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Rath's Deception (The Janus Group Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Piers Platt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,400 ratings
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On the cut-throat streets of Tarkis, orphaned teens like Rath end up jailed … or dead. So when the shadowy Janus Group offers Rath a chance to earn riches beyond his wildest dreams, he seizes it. But the Janus Group is as ruthless as the elite assassins it controls. Rath will have to survive their grueling, off-world training, and fulfill all fifty kills in his contract before a single cent comes his way. And ending so many lives comes with a price Rath can't anticipate. It'll certainly cost him what's left of his innocence. It may well cost him his life.

Interview with the Author

Q - What makes the Janus Group series special?
A - Growing up, I loved books like Ender's Game and the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series. When I sat down to write the Janus Group books, I wanted to capture what I liked best about those books - sci fi thrillers or action thrillers in a fast-paced style. The series is best characterized as cyberpunk science fiction thrillers, with a little detective and police procedural elements thrown in to boot. Finally, I like my characters to be relatable, and facing overwhelming odds - the plot is action-packed, and keeps you guessing. Beware: plot twists ahead!

Q - What order should I read the books in? 
A - Last Pursuit is a short story set in the Janus Group world - it's the prequel, and the story that inspired me to write a full series. You can read that first (for free), then Books 1-3 (Rath's Deception, Rath's Gambit, and Rath's Reckoning) in order from there. Books 1-3 are a complete story arc - Book 3 resolves everything from Books 1 and 2.

Q - Why should readers give these books a try? 
A - Because the Janus Group books are fast, inventive, page-turners that kick ass and take names! They've been described as "Jason Bourne" meets "Bladerunner." Any fans of hitman books, science fiction assassin tales, or cyberpunk thrillers will enjoy them.

Q - Can readers get the whole series in one bundle? 
A - Not yet - sorry, just haven't had a chance to get around to it! But sign up for my newsletter at http://piersplatt.com/newsletter (copy and paste into your browser), or follow me on my author page here at Amazon to find out when I do release a bundle.

Thanks for reading!

The Janus Group Series eBook Categories:
Sci fi action
Sci fi thriller
Cyberpunk
Galactic Empire / Corporations / Conspiracies
Bounty hunter / Killer
Action adventure / Suspense / Pulp
Crime / Detective / Mystery / Murder
AIs /Artificial intelligence
Space / Space travel
Genes / Genetic engineering
Space warrior / Military
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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 6
    The Janus Group
  2. Print length
    350 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 30, 2015
  6. File size
    610 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Platt delivers an intrigue-filled romp ... and infuses it with sharp wit and an eye for all the gritty details. Platt's world is inventive, with a strong protagonist that readers will undoubtedly root for."-Publisher's Weekly
"Character driven cyberpunk with assassins, conspiracies, insidious corporations, genetic engineering and murder. A page turner." -SciFi365.net
Selected Amazon reviews:"This book grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. A true must read!" "Bladerunner + Bourne Identity. Very gritty but oh so good!" "Fast paced, well written and had a great story-line. I literally had to force myself to put it down, and couldn't wait to escape back into it the next evening." "Great multidimensional characters and lots and lots of exciting situations." "This is the first book I have read by Mr. Platt and was not expecting that much from the book. Needless to say, I was very wrong."

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017FIW2J6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Piers Platt (October 30, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 610 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,400 ratings

About the author

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Piers Platt

Piers Platt

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Piers Platt is the New York Times bestselling author of "Combat and Other Shenanigans," a memoir of his year-long deployment to Iraq as a tank and scout platoon leader. Piers grew up in Boston, but spent most of his childhood in various boarding schools, including getting trained as a classical singer at a choir school for boys. He joined the Army in 2002, and spent four years on active duty.

When he's not writing or spending time with his lovely wife and daughter, Piers works as a strategy consultant in New York city.

To be the first to hear about new releases - and get a free e-book! - sign for Piers' newsletter at: piersplatt.com/newsletter (just copy and paste into your browser)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,400 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry B Gray
5.0 out of 5 stars Do you like a good science fiction book that is full of ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2016
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Do you like a good science fiction book that is full of intrigue? Then I recommend Rath's Deception by Piers Platt. This book will keep you glued to it throughout the read.

The author has developed a storyline that is full of intrigue and suspense. It has non-stop action and adventure. The fast pace, makes it fun to read and never boring. With all its plot twist and turns you have to stay on your toes to keep up. I found it to be a fun and easy read.

Piers Platt's characters are realistic and down to earth. I like when I can identify with a character and get behind them in the story. This made for a great story to get into.

I really liked Rath's Deception by Piers Platt and I highly recommend this book to all readers.
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R. Douglas Powell
4.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Sci-Fi Merc Novel
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2016
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This was a very good read, hard to put down. The characters are somewhat thinly developed, but as some other reviewers have said, they will most likely reveal more about themselves as the series progresses.

I found the story-line concept to be unique and the technology innovative. The writing is superb and unlike a lot of other ebooks, I didn't see any typos, glitches, etc.

I just ordered the next two in the series for reading on our long distance Amtrak trip.
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Fiannawolf
5.0 out of 5 stars A very nice debut!
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2015
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Finished this one while waiting for new nephew to be born. Glorious cyberpunk. + an assassin you can root for? Aces!

Pretty much pre-ordered the rest. Best mathematical formula for this book: Bladerunner + Borne Identity divided by Dollhouse x The Forever War with a dash of The Running Man via S. King, mix it into one octane sized blender and you have a reader that already pre-ordered the rest of them.

Basically if you love sci fi, give this book a chance or sample download, who knows? Maybe you will like it as much as I did.

Heck if you loved older movies like "Escape from New York" or "Logan's Run" this thing might be right up your alley. Very gritty but oh so good!
3 people found this helpful
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DP
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2016
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Overall I was pleased with the story line. Character development was somewhat shallow, but likely adequate when considering this is the first book of a series. As this book developed, I thought the author was going to end this act such that the book would be "self-standing". But he did mange to to draw the reader in during the last chapters. As we finally learned more of the characters background and the relationship between 621 and 339, as well as additional revelations of the Guild, this reader will be reading the second (and possibly more) of the series.
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illiandantic
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Book that Gets Better as it Goes Along
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2016
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"Rath's Deception," the first book in Piers Platt's "The Janus Group" series, is a decent book with decent writing and a fairly good story. That's not exactly high praise, but the book is a reasonable way to spend some time: there's nothing really wrong with it. I do have some complaints about it, though:

- I don't really have a word to explain this, but the writing is a bit thin or convenient. People say or do things that they really shouldn't, just to move the plot along. This gets much better as the book goes along, so I think it's just a way for the author to get some background to us and to get the story moving.

- There are almost no differences among the various planets we visit during the book. These could almost be different cities in one country instead of different worlds spread throughout the galaxy. Similarly, even though this takes place in some indeterminately far-flung future, the society is pretty much indistinguishable from ours.

- The author uses FTL space flight which takes several days to get from planet to planet. Yet, the plot is almost entirely dependent on instantaneous personal communication/telemetry across those same distances. It's not the end of the world, but there's really no explanation for why physical ships take days to cross the distance while a telephone call or tracking signal can do it instantly and without lag.

- The bad guys' training program is not complete. They recruit minor orphans from the slums as their assassins, yet don't train them to fit into the society they'll be working in. They spend tens of millions of dollars training these people, charge a couple of million for each job, but most of their "contractors" don't survive to their 10th job. Their break-even point is probably 5 jobs. Yet, they don't bring their "contractors" back in for feedback or re-training. Seems a bit wasteful. For instance, in the case of our protagonist's first job, they could have hired some gang member off the street for a mere pittance to perform the same level of work. Along with wasteful, that would seem to bring down the reputation they have for subtlety.

Though those things are apparent in the book, they don't really bring down the story all that much. So, I'm rating the book at an OK 3 stars out of 5 and will probably continue the series (especially since by the time the ending rolled around, the book was much better than it was at the start).

The novels in Piers Platt's "The Janus Group" series are:

1.  Rath's Deception (The Janus Group Book 1)
2.  Rath's Gambit (The Janus Group Book 2)
3.  Rath's Reckoning (The Janus Group Book 3)
6 people found this helpful
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Randall W. Perkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional SciFi
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2023
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I’ve been reading SciFi for more than 60 years. It’s rare to find an example such as this, which is first rate stuff. The author’s imagination is astounding and the writing is quite strong. I cannot imagine any SciFi fan being disappointed, and I unhesitatingly recommend the book.
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S. Gwynn
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this whole series
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016
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I loved this whole series. It is so well written and creative. The characters are well developed, even the lesser ones. I didn't feel the need to edit poor grammar or typos, thereby allowing me to simply enjoy the books. I will read the whole series again. I enjoyed it that much! Someone compared this series to the Bourne Identity series. There is no comparison. This one is leagues ahead of that. I read the whole series within days of picking up Rath's Deception. They are fast paced but not hurried. The conclusion is well thought out and thorough. There weren't any rushed, tossed together parts to try to tie it up in a neat bow. It all just flowed beautifully to its culmination. I will be copy and pasting this review to all of the books within the series as it is applicable to all of them.
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Top reviews from other countries

Kumar
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome mindbogglingly good..
Reviewed in India on July 30, 2018
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Its a real sci-fi book. The technologies explained are really fictional. I mean who would have thought of those tech in out world. But it does makes sense for the need of those techs in the line of work. It was quite an interesting book. A real page turner.

I'm not revealing any spoilers...
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Customer41185
4.0 out of 5 stars An assassins coming of age story
Reviewed in Australia on January 12, 2019
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Watch Rath grow from a bumbling street kid into a world class Assassin with plenty of twists and turns.
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Ron
5.0 out of 5 stars Best SCI-FI read for a long time!
Reviewed in Canada on April 13, 2016
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Good read lots of twists and turns to keep you interested. This is one of those books that are hard to set down. You keep thinking about it and go back to keep reading. Good job!
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Greycynic
5.0 out of 5 stars An original story of deceit and double dealing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 13, 2016
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These days I tend not to give 5 stars to any book that is not genuinely original. Rath's Deception is, in my opinion, original. It starts off by asking how a young Rath can rise above the poverty of the street. He is offered a route out through serious crime. It is not an easy way out but the deal could work well for those who persist. Ultimately, it turns out that the deal is not all that it appeared to be and Rath has to find a deception if he is to escape with his life.

A very clever plot and a well written tale. The ending felt to be too short to be compatible with the body of the book but I will forgive Piers Platt this fault. Overall an excellent, and very original story, that kept me turning the pages all the way through to the very end.
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James Ronholm
4.0 out of 5 stars but I didn't expect a book as good this was
Reviewed in Canada on November 16, 2017
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I clicked on an ad to download this book (and the next) for free. The two books came as a single download that I read straight through. In my mind it is hard to separate it into two separate books so this is the same review I posted for Rath's Gambit  Rath's Gambit (The Janus Group Book 2)

I don't completely understand the world of publishing versus self-publishing (this book is self-published), but I didn't expect a book as good this was. It kept me reading, and anticipating the entire time.

I never felt like I was reading great literature but I always felt like I was reading a very good story. In some ways the story was somewhat predictable, but that can be said of many good books - just because a story is somewhat predictable doesn't mean you don't want to keep reading. I mean lets face it, we normally expect the protagonist to be successful (and live) and the opponent to lose. Although the story isn't yet complete (as it is a three book story) the hero (?) is still alive against heavy odds.

If you like hard SF that is easy to read, this is a great read
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