Rick Wayne writes with such skill and unassuming ease, his prose is worth the reading if nothing else for the clarity and spark of it. But for two bothersome flaws, the Minus Faction would earn my full five stars.

I was first drawn to Wayne’s story, The Minus Faction, wanting to see how he wrote a novel in serial form (the Novelsode, #NOVELSODE). However, I soon transcended this curiosity to meet a troubled, struggling, broken warrior seeking to put his life back together and figure out whether to make up for his physical shortfalls with a certain skill he’s picked while overseas. This character, John Regent, is by himself worth the price of admission. If you’ve been following that other wounded warrior I’ve been writing about, you will appreciate why I connected with John.

The flaws I mentioned? First a technical nit with regards to in-scene character point of view hopping. Had it happened once, I would have ignored it. But it happens often enough as to merit mention from this student of the writing craft. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, move on and enjoy the story.

Perhaps a bit more troublesome is a logical flaw with a key premise of the story. Yes, someone may be able to take over someone else’s body. But make that body do things it wasn’t trained to do, including highly specialized fighting techniques? Mind control and muscle memory (or muscle strength and capability) aren’t the same thing. Muscles of someone in a coma atrophy. Take over the body of someone who eats too many donuts, and you won’t win the one hundred meters dash. The story needed to address this apparent disconnect.

Those nits aside, this story exemplifies great dialog, terrific characterization, and strong pacing to keep the reader yearning for the next page and the next installment in the series when he runs out of pages to turn. Pick it up, read the sample and see if you aren’t compelled to consume the whole thing in one sitting.

Net-net: 4 out of 5 stars