REVIEW: THE PRICE OF TIME

What would you do if you could live forever? And what would you be willing to pay for such a privilege?

The Price Of Time is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller that asks those very questions. While immortality is not exactly a new idea, Tigner does a great job of looking at the possibility of eternal life through the prism of morality. Will you share that discovery with the world? Will you keep it for yourself and a few chosen ones? Will you… kill for it?

Given the advances in technology in the past two decades, I find the story particularly compelling. It is not entirely unthinkable to imagine that at some point in the not-so-distant future, a process will become available to those fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of money.

All in all, a very entertaining read. Five stars.

REVIEW: PROJECT HAIL MARY

AMAZE! How good is this, question. (you’ll get this after you read the book, I promise)

After a smashing hit of The Martian and a bit of a downer with Artemis (it was a good book, but Mark Watney had left some pretty big shoes to fill), I didn’t really know what to expect. And boy, Andy Weir delivers.

It starts with an astronaut waking up in a strange place, only to realize that he’s alone on a spaceship, his crewmates are dead, and, to make it more interesting, he’s not even in the Solar System anymore. Initially, he doesn’t remember how he got there or even his own name, but as it comes back to him in bits and pieces, the enormity of the mission dawns: he’s there to do nothing short of a miracle and save the Earth.

The story is engaging from page one. It’s human, it’s funny, and before you know it, you are rooting for the man on the mission, and… no, I won’t spoil it.

Weir packs an incredible amount of science into it and does it in the most entertaining way possible. Like in The Martian, I don’t know if the science makes sense, but the story is so good, I don’t care.

I rarely finish books in one sitting, but I read Project Hail Mary on a Saturday in one go, resisting my family’s calls to pull me away from the fictional Ryland Grace and his quest to save humanity.

(Minor spoiler): One tiny problem I had with the book was the inconsistency of alien technological abilities. “They can do this but cannot do that?” kind of thing. I won’t elaborate on that, but you’ll pick up on that as you get deeper into the story. But while it did bother me in a few places, it was too small to take away from otherwise a phenomenal story.

For any remaining skeptics out there, Project Hail Mary should solidify Andy Weir’s reputation as a great writer and fantastic storyteller.

5 Stars.

REVIEW: ONE SECOND AFTER

One Second After by William R. Forstchen is probably one of the scariest books I’ve ever read. Not because it has zombies, aliens, or other monsters. But because it’s so terrifyingly realistic in its description of the apocalypse. And, if you make it to the afterword written by USAF (ret.) General Eugene Habiger, you’ll find out that the science part of the incident that kicks off the chain of events in the story is almost entirely true.
Not to say this book doesn’t have any flaws. It does. Some characters have “convenient” skills. A bit too “in your face” patriotism with one too many reminders that “this is America.”

But those are minor distractions and they don’t take away from a truly engrossing story. 4.5 STARS

Neo Cyberpunk anthology.

Last year I was honored to be a part of the Anthology with 14 other cyberpunk authors. To make it even more interesting, Bruce Bethke, the Philip K. Dick award winning author who created the term itself wrote a foreword for this collection. If you haven’t read it yet, give it a try. I promise you will find a story you’ll like and an author to follow. You can get your copy here:

https://amzn.to/3HLULir

REVIEW: LATER

I don’t like everything King writes, but when he hits, he hits.

A terrifying and emotional tale about a kid who sees people as they transition into the world beyond ours. It is not a story about ghosts and murderers. It’s a story of growing up, of childhood that always ends too early, and the choices we make along the way. It’s smart, it’s scary, it’s laugh-out-loud funny at times.

A thoroughly enjoyable, brilliant book.

Review: The Martian

Well, let’s get the obvious out of the way. If you didn’t find this book literary enough and are one of those people who call themselves a “writer” on their Amazon/Goodreads/whatever profiles and yet have no books of their own published on Amazon/Goodreads/whatever, I’d like to make a humble suggestion. First, please spend a few years writing a book, submit it to a few hundred agents, get rejected, publish it on Amazon, sell 30,000 copies in 3 months, sell rights to a major publishing house, sell movie rights and get Matt Damon to star in a movie based on your book. After you’ve done all that, do come back and complain about this book not being literary enough.

The Pros:

- The right amount of geekery. The amount of research Andy Weir must have done is simply staggering. At the end of the day, I don’t know (or care) whether the science behind Mark Watney’s numerous calculations is correct. But it sure sounds plausible enough to maintain the reader engrossed in the novel rather than question the possibility of events at every turn.

- Humor/Human element. To put it simply, Mark Watney is awesome. He’s real. He’s a very smart guy who happened to draw the short straw and is now trying to figure out how to deal with it. He’s not Superman. He’s just a regular man who’s trying to beat almost impossible odds. He works his ass off, he jokes, and he bitches. He’s brave but not in-your-face Captain America brave, which makes him even more likable.

- Great pace.

The Cons:

- Too many disasters. Occasionally things work as they are supposed to. Disasters add to the tension, but when you add too many, they start to become predictable.

- (Minor spoiler). Change of voice leading to a disaster. It threw me off the first time when Wier started describing events leading to an airlock failure. After that, every time that voice popped up, it was like a flashing line on a teleprompter: Disaster is imminent! Disaster is imminent!

- Secondary characters lacked. I think the original crew was a missed opportunity to create some really good characters. How they were dealing with the trauma of leaving their crewmate behind could add to the emotional part of the story.

Verdict: The Martian is superb. No, it’s not perfect, but its strengths are outnumbering its weaknesses by a great margin.

All in all a great read. 4.9 stars.

A review of HIDE: A Detective Harriet Foster thriller.

When a body of a young woman turns up in Chicago, a CPD detective Harriet Foster is assigned to the case. The problem is, she’s got some big issues to tackle herself. But as more bodies pile up, Forster needs to figure out how to put the killer behind bars before it’s too late, and confront some of the secrets of her own.

Pros: A gripping story with multi-dimensional characters. Great pace and dialogue.

Cons: Too obvious of a plot, but it didn’t particularly bother me as much. However, as some of other reviewers mentioned, the way Foster reacts in certain situations would have been much more believable if she were a rookie. When a 17 year veteran gets rattled by something most rookies would brush off without breaking a sweat, it annoys and distracts from the otherwise good and engaging story.

If you can get past this, you’ll enjoy the book. 4.0 Stars.

A review of Agent G: Infiltrator by C.T. Phipps

A fast-paced technothriller with a touch of cyberpunk flavor. Agent G is an assassin for hire who can't remember how he got to work for his current employer--the infamous Refugee Society. He's only one of the twenty-six "letters," a crew of cybernetically enhanced individuals whose memories have been wiped in order to turn them into living, breathing weapons. So when his position at the Refugee Society is compromised, Agent G goes on a daring mission that will answer all his questions. Or kills him.
A delightful cocktail of Jason Bourne and Hitman, with a pinch of Deux Ex, Agent G will give you plenty of high-stakes action and save the big twist for the very end. Sip it carefully.