This story is about a Mars colony where the current guy in charge is against religion. He devises a system to deal with those who are religious (or are against him) using the Roman Coliseum as an inspiration for their punishment. He's thwarted by the former leader and his wife, both Christians.

Plot-wise, this book is a little thin. While the villain has awesome cosmic power, so to speak, he's all too easily taken out. Also, he's entirely against God, but persecutes only Christians. While it's plausible that the hero is a Christian, as the villain is against God, he should be against all forms of religion, not just Christianity.

The characters are wooden and one dimensional. I never managed to care for anyone. While I liked the child-genius, it occurs to me now that the genius child who can do everything the adults can't is a cliche. In fact, one of his inventions just happens to fall into the hands of the guy in the prison cell next to our hero and our hero just happens to recognize it and is able to use it to make a prison break.

All of that being said, the tale of a society where first people are categorized, then the worst are taken, then the next worse are taken, and then the moderates are taken is a morality play worth revisiting now and then. If only so we don't let it happen in our time.

I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )