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cmbarowsky's review
5.0
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
The Draxler Program, an action-packed and fast-paced thriller, raises curiosity and builds anticipation from the very first page. Pete Rivers is a convicted con artist. For a chance at redemption and to avoid a brainwashing, he must enter into The Draxler Program. When Rivers finds out the program is also a reality TV show where the public has the power to vote for early brainwashing, he must do everything he can to earn his freedom before losing his memory.
IQ Malcolm created a marvelous story with intriguing characters. The development of the plot was fantastic, and I felt sucked into the story immediately. The scenes contained action around every corner and dialogue filled with emotion. Pete Rivers appeared to be the focus of the character development, but it made me feel attached to Pete. I felt invested in his story and what happened to him. I also love a good twist, and IQ Malcolm delivered. I never saw the ending coming and my mind is still reeling over it!
This was an enjoyable read from start to finish. I rated it just short of five stars because of the description of the setting. Attention to detail focused primarily on action and characters, but little was paid to the surroundings. I often struggled to envision the details of where Pete was.
Overall, The Draxler Program exceeded my expectations. I had a blast reading it. I highly recommend this one!
The Draxler Program, an action-packed and fast-paced thriller, raises curiosity and builds anticipation from the very first page. Pete Rivers is a convicted con artist. For a chance at redemption and to avoid a brainwashing, he must enter into The Draxler Program. When Rivers finds out the program is also a reality TV show where the public has the power to vote for early brainwashing, he must do everything he can to earn his freedom before losing his memory.
IQ Malcolm created a marvelous story with intriguing characters. The development of the plot was fantastic, and I felt sucked into the story immediately. The scenes contained action around every corner and dialogue filled with emotion. Pete Rivers appeared to be the focus of the character development, but it made me feel attached to Pete. I felt invested in his story and what happened to him. I also love a good twist, and IQ Malcolm delivered. I never saw the ending coming and my mind is still reeling over it!
This was an enjoyable read from start to finish. I rated it just short of five stars because of the description of the setting. Attention to detail focused primarily on action and characters, but little was paid to the surroundings. I often struggled to envision the details of where Pete was.
Overall, The Draxler Program exceeded my expectations. I had a blast reading it. I highly recommend this one!
jenbsbooks's review
3.0
This was just okay for me. 2.5 stars. It was an interesting idea. Set in a future that isn't too different. Those in prison will be "reset" ... their "brain washed" and basically lobotomized, after they serve their sentence. Instead, our protagonist is offered a different option, "The Program" in which his criminal tendencies will be replaced with "good human" ones. Or so he thinks. It's actually a reality TV program, with a bunch of criminals being "voted off" to brain washing, with one "winner".
While I wasn't exactly sure where the story was heading, and I can't say I called anything for sure ... I also wasn't at all surprised at any twists and turns along the way either. They were almost expected.
I think I just struggled a bit with the writing. It didn't quite have the flow to draw me in, make me forget I was reading and get lost in the story. I was critiquing little things as I went along. Like at the beginning, as Pete meets the counselor "Part of me wanted to reach across the desk to touch her hand in a sign of support" and then just a little later "I fought the urge to touch her hand to show my condolence." This guy REALLY wants to touch her hand. He also really doesn't like PT Cruisers, described as "a shithole on wheels that shouldn’t have been invented in the first place and had no right to still be in existence now" ;) Pete's insistence that he not be called a "con man" but a "confidence artist" was grating. I kind of wanted to slap him. Ivy ... one of the guy character's last name, and how they referred to him. I kept having to remind myself Ivy was a guy. There were some sections that made me shake my head "She stopped dead in her tracks. I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of the deceased security guard or my gun being pointed at her, but something about us terrified her" Hmmmm ... a woman witnessing a man with a gun next to a dead body is frightened for some reason. "The door clicked as it unlocked, and she immediately yanked it open before it could lock again" just seemed overkill in its explanation ... she unlocked and opened the door.
Then ... there were the similes. SO. MANY. SIMILES. Some were super standard ones, other's were quite a bit more creative, on the silly side: My sense of urgency grew faster than the Grinch’s heart on Christmas day. The audience cheered louder than a stadium full of adolescent girls at a boy band concert. We were about as screwed as a turtle on its back. Realization hit me like a bidy shot from a heavyweight champion. His breath reeked like a bloated orca decaying on the beach. I froze in place like a turd in a Canadian outhouse. Like an inexperienced explorer raiding their first booby-trapped tomb, I placed my foot in the wrong spot. Excess skin made him look like Jabba the Hutt after two successful months on a paleo diet. My mind raced for answers like a detective on speed. He looked like the deranged uncle of an Oompa Loompa who had joined the men in black. I toppled over like the world's worst Weeble. He had hair redder than the devil’s dick.
... and then the ending. Spoiler ...
I received the audio version for free in exchange for an honest review. I was glad I was also able to nab the Kindle copy as part of Kindle Unlimited, as it's very helpful for me to have a text copy to make notes and refer back to. Hard to do with audio alone.
While I wasn't exactly sure where the story was heading, and I can't say I called anything for sure ... I also wasn't at all surprised at any twists and turns along the way either. They were almost expected.
I think I just struggled a bit with the writing. It didn't quite have the flow to draw me in, make me forget I was reading and get lost in the story. I was critiquing little things as I went along. Like at the beginning, as Pete meets the counselor "Part of me wanted to reach across the desk to touch her hand in a sign of support" and then just a little later "I fought the urge to touch her hand to show my condolence." This guy REALLY wants to touch her hand. He also really doesn't like PT Cruisers, described as "a shithole on wheels that shouldn’t have been invented in the first place and had no right to still be in existence now" ;) Pete's insistence that he not be called a "con man" but a "confidence artist" was grating. I kind of wanted to slap him. Ivy ... one of the guy character's last name, and how they referred to him. I kept having to remind myself Ivy was a guy. There were some sections that made me shake my head "She stopped dead in her tracks. I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of the deceased security guard or my gun being pointed at her, but something about us terrified her" Hmmmm ... a woman witnessing a man with a gun next to a dead body is frightened for some reason. "The door clicked as it unlocked, and she immediately yanked it open before it could lock again" just seemed overkill in its explanation ... she unlocked and opened the door.
Then ... there were the similes. SO. MANY. SIMILES. Some were super standard ones, other's were quite a bit more creative, on the silly side: My sense of urgency grew faster than the Grinch’s heart on Christmas day. The audience cheered louder than a stadium full of adolescent girls at a boy band concert. We were about as screwed as a turtle on its back. Realization hit me like a bidy shot from a heavyweight champion. His breath reeked like a bloated orca decaying on the beach. I froze in place like a turd in a Canadian outhouse. Like an inexperienced explorer raiding their first booby-trapped tomb, I placed my foot in the wrong spot. Excess skin made him look like Jabba the Hutt after two successful months on a paleo diet. My mind raced for answers like a detective on speed. He looked like the deranged uncle of an Oompa Loompa who had joined the men in black. I toppled over like the world's worst Weeble. He had hair redder than the devil’s dick.
... and then the ending. Spoiler ...
Spoiler
I was actually fine with the ending, but I thought it would have been more effective if it had a little more. Showing the start again, in the counselors office, the same as the beginning of the book.I received the audio version for free in exchange for an honest review. I was glad I was also able to nab the Kindle copy as part of Kindle Unlimited, as it's very helpful for me to have a text copy to make notes and refer back to. Hard to do with audio alone.
tmariereads's review
4.0
This book is a fast-paced thriller that keeps you guessing right until the last page...and leaves you wanting more! Could there be a sequel in the future? The plot plus the continuous action kept me interested the whole time. I read most of the book this weekend because I had to see what would happen. I really liked the main character, Pete, and overall this is a really fun read for action and thriller fans.
thewellreadchiro's review
5.0
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
The Draxler Program, an action-packed and fast-paced thriller, raises curiosity and builds anticipation from the very first page. Pete Rivers is a convicted con artist. For a chance at redemption and to avoid a brainwashing, he must enter into The Draxler Program. When Rivers finds out the program is also a reality TV show where the public has the power to vote for early brainwashing, he must do everything he can to earn his freedom before losing his memory.
IQ Malcolm created a marvelous story with intriguing characters. The development of the plot was fantastic, and I felt sucked into the story immediately. The scenes contained action around every corner and dialogue filled with emotion. Pete Rivers appeared to be the focus of the character development, but it made me feel attached to Pete. I felt invested in his story and what happened to him. I also love a good twist, and IQ Malcolm delivered. I never saw the ending coming and my mind is still reeling over it!
This was an enjoyable read from start to finish. I rated it just short of five stars because of the description of the setting. Attention to detail focused primarily on action and characters, but little was paid to the surroundings. I often struggled to envision the details of where Pete was.
Overall, The Draxler Program exceeded my expectations. I had a blast reading it. I highly recommend this one!
The Draxler Program, an action-packed and fast-paced thriller, raises curiosity and builds anticipation from the very first page. Pete Rivers is a convicted con artist. For a chance at redemption and to avoid a brainwashing, he must enter into The Draxler Program. When Rivers finds out the program is also a reality TV show where the public has the power to vote for early brainwashing, he must do everything he can to earn his freedom before losing his memory.
IQ Malcolm created a marvelous story with intriguing characters. The development of the plot was fantastic, and I felt sucked into the story immediately. The scenes contained action around every corner and dialogue filled with emotion. Pete Rivers appeared to be the focus of the character development, but it made me feel attached to Pete. I felt invested in his story and what happened to him. I also love a good twist, and IQ Malcolm delivered. I never saw the ending coming and my mind is still reeling over it!
This was an enjoyable read from start to finish. I rated it just short of five stars because of the description of the setting. Attention to detail focused primarily on action and characters, but little was paid to the surroundings. I often struggled to envision the details of where Pete was.
Overall, The Draxler Program exceeded my expectations. I had a blast reading it. I highly recommend this one!
raesreadingcorner's review
4.0
This thriller was beyond amazing and was full of surprises and shocking discoveries that I would have never seen coming!
Definitely worth the read.
Definitely worth the read.
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