Embedded Files
The Premise:
The Premise:
First, the blurb from Amazon:
- During the twilight of America, Mary, a married stay-at-home bookworm, is dying of incurable cancer.
One wintry night, a mysterious scientist visits. He offers to nullify her enormous medical bills in exchange for transferring her consciousness into a virtual environment as part of a secret military program called Ten Sigma.
A year later, weighed by the imminent bankruptcy of her husband and family, Mary reluctantly accepts knowing she’ll return as a super-soldier in a new, healthy body upon passing certain tests.
But the virtual universe holds dark secrets.
After her mind downloads, the shadowy tinkerers of her new reality erase her name and shred her essence. What’s left gets reassembled with every type of martial knowledge and combat experience.
Trapped on the road to becoming a perfect killer, she learns of the program’s true nature.
Everyone is a dead man walking.
Despite the unimaginable odds, she grimly embarks on the impossible journey to return to her family or die trying...
***Mature Audiences Only***
This novel contains graphic violence and some sex.
My Review:
My Review:
Out of the Indie books I've read this year, this one has been my favorite so far. Its premise is interesting. To me, it's a combination of "Ender's Game" meets the "Hunger Games" but more appropriate for adults than YA. Once Mary enters into the Ten Sigma program, you get that same "Oh crap, we're all new here, none of us know what to expect" team building, strangers in a dangerous situation, bonding time. You also get a mix of characters, which all play as individuals. This is certainly not a book where all of the characters feel like they're from the same brain (I know you all know what I mean there).
Things that I loved:
- The writing is SO clean and well edited. We all know that can be an area that gets dicey with Indie books.
- The characters feel whole and well rounded. Like they have a past, and not just because they say they do - but because their past drives their actions.
- The book is action packed, and fast paced. I love a plot that flows. It's a long novel, but it doesn't feel like a long novel when you read it.
- The battles are all set in different locations, with different objectives or challenges. No repetitive action scenes here. Also, the research done on the look and feel of the locations is great - if you know any military history, you'll get to have some of those "hey, I know what war this one is from!" moments. Personally, I love when I get to feel a little extra intelligent when reading.
Things that were not my favorite:
- There were some graphic scenes in this story that at times made me squirm as a reader. That was the purpose of the scenes, and they are character driven as well as necessary for the plot (nothing gratuitous). I've mentioned before that I'm a bit prudish. If you aren't, you probably won't even think a thing.
Okay, so there really wasn't much I didn't like about this book. That's part of why I selected it for my first review. As I've stated - I want to be able to review honestly, but also positively. This book is available on Amazon - if you have KU you can read that way.
Link in the button below if your interest has been caught!
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