Jason X: To the Third Power Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 2006

A+

If you have kept up with the "Jason X" series, then you already know that "Camp Americana" was once a girls' camp for the rich and spoiled; until Jason came along from a nearby military complex. Jason, a cyborg even then and just as deadly as ever, invaded the camp's AI (artificial intelligence). Then Jason did what he did best. The moon, Elysium, was restricted immediately. Later, however, the military complex was used as a prison for the most violent. The prisoners resided within the top two layers of the military complex, leaving the rest of it abandoned.Jackson Mansfield, the wealthiest man in the universe, has recently purchased Elysium from Earth II. The prisoners are to be transferred to the other moon. To do this, the Universal Unmanned Space Arc "UUSA" will be used. It works like a pendulum from one place to another while grounded in space. While this is going on, Mansfield has six people set up base at the abandoned Camp Americana. Their goal is to create a cybernetic being that emulates the mental abilities, physical capabilities, and even personality of a real human being. They are to make the perfect cyborg, unable to be told apart from a real human. To assist them, the camp's AI has been reprogrammed and is no longer invaded ... or is it?Due to a tsunami, with a magnitude of eleven point seven on Earth II, the UUSA's anchor is altered and it hits the military complex's dome. Nine prisoners enter the story. A few of them know about the previous military experiments, Jason, and the slaughter twenty-odd years ago. Worse, Jason is now loose again.***** The first half of the book reads much like a cybernetic sci-fi novel. Just like the previous novels in this series, Jason does not really enter the story until the second half. But do not fret, the first half is NOT boring! I, as the reader, had a few chills and shocks during the set up phase. The author also introduces some interesting twists into the story once the prisoners enter the tale. More I cannot say without ruining the story. Author Nancy Kilpatrick did an excellent job of merging sci-fi and horror that I could not pull myself away from. *****Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Jason X was a pretty fun movie. But after reading now all the books, I have to say no one has really figured out how to mesh horror and sci fi nearly as well as the movie managed. A lot of bogging down in pseudo-scientific detail here, at the expense of making most of the characters interesting. And the dialogue really stuck out poorly in my mind. Klunky and artificial. There was also a bit too much interest in setting up a sequal- the last quarter of the novel doesn't so much explain why things are happening as they do, as try to create a sense of mystery we're presumably supposed to be curious about.I'd read pretty much any of the "modern" Jason books again and enjoy. Jason X is off the the used book store for trade.