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asialaguio's review against another edition
1.5
Got lost in the tech jargon and found myself more often disinterested in the book rather than not. Corny love interest.
indiepauli47's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
Probably would have gotten a higher rating, if it wasn't for the ending. It was just dragging and I was not involved in the second intrigue.
I bought this book years ago at a charity shop, and I didn't expect much; but I gotta say, as soon as I started it, I enjoyed the story straight away.
The main intrigue was quite interesting, Cumberland trying to find this kid, Richard. Him crossing path with this therapist, and so on.
But after this was solved, a new problem surfaced kind of out of nowhere, and I didn't care much how it was gonna end.
Now, I didn't know there was a second book, but I don't think I will ever read it. It wasn't a bad book, just an easily forgettable one.
Probably would have gotten a higher rating, if it wasn't for the ending. It was just dragging and I was not involved in the second intrigue.
I bought this book years ago at a charity shop, and I didn't expect much; but I gotta say, as soon as I started it, I enjoyed the story straight away.
The main intrigue was quite interesting, Cumberland trying to find this kid, Richard. Him crossing path with this therapist, and so on.
But after this was solved, a new problem surfaced kind of out of nowhere, and I didn't care much how it was gonna end.
Now, I didn't know there was a second book, but I don't think I will ever read it. It wasn't a bad book, just an easily forgettable one.
milla_k's review against another edition
3.0
3 1/2 stars.
This novel started out so strongly, then degraded a bit into your run of the mill spy novel, which was disappointing to me. I was promised a sci-fi novel extraordinaire. Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable read; the characters are fun and snarky, the setting is brilliant (though like I said above, I wanted MORE of it instead of it just being a backdrop that was explored briefly and then assumed to be present through the rest of the story), and it moves at a quick, readable pace. But innovative? No. There were some inventions I found fantastic, and it is by far one of the most believable and realistic imaginings of our world 50-100 years in the future. I just felt that there could've been so much more done with this particular landscape. The overall format, as well, was a tad irritating to me; sections within chapters ending with little snippets of "insight" into what a character was feeling. I was far more interested in the street life that Richard was experiencing with the gekrunners, which received far too little attention while so much time was spent explaining the minutiae of what it takes to be a covert agent in a surveillance saturated world. It was choppy and incredibly formulaic, two things that I detest in a "sci-fi" novel... I can't help but comparing it to a Dan Brown novel. There is hope in that there is a sequel. Maybe now that all of the characters are set up and a rhythm has been established, more of the awesome world Blackthorne has created can be explored.
This novel started out so strongly, then degraded a bit into your run of the mill spy novel, which was disappointing to me. I was promised a sci-fi novel extraordinaire. Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable read; the characters are fun and snarky, the setting is brilliant (though like I said above, I wanted MORE of it instead of it just being a backdrop that was explored briefly and then assumed to be present through the rest of the story), and it moves at a quick, readable pace. But innovative? No. There were some inventions I found fantastic, and it is by far one of the most believable and realistic imaginings of our world 50-100 years in the future. I just felt that there could've been so much more done with this particular landscape. The overall format, as well, was a tad irritating to me; sections within chapters ending with little snippets of "insight" into what a character was feeling. I was far more interested in the street life that Richard was experiencing with the gekrunners, which received far too little attention while so much time was spent explaining the minutiae of what it takes to be a covert agent in a surveillance saturated world. It was choppy and incredibly formulaic, two things that I detest in a "sci-fi" novel... I can't help but comparing it to a Dan Brown novel. There is hope in that there is a sequel. Maybe now that all of the characters are set up and a rhythm has been established, more of the awesome world Blackthorne has created can be explored.
lanikei's review against another edition
2.0
Like most of the Angry Robot books I've read so far, they're interesting concepts lacking writing style. The idea of this book - a somewhat dystopian future where England doesn't allow guns but requires knives with formalized dueling rules - it's interesting. The Special Ops main character is of the magical Jason Bourne type, essentially a super man. There's a cheesy love story, of course, and a touching father-son moment or two mixed in with brutal 'MMA with knives' fight scenes.
I'd imagine this book has more appeal to other readers, and I didn't think it was terrible.
I'd imagine this book has more appeal to other readers, and I didn't think it was terrible.
frater's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't expect much from this, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a high octane thrill ride, especially the ending, with enough pull to keep you going from the first pages.
Ignore the blurb, it's a terrible description of what the book is really about, which actually focuses on themes of loss, fear and control. It's brilliantly characterised and a joy to read.
Ignore the blurb, it's a terrible description of what the book is really about, which actually focuses on themes of loss, fear and control. It's brilliantly characterised and a joy to read.
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