Deus Ex: Icarus Effect

Deus Ex: Icarus Effect is a science fiction novel written by James Swallow. Set in the Deus Ex universe, it serves as an introduction into the Deus Ex: Human Revolution game. The book was published in the United States by the Del Rey division of Random House Inc and was released on Febuary 22nd, 2011. This is the first Deus Ex novel.

Summary
Deus Ex: Icarus Effect follows two protagonists: Secret Service agent Anna Kelso and former SAS officer Ben Saxon. Through the events of the novel, they both take on the forces behind a massive conspiracy bent on influencing the evolution of the human race.

Anna Kelso is a recovering stimm addict, working for the United States Secret Service. She credits fellow Secret Service Agent Matt Ryan for saving her from her addiction and keeping her career. At the opening of the novel, she is on a VIP protection mission to guard a meeting between Senator Jane Skyler and Garret Dansky, CEO of Caidin Global (a major augmentation manufacturer). The two are meeting to discuss U.S. policy towards augmentations, but before the meeting can begin, the group is attacked by a black-clad special ops team. Matt Ryan is killed, and the assailiants make sure to shoot Dansky in the head and kill him, though they let Senator Skyler live.

Ben Saxon is a former member of the United Kingdom's Special Air Service, retired from the military and working for Belltower Associates Incorporated, a private military contractor corporation. At the opening of the novel, Saxon is team leader for Strike Six, an elite commando force within Belltower. Strike Six is taking part in "Operation Rainbird," supposedly a quick strike against rival forces in Austrailia's civil war. Even though Bell Tower has assured them that the mission will be entirely safe, the transport plane is suddenly attacked by a drone aircraft. Saxon's team is wiped out in the crash, save for Duarte, whom is killed by the drone as it doubles back over the site. Saxon manages to down the craft with a G-87 shortly before stumbling off a cliff into a shallow river.

Kelso recovers from her injuries, and rejects the official explanation that the Senator's meeting was attacked by Red Arrow gangsters, and tries to tell her superiors that the true target was Dansky. Her investigation is shut down by Ron Temple of the Secret Service. Kelso decides that she must find the information herself.

Meanwhile, Saxon is recovering from his injuries in a SAF hospital when he is approached by Jaron Namir to join The Tyrants, an independent special operations team that doesnt follow the rigidity of more official groups. After he promises to help find the people responsible for Team Six's deaths, Saxon agrees to join.

Kelso ventures to the decaying USS Intrepid, a decommissioned Aircraft Carrier now used for drug and information trade in New York to find information about the Assassins. Undercover, she meets Widow, an information trafficker, to learn more. Widow is not able to find much, but does confirm that they were named the Tyrants. NYPD has followed Kelso to the carrier, and seige the inhabitants she can learn more. She is knocked out by a SWAT team and awakens in an interrogation cell. Ron Temple arrives to discharge her from prison, though he also suspends her on "Medical Leave" to keep the government (namely Florida governor Philip Mead) out of the Secret Service's affairs.

Saxon works for the Tyrants for a few months, getting to know each member: Jaron Namir, Lawrence Barrett, Yelena Fedorova, Gunther Hermann, and Scott Hardesty, a fellow former SAS operative who somewhat clashes with Saxon. He believes Ben and Gunther are both too inexperienced to be trusted. In their first major operation, they are asked to kill Mikhail Kontarsky, an administrator of the Russian committe on Human Augmentation, in the Hotel Novoe Rostov in Moscow. Namir tells Saxon that Kontarsky associates with the Juggernaut Collective, a cyberterrorism cell, and also has done business with the people responsible for Operation Rainbird's failure. After fighting through several gaurds, the Tyrants finally find Kontarsky in a secret room, speaking to a mysterious figure, "Janus" through audio/video communication. Janus mentions something of a "Killing Floor", then asks Saxon if he is sure who he is working for or of his loyalty. Before he can interrogate either of them, Hardesty kills Kontarsky from a sniper perch across the street.

Characters
This is a list that contains most of the characters present in the book. Spoilers may be present.
 * Main Protagonists
 * Anna Kelso
 * Ben Saxon
 * Main Antogonists
 * Jaron Namir
 * Lawrence Barrett
 * Yelena Federova
 * Scott Hardesty
 * Gunther Hermann
 * Other Important Characters
 * Matt Ryan
 * Senator Skyler
 * Sam Duarte
 * Ron Temple
 * Hank Bradley
 * D-Bar
 * Janus
 * Juan Ivanovich Lebedev

Trivia

 * In an early portion of the book, Gunther Hermann takes a careful sip from a can of orange soda before asking Saxon a question.
 * A scene in the book shows Ben Saxon and the Tyrants discussing the attack on Sarif Industries; the same attack featured at the start of the game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Saxon is worried about one of the security cops, Adam Jensen, and advises precaution.
 * Later in the book, Lebedev mentions a small coalition of independent militia groups called the New Sons of Freedom, hinting at the start of the NSF, as known in the first Deus Ex game.