Techno-Thriller

Review: Zero Days by Ruth Ware

~ megs14malloy

Zero DaysZero Days by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors. I look forward to her new releases every year. Part of my attraction to her writing is the style of her storytelling.

Her mysteries have a classic-feel, while also feeling ultra-modern in settings and set-ups. The Turn of the Key would be a good example of what I mean by that.

Her last release, The It Girl, channeled a bit more of a dark academia setting; a popular sub-genre of the past couple years. Even in that setting though, I found her mystery elements still held the classic-feel of her earlier works.

In Zero Days, Ware traverses into Techno-Thriller territory and while that’s not a sub-genre I tend to gravitate to, when I pick them up I do often enjoy them. I’m happy to report, I feel like Ware really delivered with this story.

I found it incredibly gripping from the very first moments. I couldn’t put it down. It was exciting and fast-paced, with great moments of tension.

In this story, we’re following Jack, a penetration specialist by trade. Sounds intriguing already, doesn’t it? Basically, her and her husband, Gabe, are hired on by companies to break into their buildings and systems, to see where they need to improve their security.

It’s after one of these jobs that Jack returns home to find her husband has been murdered. Overcome with despair, Jack makes a series of mistakes, which after she contacts the police, make her look suspicious.

It’s clear the police think she is responsible for her husband’s death, but Jack is innocent. This means the killer is still out there somewhere and Jack will need to find them in order to clear her name.

Jack goes on the run. From what she can tell, someone is trying to frame her. She’s not going to go down for this. Not without a fight, anyway.

Unsure who she can trust, Jack does the best she can to lay low and evade detection, all while performing an investigation into Gabe’s murder.

The police are never far behind though, turning this one into a fierce game of cat-v-mouse.

Jack is shocked at the things she uncovers, but will she have time to prove the things she has found, or will she end up being another victim in a vast conspiracy?

I thought this was a fantastically-entertaining ride. I listened to the audiobook and per usual, really vibed with the narration of Imogen Church; one of my favorites.

She became Jack to me and the tension she was able to illicit with her voice-work only helped to heighten the experience of this story for me.

I felt the desperation of this protagonist. Jack did have a lot of skills that were helpful to her in these circumstances, but things definitely got dire. I was at the edge of my seat with anticipation. I just wanted her to be okay.

I did predict the baddie, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment. I think Ware was leading us there pretty close to when I figured it out anyway. Then once you know, there’s still extra levels of tension and intrigue continuing to build. Because even though Jack knows, she still has to prove it.

Overall, I was impressed with this. It’s out of the box for Ware and I found it to be extremely fun and refreshing. I really think she did a great job with it.

While I am looking forward to more of her classic-feeling locked room mysteries, I definitely wouldn’t turn down another one like this either. That’s a good sign!!

Definitely recommend!

View all my reviews

Review: Upgrade by Blake Crouch

~ megs14malloy

UpgradeUpgrade by Blake Crouch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

After an incident on the job where Logan Ramsey is exposed to possible contaminants, he begins to notice slightly alarming changes happening within himself.

He’s better able to concentrate, requires less sleep, his bones are becoming stronger and more dense. What is going on? It reads almost like he is becoming a superhero.

It’s the near future and the U.S. government has formed a Gene Protection Agency and Logan is one of their field agents. The agency was developed because gene editing has become a serious threat to the planet.

Logan has a lot of experience with gene editing, as his mother was one of the most influential scholars in the field. Unfortunately, not all of her projects ended well, leaving the family name tarnished.

Logan has worked hard to build his reputation back and he is known as a solid agent. That’s why the incident on the job hit him so hard.

He’s taken out of commission, but there’s so much more involved. His genome has been hacked. Was he selected for the upgrade, or was it just coincidence he ended up on that site that day?

We then follow Logan on the various stages of his upgrade, as he investigates who could be behind it and why. Ghosts from his past arise and a true cat-and-mouse game ensues with the fate of humanity at stake.

Blake Crouch is the ultimate SF-Thriller writer. He’s just so damn good. This story was a ton of fun to read. I loved contemplating the science behind it.

Additionally, the gripping plot, intelligent writing and non-stop action made me a very happy girl.

Honesty, I think nothing truly scares me more than certain advances in AI, technology and genetic manipulation. Thinking about how our future could be transformed by these advances, and in my mind it is always in a sinister way, is just fascinating to me.

I do feel this one would be super accessible as far as his titles go. Recursion sort of blew my mind and I can see how some Readers could be intimated by it. Also, Dark Matter got a bit trippy, although I loved it.

I think if you have never read Crouch before, this could be a great place to start to get a sense of his style. I definitely recommend it!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I truly appreciate the opportunity to dive into a little early.

View all my reviews

Review: The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin

~ megs14malloy

**3.5-stars**

Hello, my lovelies! Earlier today I posted a bit about Jane Gilmartin’s new SciFi release, The Mirror Man.

At the time of that post, I was 71% of the way through and was predicting a final star rating of between 3.5 and 4. I am happy to say, I finished up with it a couple of hours ago, and as predicted, my final rating is 3.5-stars!

On my rating scale, a 3-star book is a good book and a 3.5-star book is getting close to really good. It’s a book I would recommend to certain people with particular tastes, but not necessarily to everyone.

For me, the first 3/4 of this book was quite compelling. Our protagonist, Jeremiah Adams, finds himself in a precarious situation, essentially held hostage at his place of employment due to an illegal cloning experiment.

As we get towards the end however, it loses all its danger. It’s like the baddies just give up. It just didn’t make sense and ended up way to neatly for the protagonist. I didn’t get that choice. He should have had to fight harder or something. There were also a few plot holes that I thought could have been improved upon. I’ll admit, I was let down by the way it ended.

Overall though, it is an interesting story that would translate well into film. Perhaps they could add a bit more suspense towards the end. I think this would be a great read for someone just getting into Techno-Thrillers or SciFi in general as the concepts are all easy to understand.

Thank you so much to the publisher, MIRA, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review, as well as including me in the blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity and had fun reading this one!

Blog Tour: The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin

~ megs14malloy

Hi, book friends! Good morning! Happy Sunday and start to Halloween Week! The most wonderful time of the year.

Let’s chat about The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin. This fast-paced, Sci-Fi Suspense novel explores the ramifications of a near future, illegal cloning experiment.

Our protagonist, Jeremiah Adams, works in the marketing department for ViGen Pharmaceuticals. He’s surprised when he is offered the opportunity to take part in a top-secret scientific experiment, for which he will be generously compensated. We are talking millions of dollars.

What does he have to do? It’s pretty simple, he agrees to allow ViGen to create a clone of him that will then go out and live his life, while he is secluded in a luxury apartment for a full year.

Just to be clear, this means, the clone, who will have Jeremiah’s memories basically uploaded into its head, will then go and live at Jeremiah’s house with his wife, Diana, his teenage son, Parker and their dog, Louie.

Jeremiah agrees. He’s been having a rough go of it at home lately, anyway, and could use a break.

As part of his agreement, Jeremiah will be required to watch the clone go about his life for a minimum of 4-hours a day, via carefully placed video cameras. Another employee of ViGen, Brent, is to be his companion during these viewing sessions. They’re trying to determine if the clone veers at all from Jeremiah’s normal pattern of behavior.

He also must meet with a psychologist to discuss how the whole process is making him feel. Other than that, his only contact is with the two heads of the experiment, Drs. Scott and Pike.

I am currently 71% of the way through this novel. I have been flying through it. The narrative style is very addicting. It’s a solid Techno-Thriller and would definitely make a good movie.

I was impressed with how quickly the action kicked off. There’s no pages and pages of background filler on the experiment. The opening scenes are the clone getting its finishing touches before heading out into the world, and just like that, Jeremiah is enclosed in his room.

It’s mere moments before you can feel a sense of dread starting to seep in. Like when Jeremiah realizes the exterior door of his apartment doesn’t have a handle on his side. He is literally a prisoner at the mercy of the few ViGen employees who are actually privy to the experiment and know of his whereabouts.

As you continue turning pages, the true sinister nature of the story begins to reveal itself. I am loving the relationship between Jeremiah and Brent, right now. Brent brings a lot of much need humor. Although some of the plot is predictable in a 1990s-Techno-Thriller way, it’s still fun and engaging.

According to my e-Reader, I have under two hours left. So, I am going to go finish it up now and then I will circle back here with a full review. Right now my star rating is hovering between a 3.5 and 4. Stay tuned to find out more!!!

Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

~ megs14malloy

RecursionRecursion by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I am waking from a fever dream.

Recursion. Wow.

The possibility of this type of scenario in a future world is terrifying. Can you even imagine?

Maybe you don’t know what Recursion is about. Honestly, I am not sure I can adequately summarize it.

Basically, this novel follows two characters, Helena Smith and Barry Sutton.

Helena is a neuroscientist who is dedicated to creating a technology that will save our memories. Her mother is losing a battle with dementia and all Helena wants to do is help her before it is too late.

She gets recruited to work for a private company, but when her work goes too well, she’s afraid of the repercussions if the technology should fall into the wrong hands.

And, oh baby, is she ever right!

Barry is a New York City cop, who, when he can no longer ignore its significance, begins to investigate a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome, or FMS.

FMS is so powerful, it is causing a significant number of people to take their own lives. It is a mystery as to what the cause of the syndrome is, but Barry is hoping he will be able to uncover it.

When we begin following Barry and Helena, they are in different timelines, but eventually, those converge and a partnership develops.

Helena essentially helps Barry, by filling in a lot of missing pieces to his investigation.

This was such a wild ride. No one does temporal stories like Blake Crouch. The shifting timelines, the examination of time as a construct, dimension, however you want to describe it, it’s amazing to read.

Recursion left me reeling. A Neuroscientific Thriller for the record books. I am so glad I finally made the time for this one. It was hella fun!

I did get confused a bit as it starts racing to the conclusion. There were a lot of jumps and perspectives to try to remember and recall.

I think partly, that may have been because, it got so intense, I was reading really quickly. I needed to know what the heck was going to happen.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes it hard to let every detail sink in and I think this is a very detail-oriented story.

If you liked Dark Matter like I did, you should definitely check this one out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Write on, Crouch! I can’t wait to see what he whips up next!!

View all my reviews

Review: The Passengers by John Marrs

~ megs14malloy

The PassengersThe Passengers by John Marrs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end. A Techno-Thriller to beat all Techno-Thrillers!

My first John Marrs novel gets two very solid thumbs up.

The premise of The Passengers intrigued me from the start.

It sounds like it will be The Purge but set in a Tesla.

Surprisingly enough, it is actually more like The Hunger Games but set in a Tesla and I was so down for that!

In a near-future U.K., Level 5 autonomous vehicles are now the law of land. Said to make personal travel completely safe, that isn’t necessarily the case.

Situations are still going to arise where an accident is imminent, but without a human to control the vehicle, what will happen if you are to say, hit a grandmother crossing the street, versus crash head on into another vehicle carrying the country’s most loved football star?

The vehicle, or more accurately, the computer controlling the vehicle will have to come to a decision. A sort of cost-benefit analysis for the greater good of society.

We meet eight individuals, all with one thing in common: they are getting into their autonomous cars around the same time, on the same day.

After settled in, the doors lock and a mysterious voice pumps through the car speakers telling them, their plans have changed and in just a few hours, they will all be dead.

Their collective plight is broadcast across all media outlets nationwide. The citizens of the country get to vote for one passenger to be the sole survivor.

Who will it be?

This whole story was so interesting. The commentary on our future with tech, the moral issues our dependence upon such technologies will bring about, as well as the potentially harmful nature of social media, was all spectacularly done.

There was never a moment while reading this that I felt bored, or that details were inconsequential to the story. It was so well crafted.

This may be my first John Marrs, but it certainly will not be my last!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and had a wonderful time with it.

View all my reviews