The Gorgon Agenda, by Lisa Shearin

A planet-killing weapon, sinister sisters, and immortal monsters.
All in a day’s work for the agents of SPI.

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for SPI (Supernatural Protection & Investigations). I knew SPI protected some of the world’s most dangerous relics, but I didn’t know our draconic founder, Vivienne Sagadraco, kept them in a vault deep below Manhattan.

Until the most lethal relic of all was stolen.

The Aegis is the shield once wielded by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. The center of the Aegis contains the head of Medusa, making it the ultimate weapon. All who look on it or its reflection are instantly turned to stone.

Old enemies and new adversaries have descended on New York—and one of them now has the Aegis:
Tiamat—Babylonian goddess of chaos, and Vivienne Sagadraco’s sister
Stheno and Euryale—Eight-foot-tall, snake-haired gorgons, granddaughters of the Titans, and Medusa’s sisters
The Sisterhood of Medusa—An ancient gorgon military order
The Cabal—A supernatural terrorist organization

Those behind the theft have declared war on humanity, with a hatred that was millennia in the making, and a heist that was centuries in the planning.

Our mission is simple yet impossible: Retrieve the Aegis and save the world. But we can’t do it alone. We’ll need our friends, family, and some unexpected new allies if we’re to stop this ancient evil once and for all.

I received a review copy of this book from the author.

Fast-paced adventure, supernatural and mythical creatures, and a side of humor

Lisa Shearin offers up another fast-paced supernatural adventure for Makenna Frasier and her SPI colleagues in The Gorgon Agenda, as they take on a seriously high-powered gorgon and a few old enemies. Seer and SPI agent Mac is as loyal, determined, compassionate, and dryly snarky as ever. I just love her and her “though she be but little, she is fierce” attitude. Her work partner, commando (and demigod) Ian, is adjusting well to the knowledge of his heritage. Her dragon shifter boss, Ms. Sagradraco, is more human than you’d think. And Rake, Mac’s high-powered hotelier fiance, remains my favorite goblin dark mage: suave, sexy, and dangerous, but utterly committed to Mac. My only complaint in the whole novel was that we didn’t see enough of him.

Shearin writes epic battle scenes and humorous banter with equal panache. The action is nearly nonstop, and cinematic in style and scale. The SPI Files series has been described as “Men in Black, but with supernatural elements,” but there’s definitely a bit of Avengers flavor in there as well, particularly in the large-scale battle scenes. For all the mayhem, danger, and potential-end-of-the-world suspense (and there is a lot), the books never lose track of the personal element, and Makenna’s often humorous first-person narration keeps things light enough to be fun instead of scary. In this case, that was a real challenge. With ancient gorgons, a draconic supervillain, and an almost-invincible weapon on the loose in New York City, there was plenty of scary to go around. Luckily, this wasn’t my first SPI Files rodeo, and I was confident things would work out in the end, but a few of the scenes still made me shudder.

As with every book in the SPI Files series, I had a hard time putting it down, even to go to sleep. The Gorgon Agenda ties up one story arc, but there are at least two or three other loose threads, so there’s still plenty of room for more sequels. Fingers crossed!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Upside-Down 2023: Chapter 1

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