and a little wary—intrigued because I am a massive sucker for a mystery that goes international. Wary because I have read technothrillers before, and they were not my cup of tea. But, since I read anything that comes across my desk (or email in this case), I decided to take a chance on it. It was a chance that fell flat.

Scorpion is the story about a CIA analyst, Quinn, who is called in to help with a strange case. There have been 22 people killed, all with different numbers tattooed somewhere on their bodies. Who is this serial killer, who controls him, and why do they want those people dead? The answers might be the biggest surprise of all.

Scorpion started as a fast-paced book. The storyline zipped right along until it hit the middle of the book. Then the storyline came almost to a standstill, which surprised me. Unfortunately, it did take some time for the author to get the story going again.

Scorpion’s storyline was exciting at first. It was easy to follow, focusing on Quinn and Ranveer during the first half of the book. Then the author introduced Henrietta, who I thought would be a secondary character and the storyline took on an unfortunate (and weird) turn. After that, I almost couldn’t follow the storyline because of everything that was going on. It was too much. If the author had just kept the storyline focused on Quinn and Ranveer, I would have been OK with it and enjoyed the book more.

I wasn’t sure if I liked Quinn. I did have sympathy for her, and when her backstory was revealed, my heart broke. But, she came across as flaky. A former spy, you would have thought that she would have had at least some experience with interviews. But she didn’t and cried during an interview. I mean, seriously? Who does that?

There is a lot of technical jargon that did bog down the storyline. I found myself googling terms a lot. Again, it didn’t help with the book’s flow and made me grumpy while reading it.

The end of the book was a giant cluster. I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening (and I read the last eight chapters twice). Add in everything that was happening with Henrietta, and I was like, “What. The. Heck. Is. Going. On“. Like I mentioned above, it was almost too much.

I did like the first half of Scorpion. It was a good read with the right amount of mystery and thriller. But the book went downhill in the second half, and I didn’t enjoy it.

I am on the fence if I would recommend Scorpion. There is no sex. There is violence, sometimes graphic. There is one troubling scene of a baby being murdered. There is mental illness with the character going off her meds.

I don't read many tech thrillers but I loved this one. I was hooked right at the start and enjoyed everything about it.

This book was not for me. I tried to get through it, but only made it about 30% before I had to DNF.

This was an awesome read. Fast-paced but still well developed. Definitely a thriller. I have already recommended to friends!

Content warnings for: child death, harm to children, murder

Scorpion is a fast-paced, futuristic cat-and-mouse thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. After a horrific accident takes her young daughter’s life and her marriage dissolves, Quinn Mitchell throws herself into the investigation of a serial killer who is always one step ahead. Leaving behind a bizarre set of clues, the killer is causing panic within the CIA as he begins choosing younger and younger victims.
As Quinn gets closer to finding out the identity of the murderer, she also becomes closer to the mysterious Epoch Index, a coded message discovered by scientists that is suspected to come from the future. Searching for the serial killer places Quinn’s life in the hands of individuals she is unsure she can trust, and will create loyalties that no one saw coming.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and found the entire premise fascinating. The many layers of storytelling, the murders, the Epoch Index, Quinn’s grief and heartbreak, made for a complex and compelling story. There is a definite sci-fi edge that adds another layer of depth to this already complicated, globe-spanning mystery.
Quinn Mitchell is a very relatable character with her difficulty in overcoming trauma and trying to find a balance in her new way of life. Working for the CIA and tracking down a deadly serial killer is an already difficult and demanding job. How do you stay focused when you’re dealing with the death of your only child and the dissolution of your marriage? How do you conduct a criminal investigation when you doubt your ability to complete the job and every day that you haven’t caught the killer someone else will die? Having these layers to her character was refreshing and definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

What if Christopher Nolan's Tenet was less in love with itself and the magic of cinematography, and just decided to tell a more interesting story? That's basically what you have here with Christian Cantrell's Scorpion, as a CIA analyst discovers that a serial assassin she's been pursuing might have far stranger motivations than she'd ever dreamed.

Quinn Mitchell is one of American intelligence's finest minds, but her personal life has gone to hell. After the death of her young daughter and the subsequent implosion of her marriage, her entire life is devoted to work, seeking to protect the world from the nuclear terrorism that, in this novel, wiped out Seoul some years earlier. As is the way with government-funded agencies, her taskforce has become so successful that it's no longer deemed necessary. Thus Quinn is given a brand new assignment: analyze the data behind a string of bizarre murders worldwide, all differing in method and type of victim but linked by the presence of a 4-digit number marked on each corpse by the killer.

In this she's aided by her new boss' main Tech Guy, the brilliant if complicated Henrietta Yi. Henrietta left academia after making a major discovery at the Large Hadron Collider, and joined the CIA out of a desire to use what she found to help prevent more of the disasters that claimed her parents' lives. But the more she learns about her boss' designs, the more she wants out, and soon she and Quinn are engaged in a deadly dance through time and space to do what each woman believes will save the world.

This was kind of a weird book that I feel meant well, with great diversity and representation, yet came across to me as deeply unsympathetic to its main characters despite going through the motions of propping them up as Strong Female Characters. Quinn and Henrietta both lean heavily on the sociopathic end of the spectrum -- which I usually think makes for great reading! -- but Henrietta's story, at least, petered out in a way that felt more confusing than otherwise, especially since the bit about the tags in Quinn's breast after her cancer treatment was never fully explained. Despite having so many similar points of interest in common with the main characters -- motherhood! Pokemon collecting! being too smart for my own good! -- I felt like they were less fully rounded people than collections of quirks in a skin suit. A large part of this may be due to how rushed the ending chapters felt. I still don't understand Quinn's change of heart, and am hoping it's not just because she realized that she really hates her dad.

Time travel narratives are always difficult tho, so if you like a bit of Day Of The Jackal hijinks thrown in to your sci-fi, with the romance levels dialed down to low, then you could do much worse than this intriguing genre mash-up. It's 100% better a use of your time than watching Tenet, anyway (which I had to do for Hugo voting this year, so thanks for nothing, fellow Hugo nominators.)

Scorpion by Christian Cantrell was published May 25 2021 and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781984801975">Bookshop!</a>

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were believable, the science is on point, and the storyline was truly interesting, believable, scary, present day, and futureistique. Overall glad I came across it and interested to see what else the author comes up with.

Scorpion by Christian Cantrell, really had a hard time with this book, did not overly enjoy the writing style. It kept jumping back and forth between third and first person with no rhyme or reason that I could see. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book and I do think others will enjoy it.

Christian Cantrell’s Scorpion is one of those books that’s a little hard to discuss, as so much of what makes it interesting and draws you in comes late in the story. That’s not to say that the early going of the book isn’t compelling enough – Scorpion is pretty propulsive and draws you in easily – but Scorpion saves its best and most compelling ideas for the end of the story, making the book often feel like a long prologue to the story that Cantrell would rather be telling.

For most of its length, Scorpion follows two threads. The first is that of CIA analyst Quinn Mitchell, who’s throwing herself into her work after the death of a child and the subsequent dissolution of her marriage. Mitchell finds herself drafted into the pursuit of a bizarre assassin whose calling card – four-digit numbers left behind on the corpses – is every bit as bewildering as his choice of victims, which seems to follow no rhyme or reason. Meanwhile, Cantrell also leaves us following the killer himself, drawing out the suspense and tension of each hunt, all while leaving the motivations of the crimes to be discovered.

Hanging over all of this is the book’s prologue, in which a message from another time period is found within the data of the large hadron collider, and this odd bit of foreshadowing only serves as the first piece of information that informs us as to Cantrell’s near-future world, where a nuclear disaster has changed the nature of world politics, where technology has resulted in the underground trading of information, where an offshore haven has been constructed for those hiding from the law, and much more. Indeed, the gradual clarifications we get about this world only serve to enrich the novel, giving Cantrell’s ideas a place to play out and underlining some of the themes he’s exploring about surveillance, technology, terrorism, and more.

These are rich ideas to work with, especially in the modern era, and at the core of Scorpion is a really compelling ethical dilemma with no easy answers…and honestly, I can’t talk about it, because to do so would be to spoil one of the major twists of the novel. The issue, though, isn’t that twist, but the fact that the book uses it at the end in a way that feels like Scorpion has been one long origin story building up to its final ideas. Those are interesting ideas, and they feel like they could be used to tell a pretty mind-bending story…but they also end up making Scorpion feel a little less satisfying than it had until the ending, as it became clear just how much the book would – and would not – conclude its tale.

For all of that, I was pretty addicted to reading Scorpion along the way; Mitchell makes for a great heroine, one who’s smart but whose emotional life adds a richness to the story she finds herself immersed in. And our assassin is equally compelling, giving us a figure who’s rich, unusual, and hard to pin down, only increasing his mystery until we get explanations that draw it all together. And even if the end of the book gets a little hectic at times (there’s a character reveal that doesn’t hit quite as well as it needs to, and ends up feeling less like an organic reveal and more like an author’s devious twist), it gives you a rich technology-driven world full of complex ideas and interesting concepts, and that’s more than many standard thrillers are ever interested in.

Stop and think awhile…. Anyone with ingenuity can kill almost anyone else in dozens of different ways with either an immediately available implement, such as a pencil, heavy object or even a coffee cup…. or with a myriad of actual weapons, such as knives, guns, poisons …. or even a push or trip, all before your brain can register the threat. “Scorpion” is an immersive near-future thriller involving the CIA’s attempt to apprehend a serial killer who has slaughtered nineteen victims across the globe, without apparent motive or linkage in the victims.
He has dispatched them all in various methods with extreme ingenuity and cunning …. and occasionally with a simple shove off a roof or a throat slit with reckless abandon. He continues to methodically kill in unique ways across the globe.
Cantrell weaves a masterful narrative, while intersecting three main characters …. CIA analyst, Quinn Mitchell … physicist extraordinaire, Henrietta Yi …. And the international serial killer, known as the Elite Assassin (eventually revealed as the Iranian born, Ranver). As their life experiences unfold, along with their resultant motivations, they intersect and collide with explosive revelations.
Quinn Mitchell is a much heralded senior data analyst, just completing a stint on the Nuclear Terrorism Nonproliferation Task Force. Which was initiated as a response to the heinous nuclear attack on Seoul, Korea six years previous. The goal being the safety and security of the United States and its allies. Inexplicably she is assigned the task of going from her comfortable cubicle out into the field to chase and investigate the Elite Assassin by using her analytical prowess. Unfortunately she brings with her extensive emotional baggage. After her four year old daughter, Molly drowned in a neighbor’s pool her life unravelled. Neither her husband or herself could stop blaming themselves and eventually each other leading to the dissolution of the marriage. With almost reckless abandon, she poured over extensive data using the CIA’S Structured Interactive Query Interface, hoping for a lead. Although there was no obvious correlation or pattern between the victims, the killer left on all, a four digit number, carved, branded or indelibly imprinted somewhere on all the bodies. Her investigation takes her to Sohar, Oman, where she quickly realizes how much she is over her head. Somewhere there has to be a motive. She is nudged into reality, that she has to “follow the money” if she hopes to catch the assassin before his next kill.
Henrietta Yi is a rather diminutive five foot tall Korean, who on first sight appears to be a K-pop fangirl…. however she possesses two PhDs in physics.. in both quantum and particle, and yet has a Pokemon fetish. Both of her parents perished in the nuclear attack on Seoul. Which might explain why a brilliant and promising young physicist would forgo the fortune from the private sector to devote her life to the “mission” of the CIA. Her work at the Large Hadron Collider (actually the largest machine in the world and highest-energy particle collider in existence) has borne fruit. Using AI, she trained neural networks to identify anomalous data. Amongst the plethora of data, an encrypted message was encountered …. deemed the Epoch Index it was claimed to be a packet of information from the future. Reportedly the source of an ongoing top secret project. The significance and intent of the Epoch Index is instrumental in the motivation of our protagonists.
And, lastly there is Ranver, the Elite Assassin…. physically a tall, slender specimen with a swarthy complexion and a distinct and fitting mustache, and black eyes which can portray both congeniality and malice simultaneously. Born in Iran, and initially raised as a Hindu, but now espouses no organized religion. His early years were forged by the Military Intelligence of Iran, against his father’s wishes. He now travels the globe in luxury, from jets to luxurious penthouse hotels, provided with personal concierge service everywhere. His agenda remains clouded in mystery, but his lethality is known by all international police organizations. His weaponry remains sophisticated and high tech, procured by clandestine methods.
Cantrell expertly weaves a complex narrative in which our three protagonists unexpectedly intersect and collide with multiple reveals utilizing carefully crafted prose and layered multi-dimensional characterization, escalating slowly in suspense and tension and culminating in an explosive and satisfying denouement. Cantrell incorporates science and possible cutting edge technology to keep the reader fully engaged in his cinematic narrative. Multiple themes are explored, not only murder, but the painful and ever present grief from the loss of your child, as well as love and friendship. Also considered is the possibility of disinformation campaigns. With the ability of manufacturing whatever reality that those in power find convenient, and thus eradicating the truth. But, more importantly, never lose sight of the importance of those you love and hold in friendship.

Overall, this is a riveting techno thriller utilizing near future technology resulting in a compelling page turner. A follow up novel featuring our three protagonists would definitely be a welcome addition to the oeuvre of Christian Cantrell. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

I gotta admit- this surprised me. It's the unspecified future, there's lots of cool tech, and Quinn, a top CIA analyst, has been struggling in the wake of her daughter's death. She's surprised to be assigned to identify the assassin who has been killing people around the globe but she sees patterns and takes it on. Her colleague Henrietta, helps with the tech, among other things. Ranveeer is the assassin- you know that up front- and he's a fascinating creation. It's really hard to review this one without spoilers but know that there are some twists (one of which I saw coming, the others, not so much). There's philosophy, physics (don't worry if you like me get a bit lost, especially near the end), and a race of sorts to stop bad things. Yes, this is thoroughly implausible but isn't the best sci-fi? These are well formed characters and they make this compelling. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm recommending this one.