Reviews

The Immortality Game by Ted Cross

faileskye's review against another edition

3.0

Very good premise, very well developed world, extremely well-developed, rounded characters. All of it just tacked on to a good, but not special plot.

The plot of this book is a chase story, our wonderful protagonist Zoya and her foil Marcus are chased through a moderately far future Russian city. This is all well and good, but the middle of it is just the same couple scenes over and over again. This is where I got frustrated. Thankfully it was saved by the well written characters. And of special note the plot device of "Oh no I have been given the skills of a super soldier, I'm scared and can't use them against bad guys" was handily avoided.

So while I was frustrated by the repetitiveness at times, Ted Cross really did a good job of subverting my expectations and making a fairly decent story. I'm afraid this book isn't one of my top, but I could be convinced to read some of his other stuff. This was, after all, his debut novel.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a novel version of Taken and with a female protagonist instead of Liam Neeson. And Ruskies.

derbit's review against another edition

3.0

It's a late Saturday afternoon when Zoya's brother Georgy shows up at her job with a package he needs her to hold on to and deliver to him the following morning. Zoya is understandably hesitant; her brother's mixed up with the Russian mob. I mean, who would willingly take possession of a package that likely has ties to the Russian mob? Eventually she's convinced, and she sets off the following morning to bring the package to her brother and instead becomes witness to his murder. Turns out the package contains two chips--a combat chip which can turn virtually any human into an ass-kicking weapon, and another chip which could be the key to immortality. Over the next 24ish hours, adventure and shenanigans and a whole lot of killing ensue.

This gets 3 stars for entertainment value and some pretty cool sci-fi elements. As far as self-published books go, it's actually one of the betters ones I've read. There were a few things I didn't understand, which I'm willing to admit might be my shortcomings as a reader.

Spoiler

I'm not entirely sure what the general's ties were to the mob. I think I just missed something there. I get that he wanted the combat chip, but he seemed to be unaware of its existence prior to his visit to the research facility, and it was stolen before then, so... *scratches head*

. Also, I was not shipping Marcus and Zoya. At all. He was just like this infatuated little puppy who fell instantly and insanely in love because she was soo purrdy. In the words of Zoya: "I'm the one who's had the day from hell. You've just been following me around for some crazy reason" which pretty much sums up their entire relationship.

klieber's review against another edition

4.0

A good, quick read. The universe Cross creates is an interesting one, with enough detail to give proper context, but not so much to detract from the plot. It's a fast-paced, action-filled book that's a good page turner for an airplane trip or a lazy afternoon by the pool. Not really long enough to grip you or draw you in, but still very entertaining.

My biggest gripe was the forced love story. It felt incredibly false and unrealistic that two people could fall for each other as fast and far as they apparently did. But, if you overlook that, the rest of the book was great.

terriaminute's review

3.0

I enjoyed some of the ideas in this story, and I liked Zoya well enough. But it took me a long time to finish reading it because it seemed a little tedious to me. I kept wandering off. I am having trouble articulating why exactly. Generally, it was not compelling, merely interesting enough not to quit. Your mileage may vary, of course. Reading is subjective!