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betwixt_the_pages's review
4.0
Adem Adamend still has it rough. His name is still ludicrous. His friends are still few. And his new boss likes to break his nose twice a week in combat training.
But when a local college senior is brutally murdered by the dream of a sandstorm brought to life--and the monsters hiding within--Adem finds himself swiftly ripped from his boring training curriculum and tossed into a web of secrets and lies in the heart of the city he calls home.
With threads pointing to the ruthless Columbian mob, a cyber-attack threat against multiple federal agencies, and the shadow of the man who sponsored Adem's corrupt ex-mentor, the IBI-turned-EDPA agent knows he has little time before the body count rises exponentially.
But in order for Adem to solve the case, he'll have to contend with old wounds still raw, a new team he doesn't think he can trust, and his own developing echo powers...
...the last of which may pose the most dangerous threat of all.
- - - - -
Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: Adem is still a quirky, arrogant genius; we get to see more of his “human” side in this sequel; the rest of the cast also are more vibrant, more rounded-out; the writing is still action-packed and humor-laced; there was some confusion on Adem's name near the 60% mark—which annoyed me
Huge thanks to Therin Knite for, once again, providing me with an ecopy of this read in exchange for an honest review! This in no way changed my opinions or enjoyment of this book.
Warning for sensitive readers: there is graphic language and detailed violence in this book. There is a good amount of blood and gore, and several dozen murders. If you are triggered by or uncomfortable with this, please be sure to really think about picking this book up.
So...first off, I'm not sure I enjoyed this one QUITE as much as I did the first book in this series. I don't know why this is, exactly—there's still a TON of action, drama, and genius involved. Adem is still a snarky, arrogant, quirky character; Jin is still the strange, overly-attached sidekick. There are still plenty of dream sequences, violent life-or-death battles, and AHA! moments. But for some reason, I wasn't as INTO this book as I was Echoes. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this sort of read this time around; that's what I'm hoping, at least, because I LOVE Therin Knite's writing.
That being said, this was still an entertaining, enjoyable read. The action kicks off right from the beginning; Therin Knite continues to astound me with her awesome writing and on-point plot. Perhaps the biggest thing I found lacking in this book were the plot twists—there didn't seem to be as many as in Echoes. Instead, most of the answers were clear from the get-go (at least, to me) which made the “reveal” feel less authentic.
There were also some...spelling? inconsistencies in regards to Adem's name near the 60% mark. I became confused pretty quickly, because suddenly (for at least one chapter) he began calling himself ADAM, instead of Adem. It caught me off guard, and sort of annoyed me overall—I actually took a second to wonder if I'd perhaps just been reading his name wrong this entire time. But no, it reverts back after that chapter. I'm not sure what happened there, but... Eh.
Overall, this was just the sort of quirky, adventurous read I've come to expect of Therin Knite's novels, and I can't WAIT for the concluding novel to come out this year...mostly because this book ends on a pretty spectacular cliff-hanger. I recommend this book to lovers of Inception, adventure-packed novels, and lots of life-or-death battle scenes. For the second book in a series, this held up pretty well; I can't wait to see what's in store for Adem in the future!
But when a local college senior is brutally murdered by the dream of a sandstorm brought to life--and the monsters hiding within--Adem finds himself swiftly ripped from his boring training curriculum and tossed into a web of secrets and lies in the heart of the city he calls home.
With threads pointing to the ruthless Columbian mob, a cyber-attack threat against multiple federal agencies, and the shadow of the man who sponsored Adem's corrupt ex-mentor, the IBI-turned-EDPA agent knows he has little time before the body count rises exponentially.
But in order for Adem to solve the case, he'll have to contend with old wounds still raw, a new team he doesn't think he can trust, and his own developing echo powers...
...the last of which may pose the most dangerous threat of all.
- - - - -
Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: Adem is still a quirky, arrogant genius; we get to see more of his “human” side in this sequel; the rest of the cast also are more vibrant, more rounded-out; the writing is still action-packed and humor-laced; there was some confusion on Adem's name near the 60% mark—which annoyed me
Huge thanks to Therin Knite for, once again, providing me with an ecopy of this read in exchange for an honest review! This in no way changed my opinions or enjoyment of this book.
I'm holding an eight-pound turkey like a newborn in my arms when a flying bag of yams breaks a man's jaw.
And then someone is murdered by a dream.
(Because this is my life we're talking about.)
Warning for sensitive readers: there is graphic language and detailed violence in this book. There is a good amount of blood and gore, and several dozen murders. If you are triggered by or uncomfortable with this, please be sure to really think about picking this book up.
So...first off, I'm not sure I enjoyed this one QUITE as much as I did the first book in this series. I don't know why this is, exactly—there's still a TON of action, drama, and genius involved. Adem is still a snarky, arrogant, quirky character; Jin is still the strange, overly-attached sidekick. There are still plenty of dream sequences, violent life-or-death battles, and AHA! moments. But for some reason, I wasn't as INTO this book as I was Echoes. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this sort of read this time around; that's what I'm hoping, at least, because I LOVE Therin Knite's writing.
And that's when I realize I'm sitting next to my body.
It's lying on the floor, face down. Blood creeps out from around a gaping wound on my skull (and seeps from my nose). With the orange haze, I can't be sure, but I swear I spot a flash of white bone beneath the bloody pulp and tangled, matted patch of hair. My body doesn't move, doesn't even twitch, and for years in seconds I don't think it's breathing, this thing with my face and my shape and my clothes and my recently acquired injuries.
I'm a ghost.
That's the first thought that pops into my head.
I was killed by a f*cking statue, and now I'm a ghost.
That being said, this was still an entertaining, enjoyable read. The action kicks off right from the beginning; Therin Knite continues to astound me with her awesome writing and on-point plot. Perhaps the biggest thing I found lacking in this book were the plot twists—there didn't seem to be as many as in Echoes. Instead, most of the answers were clear from the get-go (at least, to me) which made the “reveal” feel less authentic.
There were also some...spelling? inconsistencies in regards to Adem's name near the 60% mark. I became confused pretty quickly, because suddenly (for at least one chapter) he began calling himself ADAM, instead of Adem. It caught me off guard, and sort of annoyed me overall—I actually took a second to wonder if I'd perhaps just been reading his name wrong this entire time. But no, it reverts back after that chapter. I'm not sure what happened there, but... Eh.
It's a requirement for people in positions like theirs, breaking your heart until it heals calloused. Because they must be immovable rocks, reliable always, for their men and women to stand upon when the rest of the world shifts like sand beneath unsteady feet.
Overall, this was just the sort of quirky, adventurous read I've come to expect of Therin Knite's novels, and I can't WAIT for the concluding novel to come out this year...mostly because this book ends on a pretty spectacular cliff-hanger. I recommend this book to lovers of Inception, adventure-packed novels, and lots of life-or-death battle scenes. For the second book in a series, this held up pretty well; I can't wait to see what's in store for Adem in the future!
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