I found the third book on the new SF shelf at my local library and hunted around for this first book in the series. The book handles the origin story with flashbacks in the opening chapters that get a bit muddled, but I stuck through and the story moved forward at a fine pace.

There is a monologue near the middle of the book, after the big mid-book turn, that is simply beautiful. It is full of anger and uncontrolled rage and how Taggart is going to get revenge and it is a perfect storm in a few pages. Wonderful passage. Exactly the sort of Chandleresque stream of consciousness I love to read when the main character is losing it. Fabulous section. I had to finish the book after that passage.

I enjoyed the world building and didn't feel like it overshadowed the characters or the plot. It was realistic superhero stuff without the tight pants and capes.

I will be continuing with the series. ( )

I loved this setting. The open-ended hierarchy of vague yet menacing Powers always just down the street in every corner of the world reminds me of the best parts of John Wick. I never got close to getting bored of descriptions of how the characters used their abilities, they were always evolving and finding clever new approaches. ( )

The Liminal People is a scifi crime novel centered on Taggert, a man with the power to heal or hurt the people around him. He serves a ruthless man and has done terrible things in the course of his work. Although he dislikes it, he has made peace with his life — until an ex love asks for his help to find her daughter. The search for the girl leads him into a face-off with others with enough power that they seem to walk the borderline between human and god.

Taggert is an interesting character, bordering a line between hero and anti-hero. He's capable and willing to be cruel and violent, but his cruelty is mostly associated by the way he's been trapped into his current life by his master, Nordeen. Taggert also acts to protect the people he cares about, even if it means personal danger to himself.

The novel is a great crime/action thriller that sets up an interesting world, in which powerful people have the ability to manipulate the world (which kind of makes us ordinary humans feel rather small) Being both on the shorter side and fast paced, it's a quick read (perfect for where my head has been at lately). I'm looking forward to checking out the other two books in the trilogy, The Liminal War and The Entropy of Bones. ( )

Another fantasy science-fiction novel with a comic book flavor. The protagonists, Liminal People, are somewhat like the mutants of the X-Men. Super powered, but still craving social acceptance. Interesting conflicts and power relationships. ( )

When I began this short, action-packed novel, I thought to myself with a sigh, "Is there anything new that can be said about people with extraordinary powers?" The set-up for this book brought to mind X-Men, the television show "Heroes" and any number of books.

Turns out, that while the premise isn't terribly original, the voice is, and it is a bit reminiscent of some Octavia Butler's Patternmaster series.

Taggert can heal (and conversely, can hurt) by manipulating others at a cellular level. When we meet him, he is in Morocco working for a drug lord in what is thought to be a lifetime position. But a desperate phone call from a former lover brings him to London where survival, love and family cause him some serious soul-searching.

Told in the first person, Taggert has a urban, urgent voice, and a narrative that moves quickly through the book's 190 pages. Taggert is an interesting character, not exactly likable, more anti-hero than hero certainly, but circumstances will exploit the chinks in that armor. He's very three-dimensional, and the fact that he is black brings a refreshing dimension to the usual themes of the ethical use of power...etc. ( )