"Bodyguard"

Summary

This is the one of the best books written by Dietz, and cetainly the most poignant. The setting, as with all of Dietz's books, is the future. This time however humans don't have a galzy spanning empire. Instead they're stuck in our solar system, mars and the asteroid belt, along with several moons and spce stations have been populated. But we have no way of crossing the massive gulfs between solar systems.

The protagonist is, you guessed it, a bodyguard. He was once a marine in the interplanetary war between the so called "tool heads" and the corporations. Pretty much the engineers and scientists decided the corps were fucking up the solar system, the workers agreed so they revolted. A massive civil war resulted. In the end the corporations won out. Our hero lost a third of his gray brain matter when he took a bullet to the skull fighting for the corporations. (Note to my glorious girlfriend Heather: No he did not deserve it.)

Although the miracles of science were able to save his life and his personality they were not able to restore full mental capabilites. So why he looks and acts normal (not counting the steel plate running down the center third of his skull) he forgets from certain things from time to time. Such as what the sum of 2+2 is, or how to say his name. The only thing he still can do is fight, so he ekes out a living as a bodyguard.

As our story begins the main character is starting an important job. Over the course of the story we discover the importance of this unassuming figure, and the conspiracy that has taken away his life and memories.

Review

"Bodyguard" is a fast paced, exciting, and well written futuristic adventure novel. What makes it stand apart, however, the description of the hero. He is a tragic character that holds an admirable stoicism towards his fate. Kind of a mix between John Wayne and Forest Gump, LOL, if that can be imagined. At random points events happen that highlight his disability and he just accepts it without despair. It is an amazing testament to the human spirit that I can do it no justice. So I won't even try, just read the book, I promise it's worth it.