Stragon is a powder keg waiting to explode.
It’s a fractured society plagued by extremist bombings and street violence. A political climate fraught with lies, deception, and widespread public unrest. And the Terran immigrant population is in ever-growing danger of being targeted as the cause of it all… because an impostor on the ruling Directorate is pointing fingers squarely in their direction.
Exposing the fraud and defusing the violence will take a master manipulator, and Dennis Forrand is just the man for the job.
As he pulls strings across three continents, former Earth Intelligence Service agents Isabela and Angeli have their own plans to subdue the radical factions. However, with both of them under Security’s gaze, not only their cover but their lives may be at stake. Somehow, they must all work together to out-con the usurper and pull Stragon back from the brink before a bloody conflict breaks out.
Humanity’s struggle to claim its place among the stars continues in
SIC TRANSIT STRAGON
ISBN: 978-1-998795-20-8
Genre: Science fiction
Series: Sic Transit Stragon, book 1
Age: 14+
Pages: 420
Formats: Paperback, ebook
Released: January 2025
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Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame author Ed Greenwood
Secrets within secrets, deceptions within deceptions. What will secret agents be like in the future, if they don’t blow things up spectacularly every few seconds like James Bond? With surprises every few pages, THE STRAGORI DECEPTION is a tour-de-force by a veteran author at the top of her game. Dig into this one, and watch all the loose cannons fire.
Sally McBride, Aurora Award-winning author of The Price of Memory and More Stories
Dark, twisty politics. A complex web of deception. Characters I loved and rooted for in a universe I truly wanted to be real, so I could fight and scheme and love alongside them. Laced and layered with intrigue, The Stragori Deception is a formidable addition to Arlene Marks’s growing list of adventure tales, possibly her best one yet.
Lisa Timpf, author of Cats and Dogs in Space
Likeable, active protagonists, vivid and detailed world-building, and high stakes–an entertaining read. Set on a different planet, The Stragori Deception also explores some issues closer to home.