BOOK REVIEW: CHRYSALIS BY BRENDAN REICHS

Title: Chrysalis

Author: Brendan Reichs

Genre: Science Fiction

Published on: March 5, 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

The stunning finale of the Project Nemesis trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Brendan Reichs.

 

The 64 members of Fire Lake’s sophomore class have managed to survive the first two phases of the Program—and each other. Now, they alone have emerged into the dawn of a new era on Earth, into a Fire Lake valley that’s full of otherworldly dangers and challenges. Although staying alive in this broken world should force Min, Noah, Tack, and the others to form new alliances, old feuds die hard, and the brutality of the earlier Program phases cannot be forgotten. But being a team isn’t easy for the sophomores, and when they discover that they may not be alone on the planet after all, they’ll have to decide if they’re going to work together…or die together.

The quest to save humanity continues in this final entry of the Project Nemesis series. With the way Genesis ended, the author could have satisfactorily wrapped it up as a duology. Min Wilder, the main protagonist, managed to save all 64 members of her sophomore class. They went through Phase Two of Project Nemesis for millions of years while Earth healed from an apocalyptic event. Thanks to living as data inside a supercomputer, the students experienced all that eternity in a few months. Now they’re back in physical bodies in the real world.

It’s been a few months since Min and her classmates emerged from the supercomputer. They returned to a vastly different Fire Lake than they remember. Along with Noah, her boyfriend, Min’s built a fledgling community. Project Nemesis left them with every supply humanity could need, stored in a decommissioned missile silo. For the moment, their world is small. The student’s former town of Fire Lake is now an island surrounded by a vast ocean. There’s nothing around, except for an island a day’s sail away.

STATUS UPDATE: SUMMER HIATUS

Good morning, everyone! I’m back after a bit of an unintentional hiatus. These past few months have been very busy for me. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the original reasons I launched Ivan’s Insights was to write about topics related to my areas of expertise. Though I published book reviews from the beginning, this site wasn’t a bona fide book blog until later. I had and still have trouble finding work even though I’m not a slacker, I’ve never been fired (let alone reprimanded), and I don’t apply to jobs that I honestly can’t do, like a doctor’s assistant or a junior marketing specialist. The field I’m best at is information technology. I’ve been a software and website tester as well as an IT aide, but those jobs were temporary. And unfortunately, my computer technician skills have become rusty from lack of use (managing my tech and my parents’ tech is nowhere near challenging enough) so I’ve been searching for other kinds of work.

Over the past few months, I’ve been freelancing as a food delivery driver for DoorDash and Uber Eats. I was aware those existed, but they didn’t seem like ‘real’ work to me. I wanted a regular W-2 job, not a contractor position or freelance job. My financial stability was precarious, so I signed up for those apps. I was a little apprehensive at first, but eventually I fell into a routine. I’ve read online that apps like Uber and DoorDash don’t quite pay contractors well (and a lot of customers pay meager tips). Despite that, I made enough to cover my bills and a small bit more. It made me wish I could drive passengers, though. My car is just not recent enough.

Apart from that, I’ve also been reading as many books as usual. I just haven’t written that many new reviews. My writing time has been taken up with the novel I’ve been working on since last year. It’s slow going; I haven’t even finished the first draft yet. I think it’s good, though. It’s strayed a bit from the outline I made, but I like how it’s turning out. I can’t wait to be able to reveal more about it. All I’ll say for now is that it’s a sci-fi thriller.

That’s all for this morning. I’ll see if I can stick to my regular Wednesday book review schedule again. Not that I have run out of them; I still have plenty even though I’ve barely written any new ones. I’ve just been rather consumed by my freelance work and my novel. Oh, and I’ve been gaming a bit as well, but I’m disciplined enough to only schedule myself two hours a day for that. Anyway, have a good day!

BOOK REVIEW: MIDNIGHT CURSE BY MELISSA F. OLSON

Title: Midnight Curse

Author: Melissa F. Olson
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published on: February 7, 2017 by 47North

Scarlett Bernard is used to cleaning up messes. As a human who cancels out any magic around her, Scarlett’s job is to keep the supernatural world hidden—at any cost.

But on the eve of the Vampire Trials, a two-day tribunal that allows the otherworldly community to air their grievances, Scarlett receives a blood-soaked message from Molly, her estranged former roommate. Molly, a vampire, had been living with twelve human college students…and in one terrible night, she slaughtered them all.

Scarlett believes Molly’s been set up, but no one else in the Old World agrees with her. Meanwhile, the true perpetrator is determined to make sure Molly goes on trial for the massacre—and the penalty is death.

With less than two days to prove her friend’s innocence, Scarlett calls on former LAPD detective Jesse Cruz to help her dig into Molly’s past. But no one—Molly included—wants Scarlett and Jesse to bring the terrible truth to light.

The original protagonist of the Old World Chronology, Scarlett Bernard, is back for another adventure. This is an urban fantasy that takes place in contemporary LA. Scarlett is a null, a human capable of negating magic around her. She last appeared in Hunter’s Trail. Midnight Curse takes place after the Boundary Magic trilogy, set in the same world. It’s not necessary to read those books beforehand, though.

Three years have elapsed since Scarlett’s last big case. She’s still working as a crime scene cleaner for the vampire, witch, and werewolf factions. Scarlett is also in a relationship with Eli, the beta of the werewolf pack. Things appear to be going great with them. Scarlett also still has the bargest whose loyalty she won in Hunter’s Trail. For those who don’t know, a bargest is a huge dog magically endowed with immense strength and endurance. Dashiell, the cardinal vampire of LA, charged Scarlett with looking after the bargest, whom she named Shadow.

BOOK REVIEW: BREAK ME BY TIFFANY SNOW

Title: Break Me

Author: Tiffany Snow
Genre: Romance
Published on: March 14, 2017 by Montlake Romance

Just a few weeks ago, computer prodigy China Mack's typical night in involved Endor Star Wars pajamas and a sensible bedtime. Now she's dating gorgeous tech guru Jackson Cooper--one of Forbes's Top Ten Eligible Billionaires--much to the Twitterverse's delight.

Turns out, going from socially inept hermit to poster girl for geek chic has its challenges. China's relationship gets even more complicated because her role heading the top-secret Vigilance program--where she's partnered with Superman clone Clark Slattery--makes her a target. And when ruthless businessman Simon Lu plans to co-opt Vigilance software to blackmail government and military employees, he'll need China's cooperation--willing or otherwise.

But not every enemy is so easily identified. Some hide in plain sight, in very high places, and mistaking foe for friend could be the last mistake China ever makes...

Break Me is the second installment of the Corrupted Hearts series. The protagonist is China Mack (whose actual surname, according to her, is unpronounceable). She’s a gifted programmer with genius-level intellect. China’s also very OCD and is not good with social interactions. Despite being in her early twenties, China already has an impressive resume. She used to work for Cysnet, a prominent tech company owned by Jackson Cooper. In the previous book, the two became close and are now dating. China resigned from her job, though. She got an offer that she couldn’t refuse.

The aforementioned offer was a bit of a twist in the ending of Follow Me. As revealed, the project that China and Jackson had been working on was a program called Vigilance. It’s a sophisticated tool that can gather data from various sources. Vigilance can then use this data to predict, for instance, whether a specific person is planning a bombing. It’s very Minority Report meets Edward Snowden, so China obviously saw how dangerous and controversial the program could be. There’s nothing she can do about the government using this tool, though. The president issued a special directive (a sort of non-public executive order) to put together a team that will harness Vigilance. And he wanted China to be the leader.

BOOK REVIEW: THE INNOCENT BY DAVID BALDACCI

Title: The Innocent

Author: David Baldacci

Genre: Thriller, mystery

Published on: April 17, 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

America has enemies - ruthless people that the police, the FBI, even the military can't stop. That's when the U.S. government calls on Will Robie, a stone cold hitman who never questions orders and always nails his target. But Will Robie may have just made the first - and last - mistake of his career... 

It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable. He refuses to kill. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and must escape from his own people.

Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a wayward teenage girl, a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway -- her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against all of his professional habits, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her.

Even worse, the more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that may explain her parents' deaths and stretch to unimaginable levels of power.

Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life... and perhaps his own.

This is a book I’ve had on my sights for a while. When I saw it at the public library, I took the plunge. The Innocent is the first novel in a thriller series. Its protagonist is Will Robie, an assassin for the U.S. government. He owns several dwellings, but his main home is Washington, D.C. Robie makes a living by taking out dangerous people that not even the army can get to. When the story begins, he has just turned forty. It’s an age that makes Robie realize he’s closer to retirement than he would like. Although he’s still fast and strong, Robie eventually will have to take a desk job. That time’s still some way off, at least.

The first few chapters are slightly tedious, but still important. In them, Robie carries out a few missions. There’s no dialogue until a little while later. I wouldn’t skip these chapters, though, because they have some important clues. It’s not until the inciting incident that characters say anything. Robie faces a conundrum after refusing to kill his latest target. By this point, the book has provided plenty of insight into Robie’s personality even though he hasn’t said much yet. You get the impression that Robie only kills bad people. Because of this moral code, he ends up running for his life.