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Someone is killing normal humans in the fog-enshrouded city of Seattle. The murders are brutal and grisly, but inside Terminal City they barely cause a ripple of concern. The transgenics who live there have problems of their own. In an area under siege by the oppressive arm of the police, the transgenics must protect their fledgling colony against the outside world—a world that eyes them with contempt and suspicion . . . and will do anything to be rid of them.
As the killings escalate, Joshua comes to Max with a dire suspicion: the killer may be one of their own. Tensions are high between normal humans and transgenics, and many inside the protected City would just as soon let the humans fend for themselves. Yet Max and her inner circle know they must investigate the crimes and stop the bloodshed. Doing nothing would simply give the normals more reasons to hate.
But what they discover will shock even the most jaded among them—and expose a sinister agenda that leads to an old, nefarious foe. . . .
SECTOR THREE,11:00 P.M.
TUESDAY,MARCH 2,2021
Like a relentless boxer, rain beat down on the city, first jabbing with sharp needles, then smacking Seattle with huge fat drops that hit like haymakers, the barrage punctuated by the ominous rumble of thunder and the eerie flash of lightning.
An unmarked black car drew to a stop in a rat-infested Sector Three alley, the rain rattling the metal roof like machine-gun fire. Two men in dark suits climbed out, to be instantly drenched, though neither seemed to notice. Each wore a radio earplug with a short microphone bent toward his mouth.
Sage Thompson--the man who'd emerged from the passenger's side--was relieved that the headsets, at least,
seemed to be waterproof. In their coat pockets, each man carried one of the new portable thermal imagers that, just this week, had become standard equipment. Thompson--
barely six feet, almost skinny at 180 pounds--wondered if water-tightness was among the gizmo's various high-tech bells and whistles.
Water sluiced down the alley in a torrent that seemed to express the sky's anger, eventually bubbling over the edge of a rusty grate maybe ten yards in front of them. Thompson was forced to jump the stream and his feet nearly slid out from under him as he landed and bumped into a triangle of garbage cans, sending them crashing into each other, creating a din that rivaled the storm's, his hands flying wide to help maintain his balance. Then his hands dropped back to his sides, the one holding his flashlight clanging off the imager in his coat pocket, the other moving to make sure his pistol was still secure in its holster on his belt.
The hefty man who'd been driving--Cal Hankins--shone his flashlight in Thompson's face, huffed once, and eased around a dumpster that looked like it hadn't been emptied since before the Pulse. Moving slowly ahead, their flashlights sweeping back and forth over the brick hulk in front of them, the two men finally halted in front of what had once been a mullioned window.
The interior of the six-story brick building--an abandoned warehouse, Thompson surmised--seemed a black hole waiting to devour them without so much as a belch.
Next to Thompson, his partner Hankins swept a flashlight through one of the broken panes, painting the rainy night with slow, even strokes. Darkness surrendered only brief glimpses of the huge first-floor room as it swallowed up the light.
"You sure this is the right place?" Hankins asked gruffly.
There was no fear in the man's voice--Thompson sensed only that his partner didn't want his time wasted. At forty,
bucket-headed Hankins--the senior partner of the duo--
wore his blondish hair in a short brush cut that revealed only a wisp or two of gray. His head rested squarely on his shoulders,
without apparent benefit of a neck, and he stood nearly six-three, weighing in (Thompson estimated) at over 230.
But the man wasn't merely fat--there was enough gristle and muscle and bone in there to make Hankins formidable.
Still, Thompson knew their boss--that nasty company man, Ames White, a conscienceless yuppie prick if there ever was one--had been all over Hankins about his weight and rode the older guy mercilessly about it. Though he knew better than to ever say it out loud, Thompson considered White the worst boss in his experience--which was saying something.
White was smart, no doubting that, but he had a sarcastic tongue and a whiplash temper that Thompson had witnessed enough times to know he should keep his mouth shut and his head low.
"This is the right place, all right," Thompson said, raising his voice over the battering rain. "Dispatch said the thermal imager team picked up a transgenic in the market in Sector Four."
"This is Sector Three."
"Yeah--they followed him here before they lost him."
Hankins shook his head in disgust. "Then why the fuck ain't they lookin' for him, then? What makes us the clean-up crew for their sorry asses?"
These questions were rhetorical, Thompson knew, though they did have answers, the same answer in fact: Ames White.
And Hankins spent much of his time bitching about White, behind the boss's back, of course. But they both knew it was only a matter of time before White found a way to get rid of Hankins ...
. . . and then Thompson would have to break in a new partner, possibly one even younger than himself. Then he would be the old-timer. The thought made him cringe.
Not exactly a kid at twenty-seven, Thompson was the antithesis of Hankins: the younger man seemed like a long-neck bottle standing next to the pop-top beer can that was his partner. Married to his college sweetheart, Melanie, and with a new baby daughter, Thompson was the antithesis of Hankins in terms of home life, as well: the gristled bulldog had been divorced twice and had three or four kids he never saw and didn't really seem to give a damn about.
Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2003
This book will tie all the loose ends that has plagued us (the fans)since the last episode of the tv series. Now, we get answers and more action. Let's find out what happens to our gentetically engineered, MAX.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 9, 2010
If you are a fan of a show that SHOULD have remained on the air longer, read it.
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Posted October 15, 2006
I think the book was great. i love how the vires ends. and how max and logan finaly get together i think there should be another book and it also should further the reading on there relationships with a new villian. but i do love the books ending
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Posted March 6, 2006
Ok, love the Love bug, fix, that was great, i saw it coming, but was still nicely handled. I also love that our old Love to hate nemisis is back, although i wish he could have played a more key role. I also love that the pain in the butt finally got what was coming to him. We need more to continue the story though, there is still so much more that can happen to Max and her crew, and develoments we could see... PLEASE BRING US SOME MOREE
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Posted March 6, 2006
Great how the story line developed, Can't say i cared much for the twists, but at least it solved some things in the next book too. Loved the way the charchters wer going, although i don't remember them ever be that foul mouthed, but i could overlook it.
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Posted March 6, 2006
This book is truely the best lead in and gives some great background information on Max's background and personality. It ties in nicely with the other books, but it till leaves you wanting more.
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Posted March 20, 2005
If you were extremely mad at Fox for the lack of a third season,and are dying to know what happens,you MUST read this book.This ties up alot of loose ends.We find out what happens with Max's Love Virus,The Whole Snake Cult dilemna and there is a lot of butt-kicking done by Max.It helps if you read Skin Game prior,but is not nesseccarily a must to understand things.
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Posted January 14, 2004
The series was good, but the books were better. I hope you wirte more books about Dark Angel the series was left wide open for more adventures with max and the crew I wish I could have seen/read more about normal I loved his personality. As for the books I never put them down I carry one with me everywhere I just hope there is going to be more of max in everyones future
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Posted June 17, 2003
The book tied up some loose ends from the show, namely the Snake Cult. It also brought back an old nemesis. But there are still some things left unanswered. I hope there are more books to tie up those loose ends. We'll just have to wait and see.
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Posted May 28, 2003
I like Max Collins books because I truly miss the show but the whole Max Logan thing is getting a little old and I wish he would write a Max and Alec relationship into his stories. Max and Logan just don't belong together, virus or no virus.
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Posted May 3, 2003
Yeah,I hope they find a cure for the virus. Why in the world did they cancel DA? It was perfect! E-mail me if you want to know ways to try to save it(bring it back).
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Posted March 29, 2003
I don't usually read books, I am not the reader type. But one thing that I indeed loved was Dark Angel the Series. Once it got cancelled, I persued books on Dark Angel. I purchased the game Dark Angel, which I enjoyed playing and defeating. In one of the special features of the game I previewed a game called Before The Dawn. I read the sample I was given and I was in awe. I immediately bought the book and read it. This book is one of the if not the best book I have ever read.
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Posted April 5, 2003
This book is bound to be the best. As you can see from the title 'After the Dark' Dark Angel fans may be able to conclude what its about...PLEASE LET THE VIRUS GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!
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Posted April 12, 2003
This book was awesome, and helped to close off the series, while leaving some questions still unanswered. Letting the series go was a horrible mistake, however, this more than makes up for it in my opinion. I just wish they continued with the series...
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Posted January 30, 2003
this book has to be the best one yet because it has everything there needs to be in a book and i love how it flashes back to scenes where she is with her sibs and how she tries to live a normal life even though it's impossible. it was about time they did something like this. i highly recommend it to anyone who watched the series and loves jessica alba.
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Posted October 28, 2002
This book is awesome, exporling the beginings of Dark Angel. I just wish that the series had never ended. Fox has definitly messed up this time.
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Posted October 15, 2002
This is an outstanding book. I highly recommend it. Max Allan Collins did AN AWESOME job writing this storyline. This story will captivate you so that you will not be able to put this book down! Buy this book and take a glance at the world of Dark Angel. You will not be disappointed with this book, only with the fact that we will not beable to see the writing in this book acted out on tv. FOX you do not know what you let slip through your fingers; Dark Angel will come back to haunt you!
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Posted November 6, 2002
this book is a must-have for any Dark Angel fan. The characters are perfectly written and the story (a prequel) fits with every aspect of the series. Even if you are not a DA fan this book is interesting enough to keep you reading and totally get you interested in Cameron's series. A page turner!!
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Posted November 4, 2002
It's awesome!!! Max Allan Collins has talent..the book is even better than the series. If your a huge Dark Angel and Jessica Alba like me...you'll love the book..that's why I rate this book with 5 stars
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Posted October 23, 2002
DARK ANGEL: BEFORE THE DAWN is a fascinating prequel novel that is a treat for any DA fan to read. Max Collins has all the characters down pat, and the backgrounding he does for Max, Original Cindy, Logan, and the other regulars of the show is fascinating. After reading this book one can go back and view Season 1 and Season 2 of the series in a slightly different light, picking up clues that were not noticed before that lead back to Max's earlier life before she came to Seattle. Mr. Collins also does an excellent job of foreshadowing things-to-come in the DA universe, threads that will undoubtedly be continued in his DA sequel novel SKIN GAME which picks up the storyline after the last televised episode of the show. If you're a DARK ANGEL fan, please buy BEFORE THE DAWN! The read is well worth your time!
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Overview
The saga of Dark Angel continues!Someone is killing normal humans in the fog-enshrouded city of Seattle. The murders are brutal and grisly, but inside Terminal City they barely cause a ripple of concern. The transgenics who live there have problems of their own. In an area under siege by the oppressive arm of the police, the transgenics must protect their fledgling colony against the outside world—a world that eyes them with contempt and suspicion . . . and will do anything to be rid of them.
As the killings escalate, Joshua comes to Max with a dire suspicion: the killer may be one of their own. Tensions are high between normal humans and transgenics, ...