Peacebreakers

The first novel by Mindy Mackay.

In post-renaissance Europe, a brutal genocide was carried out against mutants, resulting in the decimation of the species. Twenty Minutes Into the Future a revolutionary faction called the Paralysis has emerge to enact the mutants' revenge. The leader of the revolt, Isabella Sordeno,  and leads the stumbling organization on the path to a bloody coup d'etat of Canada.

Among Isabella's followers is disillusioned hit-werewolf Kiera Graves, who at first wants nothing more but to drink booze and murder humans for the rest of her days. That's until she falls in love with her comrade, Jackson Solomon, an intellectual "prison-addled" psychopath who is determined to save her from her destructive little self. As she becomes closer and closer to the man who has known misery in its deepest and purest forms, she must reevaluate the way she lives her own life, all the while dealing with a Stalker with a Crush and the species barrier, as relations between mutants and aristocrats are not often tolerated in mutant high society. Just as victory seems imminent, Kiera learns from a local prophetess that Jackson is fated to die at her hands.

Readers with weaker stomachs are advised to stand clear.


 * A God Am I: Isabella pretty much admits to having a God complex.
 * Agony Beam: The first thing Isabella does once she is.
 * Ax Crazy: Pretty much the entirety of the Paralysis.
 * And the Fleischer staff, and militant humans...let's face it, this universe borders on violent Dystopia.
 * Beta Couple:
 * Black and Gray Morality: The Paralysis is a combination of the evils of cult-mania and corporatism, headed up by a sadistic megalomaniac and populated by murderous psychopaths, but since the Scandinavian Confederation as an even more sadistic fiend at its forefront and conducts ruthless experiments on people, it's all OK.
 * Blondes Are Evil
 * Actually, the hair colors are Colour-Coded for Your Convenience. Upon close inspection of the text, this troper concludes that blondes are actually anarchic and ruled by chaos (Kiera and Vance); redheads are creatures of passion and emotion who don't often think things through (Chamika and Mercedes, and this troper assumes the rest of the Carsons, whose company is on a downhill slope); and black-haired characters are cold, calculating, condescending, and powerful (Isabella, Jackson, Veronika, and Chamika after the dye job--she's obviously trying to become more cold and calculating and seems to have figured out the color-code algorithm. Hey, couldn't hurt, chickadee.
 * Broken Bird: Chamika.
 * Catch Phrase: "Hey chickadee!"
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Fleischer and everything that goes on inside it.
 * Like remember the time when Veronika
 * And then
 * Or the time she
 * Or her
 * Complete Monster: Veronika.
 * Contrived Coincidence: Chamika and Vance just happened to meet each other after they'd
 * Dark Action Girl: Every. Female.
 * Dead Little Sister: Dead older sister, in  case.
 * Deadly Upgrade: Kiera's lycanthropy, with Involuntary Shapeshifting coming standard.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: After Chamika whoops Kiera's butt in the school courtyard over political and ideological differences, they become inseparable best friends.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: "Don't look at me, I don't want your pity."
 * First Law of Resurrection:
 * It kind of makes you wonder--if Isabella, Dustin, and Vance know the secret to resurrection, why don't they just bring back  at the end of the book?
 * Hates Everyone Equally: Veronika's attitude towards humanity.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Between the Pear of Anguish, a torture chair, a nephrectomy with no anesthetic, and, it seems the Mackay is just trying to outdo herself with every passing chapter.
 * Jerkass Woobie: Jackson.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Vance Carton.
 * Loves the Sound of Screaming: Isabella: "I WANT TO HEAR YOU SCREAM!"
 * Kiera during "Silent Screams", anyone?
 * Magnificent Bastard: Isabella.
 * Her  was just plain cruel and could also be taken as For the Evulz.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Chamika, in spades.
 * Meaningful Name: Kiera Graves:  Jackson Solomon:
 * : This is how Kiera and Jackson decide to handle Kiera's Stalker with a Crush.
 * Must Have Caffeine: The entire Paralysis.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe: Veronika.
 * "There's no real justice in this world..."
 * Nightmare Fetishist: Kiera, in a most literal sense. Not only is she incredibly turned on by, but she thinks his haunting, traumatizing nightmares are endearing and "cute".
 * Opera Gloves: Granted, Kiera has a good reason for using them.
 * Prison Rape
 * Room Full of Crazy: Most of the cells in Fleischer, with poetry written on the walls in blood by crazed inmates.
 * Smart People Play Chess
 * Spanner in the Works: Kiera, when she
 * Squick: See Cold-Blooded Torture.
 * Surrounded by Idiots: How Dustin feels about the organization in the short time he's in charge.
 * The Cassandra: Anabelle. Jackson convinces Kiera that Annabelle is wrong about, but as examples have proven, Anabelle is never wrong.
 * The Dulcinea Effect: Played so, SO straight with Jackson and Kiera.
 * Villainous BSOD: Kiera at the end of the story.
 * Villain Protagonist
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Kiera and Chamika are this, at times.
 * Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: This troper thinks Isabella is the new poster girl for this trope.
 * Wrong Name Outburst: Kiera's boyfriend Kenneth from the first few chapters, after she gets his name wrong twice. (First she tried Evan, and when that wasn't it, she guessed Danny.) Their relationship came to an end within seconds of this.
 * Your Days Are Numbered
 * Zen Survivor: Jackson. The guy gets  and just kind of lets it slide for the rest of the book without exerting any vengeance. Possible Fridge Logic?
 * Zen Survivor: Jackson. The guy gets  and just kind of lets it slide for the rest of the book without exerting any vengeance. Possible Fridge Logic?