Keepers of the Peace

"...a cyber-anti-war story. Or anti-cyber-war. Cyber-dove? Whatever. Lucius Shepard and Joe Haldeman bounced off Heinlein and Gibson." (Russell Letson, Locus) Jed Brindle is an alien. At least, that's what they call him on Earth. He's really a colony-bred soldier - augmented with cyborg implants - with the Extraterran Peacekeeping Force, fighting for control of what used to be the United States. When he and his squad are sent behind enemy lines on a kidnap operation, it isn't long before things start to go wrong. Marooned in the desert with two wounded comrades and his quarry, Jed's mission becomes not just a struggle for survival but also a journey to rediscover the quiet, reliable farm boy he was before he became a machine for killing. "...should be required reading for anyone who still subscribes to the popular, dangerous fantasy of the nobility of war." (Lisa Tuttle, Time Out) "This is a very fine debut novel ... Recommended both for the vision of the future and the excellent characterisation." (Paul Brazier, Nexus) "It has been several years since a first novel has grabbed me the way Keith Brooke's Keepers of the Peace did. It's a well-crafted, very personal look at the way war changes (and doesn't change) a kid from the sticks ... It is smooth, clean and elegant; a very straightforward book whose writing recalls the 1950s Heinlein, telling the tale without getting in the way." (Tom Whitmore, Locus) "Brooke balances action with introspection, the lyrical with a gritty documentary 'realism' in stark contrast to the usual shoot-'em-up adventure. Anyone who has thrilled to the exploits of lunar rebels or others among sf's doughty warriors should read Keepers of the Peace - as an antidote. It's a gripping story of challenge and skin-of-the-teeth survival, but it's also much more: an anti-war testament with a direct power that requires no preaching." (Faren Miller, Locus)