Unrelenting Nightmare by Stan Yocum

28 Jan 2015 1 Comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Thriller Tags: , , ,

Published: 31st December 2013
Goodreads badgePublisher: iUniverse.com
Pages: 330
Format: Paperback
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
★   ★   ★  ★  – 4 Stars

Stuart Garrison, a brilliant virtual reality software developer, has his company poised on the threshold of industry dominance with the release of his newest virtual reality system–Next World. Among his competitors is Preston McBraid, the cutthroat CEO of a rival company. McBraid realizes that if he does not own Next World, his company is bound to lose its premier position atop the computer industry.

Driven by desperation and greed, McBraid hires the notorious Nomed, a highly sought-after assassin who commands millions to kill a target. The FBI learns of the assassination plot and intervenes to protect Stuart. He in turn quickly augments the FBI team, hiring two security specialists as additional defense: a monster of a man, nicknamed Superman–and Alex Nichols, an expert in the field of security. Stuart clings desperately to the hope that he can make it though the onslaught of Nomed’s assassination attempts. If he does, his next ingenious virtual reality product–Mind Games–will blow the world away with its originality and staggering mass appeal, and catapult Stuart to the top of the computer industry as its reigning czar, and make him a billionaire many times over.

In this gripping suspense thriller, the wannabe czar of the computer industry is unwittingly catapulted into a deadly cat-and-mouse game against the infamous Nomed, and only time will tell who is clever enough to survive

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

Unrelenting Nightmare is a story that grabs your attention from the very first page but then surprises you and shatters your expectations before you have even finished the first chapter. This level of unexpectedness continues through the story but not in so much that it is the main focus and takes away from the story itself. The thrilling nature is there as well as the suspense, but Yocum balances both these elements well, placing the right amount in all the right places and always with a purpose.

The story focuses on numerous perspectives around the same unfolding event but essentially follows Nomed, an assassin for hire who has been hired to kill a prominent software developer. What I found really interesting was that I often found myself unsure of who to root for. Typically when there is a story about an assassin hunting down and trying to kill an innocent person you’re supposed to hope he fails and the would-be victim gets spared, but I was surprised this was not always the case.

Nomed is a character who you can’t help but admire in terms of his creativity and his methods in his jobs. He works hard to make sure he is not caught but he also has a tendency to add some drama or flair to his work. This need for flair can be his downfall sometimes, his desire to be creative often distract from the task at hand and prolong his jobs when things do not go according to plan. Nomed is ruthless and smart, and what I loved about him was how Yocum sets up his character so that anything really could happen, and does, and even when everything seems clear there is another level of surprise in store.

Intended target Stuart, on the other hand, wavered in my eyes in terms of my sympathy. While I initially felt bad that he was being hunted by Nomed, you soon realise how annoying he can be and I found myself wishing Nomed would just take him out. This is where my conflictions came about, sometimes Stuart was so difficult and frustrating that I wanted him gone; it almost felt justified in a way, then of course something else happens and you wish Nomed would get caught before he can complete his job.

The clash of character personalities adds a great realism to the story though; people are all different, situations can be difficult, and when no one knows how or when Nomed is going to strike there is tension and a lot of waiting. All of Yocum’s characters are wonderfully real and they all bring something to the story to give it a bit more depth, reality, or intrigue. What was good about having a character like Stuart was that it highlights the difficulties Alex and the FBI have in trying to keep him safe and it makes the story quite captivating. He is determined to do what he wants and they must work around him and deal with him being stubborn meaning there are more risks involved than him happily complying to stay locked indoors all day.

The determination and unpredictability of Nomed also makes for an intriguing story because danger is never where you expect it and Yocum’s writing is filled with the unexpected and numerous surprises to keep you on your toes. There really is no way you can ignore how creative and ingenious Yocum has been in developing this story, not just with his depiction of Nomed, but also how everything that happens has a purpose whether you realise it at the time or not. Every element and action fits together wonderfully, making a seemingly simple story more intricate and the skill in which Yocum executes these makes the narrative a lot more compelling and a highly enjoyable read.

You can purchase Unrelenting Nightmare via the following

iUniverse

Amazon

Pay Attention (Maeve Tidewell #1) by K. L. Barnes

21 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, General, Thriller Tags: , , , ,

Published: 10th April 2014
Goodreads badgePublisher: Self Published
Pages: 220
Format: ebook
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Maeve Tidewell has a gift, of sorts. She sees glimpses of the future in her dreams. 

Unfortunately for her, Joseph Binyon wants that gift for his own. 

When Maeve wakes to find she is being held captive by the disturbed man from her past, she realizes she stands to lose much more than her vision. She stands to lose her life. 

As Maeve plans her daring escape, a stranger enters her dreams. She reaches out to him for help before Joseph has time to complete his bizarre ceremony. 

 Ben Drake hopes to strengthen his relationship with his teenage son during a road trip that takes him from California to the picture perfect mountains of Colorado. 

But strange dreams begin to fill Ben’s nights and, when he discovers Maeve Tidewell is missing, is compelled to search for her in the vast woodlands high above the valley floor they call home. 

Ben doesn’t question the connection he experiences with Maeve as he sleeps. He only knows that if she is going to survive, he’ll have to risk everything.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

With her suspense novel Barnes brings together the thriller and the mystery with a touch of the unknown. The story is intriguing and enjoyable and works as a good introduction to the series by sparking your interest with suspense and good characters.

Barnes uses her characters well and through their actions and behaviour you are able to get a detailed sense of who they are and which side they are on. Maeve is strong willed and clever, and a fierce protector of her family. She learns to use Binyon’s delusions to her advantage to keep herself and other safe, and bides time until help can arrive. When she sees the mysterious man in her dreams she reaches out to him for help, but she also does not rely on him to save her.

Ben on the other hand has integrity and strong sense of doing what is right, no matter what. These traits are also seen in his son, Jason. While starting off bored and uninterested, as their road trip continues Jason learns more about his dad, and grows a bit himself, and becomes stronger in the end. Ben’s unexplained connection with Maeve confuses him but he does not let it stop him from trying to help, and what I liked was that he uses proper channels such as going to the police before jumping straight into danger and a rescue mission.

The “villains” of the story are shown to be harsh and cruel, giving a startling contrast to the good nature of the other characters. Binyon and his son Carl add an element of the unexpected and you’re never sure of what they will do which brings a wonderful suspense to the story. With Carl you can see there are the makings of a psychopath and serial killer, but his father comes across more as a misguided and delusional person, but still showing signs of being a little psychotic.

Barnes does not make Binyon completely heartless, with good if not misguided reasons for his actions. This adds a nice complexity to the story as it is not just Maeve and her family that need saving, there is Binyon’s intentions as well which part of you wants to see solved.

There is a gripping, fast-paced conclusion where it seems anything can happen, and does. Barnes brings all the pieces of the puzzle together with a few unexpected surprises along the way but still leaves an air of mystery and the unresolved as well, which will no doubt be uncovered and developed as the series goes on.

 

Purchase Pay Attention via the following

Amazon

Algorithm by Arthur M. Doweyko

01 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, General, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller Tags: , , , , ,

Goodreads badgePublished: 1st October 2014
Publisher: E-Lit Books
Pages: 448
Format: ebook
Genre: Science Fiction/Mystery/Thriller
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

A story that spans decades, ALGORITHM first takes readers back to the summer of 1979 as we meet Adam, a 13-year-old boy fascinated by a mysterious lump of coal with a gold medallion at its core. Despite his best efforts to understand its origins on his own, he ends up with few answers. His curiosity does, however, compel him to learn more about archaeology and living organisms, and eventually to become a bio-organic chemistry professor.

As the narrative leaps forward to Adam as an adult, the protagonist, now armed with years of scientific knowledge, revisits the marvelous artifact and learns that it may date back more than a hundred million years. When a random explosion at the lab threatens to destroy it, Adam becomes more determined than ever to understand its significance. 

With Linda, head of the Human Genome Project at their college, by his side Adam embarks on an action-packed adventure that takes the two from their lab to an abandoned coal mine. Meticulously following each lead, the pair encounters all kinds of trouble: the authorities, enigmatic beings and, finally an unplanned trip into space. Face to face with their darkest fears, and narrowly escaping death, the two begin to question everything they once held dear — science, humanity, faith and even DNA.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

The story Doweyko’s created is one that is filled with questions that humanity has been wondering about since they first looked at the stars: where did we come from and why are we here? With a combination of reality, fact, and the creativity of science fiction, Doweyko offers up a creative and intriguing answer to these questions.

Told in two parts, Algorithm follows Adam, a boy who discovers a medallion in a piece of coal, who uses his curiosity about the piece and grows up to be a scientist interested in archaeology and living organisms. When mysterious things begin to happen that seem to be connected to the medallion, Adam and colleague Linda are thrown into a world of secrets, wonder, and dangers they are not prepared for. With their scientific curiosity guiding them they embark on a journey for answers, and to escape those who are after the mysterious medallion, and will stop at nothing to achieve it.

While the story is told in two parts, and despite being very different from one another, they are also connected. They are their own stories in a way, but the second part still refer back to the previous events. I liked the way Doweyko concluded the first part, it was suitable and rounded off the story so far very well. With the narrative clearly moving in a different direction for the second part there was a need to conclude what had gone before, something Doweyko has achieved as there is a clear sense of one stage finishing, while another one is just beginning.

The second part is slower in terms of narrative and pace than the first, but it still keeps its mysterious elements, albeit on a different level. It keeps you wondering and guessing as many things are possible and there is always a chance of the unexpected. The main theme of part two is mystery and uncertainty, away from the ongoing action, but not without its own drama. Trying to anticipate what will happen does not always work as just when you think you have worked out where the story is going it changes course. Instead you go along with an uncertainty but slightly intrigued to know where the story will go next.

There is an element of truth that Doweyko uses such as real disasters and a base in real scientific fact which makes certain aspects of this story really interesting as you learn about DNA and the sequence that makes up human kind. This, coupled with the science fiction element, works well as each aspect supports the other and enhances the nature of the story.

The characters are likeable, and most are given a small history into who they are and what their past is. This is kept to a minimum though with Adam being the most detailed, but you also get a sense of who the other characters are as well and Doweyko incorporates this information into the narrative well.

I want to say I enjoyed the first part over the second, but I think being so different it is hard to compare. As a whole I liked the story, and I think the involvement and interest in the first half is different than the curiosity and the intrigue in the second. While the first part offered a bit faster paced and almost nonstop action, the second focused on solving the mystery that was underlying the first part so you cannot really compare them adequately.

Overall the story is interesting and well written and the concept is detailed, with the right balance between reality and science fiction to make it believable as an idea. There is a risk of becoming a bit confused towards the end of the book as it all comes together, but the information and explanations are there to help make sense of what is happening if you pay attention. Algorithm is a story that demonstrates that seemingly innocent and exciting adventures may be anything but, and can also be so much more than you have ever imagined.

Find Virgil: A Novel of Revenge by Frank Freudberg

21 Aug 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Thriller Tags: , , ,

Published: 15th October 2013
Goodreads badgePublisher: Inside Job Media
Pages: 358
Format: ebook
Genre: Thriller
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Get inside the mind of a serial killer as you never have before. 

 Is Martin Muntor a villain or a victim? Can you picture yourself rooting for a madman to succeed in an ingenious plot to kill hundreds of people?
It’s 1995, and the tobacco industry thinks it’s invincible. But is it? Second-hand smoke gave Muntor lung cancer, and he’s mad. Very mad…and he’s not going to go quietly.

Muntor devises a lethal plan to put the cigarette companies out of business, and he doesn’t care how many people have to die in order to make that happen.
Hapless private investigator Tommy Rhoads has to find Muntor, and fast. But that’s not going to be so easy. Muntor’s smart and has nothing to lose, and the FBI doesn’t want Rhoads’s help.
Rhoads has a lot at stake – personally and professionally – and he’s desperate to stop the killer.
Who will prevail? Big Tobacco or the dying madman?
Read Find Virgil now, and go along for the wild ride.
   You’ll never forget it.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

I have to admit I wavered between three and four stars with this one; I thought about it and decided four was the way to go. For the parts I really liked made it more five than four, and easily outweighed the few parts that made it a three.

 Find Virgil follows Martin Muntor, a victim of second hand smoke that has resulted in lung cancer who now wants justice and revenge against the tobacco companies he believes to be at fault. We follow Muntor as he plans and executes his moment of triumph in his dying days; we also follow the FBI agents who hunt him, and the tobacco giant who is the focus of Muntor’s attention. Acting under the name Virgil, Muntor starts his plan to educate the world about the harm cigarettes will do, hoping to bring down the tobacco companies in the process.

I liked the concept of Find Virgil. I liked the idea of this guy, who had done everything right in his life to suddenly be struck down with cancer and wanting to take it out on those he feel wronged him. While I’ll admit it probably wasn’t the best way to go about it, and Muntor isn’t the greatest person personality-wise even before the cancer, it was extremely clever and well planned revenge. You can’t help but admire “Virgil” as he taunts the FBI. He is smart and his jovial nature and committed attitude make you like him even more, and watching as he manages to stay a step ahead and seeing the care and thought Muntor has put into his scheme is excellent.

While ‘Virgil’ takes the FBI’s attention, we get to see Martin Muntor behind the scenes, we see inside his head and how he is gradually moving towards his next stage in his scheme. There are a few secrets hidden from the reader, but not many, we stay a step behind Muntor, just as the FBI but we also have the benefit of Muntor’s point of view, providing us with partial plans and hints at what his next move will be.

There are moments where the story has the ability to pull you along quickly and you want to find out what will happen next. This is balanced by other times where you are quite content with the slower pace, intrigued by the FBI investigation and Muntor’s plans and simply watching it unfold; there always seems to be something happening to keep you reading.

The narrative covers a short period of time really well. The events in the novel occur in a period of about a month, with a lot happening in that time and Freudberg manages to capture a real time feel for the events that happen. This grounds the novel well, highlighting the realistic nature of Muntor’s acts and the FBI investigation and an overall natural feel to the entire storyline.

Set in the mid 1990s it is a great reminder of all the joys the 90s technology brought us like car phones, video tapes, and fax machines in cars. There is also the benefit of being less technologically advanced, meaning there is a greater focus on investigative and theoretic police work without a lot of reliability of technology, there is also greater room for Muntor to do his work with less restrictions and high tech security. That is not to say there isn’t some technology, being the FBI they have a few tools at their disposal, but there are also a lot of expert consultations with people who are leaders in their field that are a nice change from simply forensically analysing everything and relying on video footage at every possible chance. Trying to get inside the mind of ‘Virgil’ is the goal, and figuring out what he is going to do next.

Everyone has an agenda through this book; each character is looking for something, working towards something, and trying to get something from someone else. We not only follow Muntor and the FBI, but also Rhoads, the retired cop turned PI who has been mysteriously connected to the case, as well as Nicholas Pratt, the CEO of a tobacco company that is the focus of Muntor’s revenge. There are a range of additional characters and points of view that Freudberg uses in the story, all connected and intertwined with one another making a complicated array of characters. Because of this there are many things happening at once that overlap and interact with one another; highlighting each character’s personal motives and intentions.

I found that I really enjoyed Muntor’s story as well as the FBI’s search for him, but what I was not that fussed about was Pratt’s. I understand that they were all connected and one couldn’t happen without the other, but I felt that Muntor’s story was more engaging, while I never got into Pratt’s side as much. Granted they had very different storylines but I found myself not really caring about the people mixed up in Pratt’s line, whereas with Muntor’s and even Rhoads’ story I became easily caught up in what was happening. Because of this there was a steady rise and fall in my engagement as we switched focus. Not that Pratt’s side wasn’t interesting or clever, it just didn’t seem to hold my attention like Muntor’s did.

I’m sure it’s a bit wrong to enjoy the pleasure and total disregard ‘Virgil’ has, but I had to admire him. Muntor doesn’t care about the people he is hurting, as the FBI profilers determine, he thinks he is better than everyone else and he believes what he is doing is the right thing. As it says in the synopsis, you do actually find yourself rooting for the madman, which sounds terrible when you realise he plans to kill hundreds of innocent people but in a clever way Muntor doesn’t come across as a madman either. This is Freudberg ‘s great skill, we get inside Muntor’s head, his reasoning and justifications and you actually understand what he is doing. Freudberg  also focuses the plot around the characters a lot so you also don’t have time to contemplate just how evil Muntor’s plan is which manages to continually keep you on Muntor’s side. I did find myself rooting for both Muntor and the FBI. It’s like watching a nature documentary, you love the little baby impala and want it to be ok, but then you suddenly switch and start cheering on the lion that wants to eat it.

Freudberg’s story is driven with unique and curious characters and a well developed and complex narrative, that provides you with a good case of intrigue and wondering if, how, and when ‘Virgil’ will be caught, and who and how many will suffer in the meantime.

Nocturnes by John Connolly

14 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in General, Mystery, Short Stories, Thriller Tags: , , , ,

Published: February 28th 2007
Goodreads badgePublisher: Hodder
Pages: 486
Format: Book
Genre: Short stories/Horror/Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

 A dark, daring, utterly haunting anthology of lost lovers and missing children, predatory demons, and vengeful ghosts. In these stories, Connolly ratchets up the tension to almost unbearable — and irresistible — levels. Nocturnes is a deliciously chilling collection from “one of the best thriller writers we have” (Harlan Coben)

John Connolly’s short stories in this book are dark and magical and monstrous, in so many different ways. All monsters are different, not all monsters can be seen, and there is always something lurking in the dark. There are 17 stories in this collection, each of them revealing something terrifying and eerie. The variety Connolly comes up with are amazing, and the fact we do not always find out what exactly is hiding in the shadows is what adds to the delight. What isn’t told leaves a lot to your own imagination to fill in the gaps, and what is told is just haunting enough to stay with you even as you move onto the next story.

With the opening story, The Cancer Cowboy, you know that these stories may not be entirely pleasant or uplifting, but with the other stories varying from being less dark and tragic to being simply eerie, or on occasion humorously tragic, you are given a wide variety in which to challenge your nerves and keep you awake at night.

Connolly writes with a wonderful descriptive simplicity. We are given details and basic information, but there are things we aren’t told as well. What we are told is what we need to be told for the story to progress and for us to understand. Anything else is revealed gradually in conversation, or implied through something else, or we don’t need to know it at all. The joy of the short story, and the art I suppose, is trying to capture a life within less space than normally provided. Connolly gives us characters that are as developed as they have to be for the roles and situations they are placed in. You do not always need to know everything about them, but we are not left with any husks of characters that we have no sympathy for and for what is happening to them or around them.

The title Nocturnes comes from one of the stories within the book, a story about things that come out in the dark, that haunt you, and hide in the shadows; the very name suitable to cover the nature of these stories. Nocturnes can be defined as “a work of art dealing with evening or night”, something these stories do, mixed together with the creepy and scary.  Connolly draws you in as you read with the mystery and unknown, but also compassion for the characters involved; of the innocent parties, the guilty, and even an admiration for the monsters. The extent of what he has created is of such variety it must be said it isn’t all darkness and shadows, but the daylight monsters are no less unnerving than anything that Connolly creates in the night time shadows I assure you.

One stand out addition was the Charlie Parker novella The Reflecting Eye towards the end. Even this manages to suit the theme Connolly has going rather well. Charlie Parker is from Connolly’s detective series, with this novella being between the fourth and the fifth in the series.  I have yet to read any of the Charlie Parker novels; I suppose with this novella I have had a taste now to reignite my desire to start reading them.

From the man who wrote the beauty of The Book of Lost Things, seeing the darker side was very revealing. The Book of Lost Things had its own darkness certainly, but the darkness and monsters hiding inside Nocturnes, whether they are treated with a distracting light heartedness like some, a mysteriousness that remains not entirely revealed, or one that brings a twist, is something that I found very exciting, and a wonderful surprise. Perhaps it was because we don’t always know what is happening, we only see snippets of events and what happens, or perhaps it is because it shows that darkness can breed anything and anywhere, and no one is exempt from its talons.

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