Genre: Science
Fiction/Technothriller
Description:
“Tom Faraday - new employee at the famous
CERUS Biotech - wakes up after a Friday night party to find it's Monday, and
he's lost the entire weekend. And that’s only the start of his problems.
25 years ago CERUS crossed boundaries
that should not have been crossed. With Tom's help, they're about to try again.
And what they have in mind will change everything.”
Author:
Tony Batton worked in international law firms, media companies and
Formula One motorsport, before turning his hand to writing novels. He is
passionate about great stories, gadgets and coffee, and probably consumes too
much of each.
Tony's novels explore the possibilities and dangers of new technology,
and how that can change lives. When not writing, or talking about gadgets, Tony
likes to play basketball, guitar, and computer games with his two young sons.
He lives in London with his family.
Appraisal:
I write novels in the technothriller space. I’m not sure
whether that makes me more likely to enjoy or to be critical of fiction written
in a similar vein. I just thought I’d put that out there before saying that
this was a very good example of the genre that kept me engaged and turning
pages.
The McGuffin--nanotechnology that enhances a human brain,
is current and close enough to warrant speculation. The technical details never
bog down the story. The characters were believable. The CERUS HQ was futuristic
and very cool. The main character, Tom, went through an interesting story arc
that moved him from unsuspecting victim to… well that would be an unnecessary
spoiler. Tom was often in danger, as were those who supported him, and yet he
managed to extricate himself from most situations without some miraculous
external intervention, so the tension remained taut throughout.
Although this is Book One of a series, the story is
complete in its own right. We are left with a hook for the second book but,
thank heavens, not a cliffhanger! If I didn’t have such a large backlog in my
TBR list, I’d read the second installment.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant
issues.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by:
Pete Barber
Approximate
word count:
85-90,000 words
1 comment:
Good work! Beautifully described here
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