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Sylvester Jayden has lived through a lot. She's watched the grisly demise of her parents, survived death games in an Afghan prison, and concluded a successful career as an FBI agent. All she wants to do now is relax in her expensive music store. Still, when Sylvester's past comes calling, she is compelled to answer. A Mind for Killing starts out typically enough, setting up a story we've heard plenty of times before: A man resembling Sylvester's brother has been linked to four seemingly unconnected murders, and Sylvester is the only one who can shed some light on the matter. Say goodbye to normalcy, because this is where the book takes its first turn in an exciting, ever-accelerating ride.
Sylvester is not just an ex-FBI agent. She has a heart of steel, literally. She is only 2% organic, more machine than woman, with a crippling addiction to electronic body enhancements. With the help of a technological genius, Sylvester has the ability to jump between cyborg "shells" custom-made for her. What starts off as a typical thriller, quickly turns into an action-filled sci-fi adventure, full of cybernetic enhancements of a kind we can only dream about. Sylvester is joined by a modern day samurai warrior, her "absolutely not a boyfriend" genius boyfriend, and a collection of other odd individuals. Together, the odd team goes up against secret conspiracies, sinister corporations, and a larger-than-life antagonist. Even the narrator gets a piece of the action.
The book sends bullets flying in all directions, with over-the-top action and gratuitous violence, all directed towards one lone woman and her anatomically correct cyborg suit. Heavily inspired by Japanese animations like the classic sci-fi Ghost in the Shell, Johnson's A Mind for Killing should come with a warning to fasten your seat belts and watch out for the odd ricochet.