Prime

The latest edition of the Chess Team saga takes it back to before it all began - when Jack Sigler was known as “Elvis” and before he had ever met Stan Tremblay, Shin Dae Jung, Erik Somers, and Zelda Baker.

I'm not going to get into the plot on this review, suffice it to say that it is a classic Chess Team rollercoaster that has them travel over much of the globe while explaining the need for just such a team very well.

If you've never read a Jeremy Robinson book, particularly from the Chess Team series, this one is the first one in storyline order and serves as an excellent origins story. If you're a long time fan, this is another wild ride you've come to expect, with a few geek out moments thrown in - such as when “Elvis” becomes “King”, and even moreso when Stan, Shin, Erik, and Zelda become “Rook”, “Knight”, “Bishop”, and “Queen”.

The introductions to each character are done very well indeed, and some classic moments that have never before been put in the books are revealed. Among them:

How does Stan get his Desert Eagles?
How do Zelda and Jack meet, and how does Jack gain Zelda's trust?
Who the hell is this “Richard” guy that seems to be financing the bad guys?

The most important question (as far as the future of Chess Team goes) is left unanswered:

How do the events of PRIME - the story of the beginnings of Chess Team - affect what long time fans know and expect to see in OMEGA - the story of the endings of Chess Team, coming out later this year? I have my suspicions, but at this point the only thing any of us other than Robinson and his coauthor for OMEGA, Kane Gilmour, know for sure:

No matter what happens, it will be one hell of a ride!