The Unmutual Reviews: 'Unity' by Mike Bodnar .

Reviewed by Rick Davy.

As regular readers will know, I am not a fan of ‘Prisoner fan fiction'. It tends to be written by people full of enthusiasm, but lacking in ability, reliant on stereotypical characters and situations which are not befitting the greatest series ever made.

It was with trepidation (coupled with an enthusiasm that someone was willing to give it a try), therefore, that I learned that a new book, entitled ‘Unity' was being prepared.

My trepidation was misplaced.

Mike Bodnar's story is unlike any Prisoner-related fiction written previously. Rather than writing an 18 th episode, or sequel, as many others have tried previously, Mike has written ‘Unity' from a totally new perspective.

The story is almost a ‘The Village behind the scenes story', telling the tales of those at Governmental level (and below) who have set up and run The Village, and those operatives that we always wondered about when watching the series, but never got to find anything about. A unique idea, and one which I am delighted to say Mike has approached with both aplomb, and genuine creativity.

We are spared the usual shortcomings of fan-fiction (copying existing storylines, poorly written Number Six dialogue, etc) and instead treated to a whole host of new, and believable characters, and a fascinating and well thought out back story for the setting of our favourite series, and captor.

It is these undercurrents and back-stories which make ‘Unity' a very interesting and well written piece of work. Superbly crafted, with punchy dialogue and good scene setting, the author has tried something new and definitely pulled it off.

For more details, visit the book's website at www.unitystory.com