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ingo_lembcke's review
3.0
Started reading March 14th, 2014.
In between other books. Starts interesting enough with a lot of action.
A day later I started another book [b:Fear Nothing|18044917|Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren, #7)|Lisa Gardner|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1376377648s/18044917.jpg|25323488] and will finish that first, returning to this one after that.
Have read on, but also taken another break with the start of [b:The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line|18209454|The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1)|Rob Thomas|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393100477s/18209454.jpg|25630244] - pre-ordered.
But back to this book, I am now at 71% and will surely finish - but it took me long to get there, there is a lot of action, too long, too much and too much detail. While not bad, I saw the same in the codename: chandler trilogy [b:Spree|16126316|Spree (Codename Chandler #2)|J.A. Konrath|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361694225s/16126316.jpg|21949877]. It's a case of tl;dr, and so I have a hard time finishing it. Not that is not suspenseful, but I do not connect to the characters (which have a lot of background, at least) and could not care less, some are even unlikeable, but thats ok, I guess that's on purpose.
The main science idea is on a level with [b:Influx|18114057|Influx|Daniel Suarez|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374634071s/18114057.jpg|25441287] and to some degree [b:Inferno|17212231|Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)|Dan Brown|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1368245488s/17212231.jpg|23841765], mixed with a lot of info about fighting, weapons, vehicles etc. - it gets too much. My Kindle shows me a guess of the remaining reading time, which is now 1 h 42 min. And that just might tip me to read the last 30% soon.
The book should have been shorter, and while I cannot guess the ending, I hope it will be good, but still I would have liked less action. As it is, and with a solid idea, I guess I will give 3 stars, depending on the ending. Some might praise this book for its page-turning-action-scenes, but I think it would have worked and read better with less action and shorter. And being as it is, the body-count is rather high, with main characters saved in impossible situations - again, some might be ok, but here there where too many, to be realistic.
A day after I finished: yes, the above still stands. While the main storyline is concluded, it is just barely, too many people where you constantly wonder on which side they are on - sometime manipulated in ways the could not say themselves for sure!
Took to long, as the constant fighting and the manipulations just where not that interesting.
If you can stand that or overlook it, the book might be for you and it is not that expensive.
As it is, for and from me, not a recommendation, even with a solid 3 stars (1 of them for the DNA/Science-Idea).
Interesting enough, I did not notice any obvious errors, so I guess it is not self-published, or it has been seen by a Lektor - who should have seen that the book is too long and has too much action.
In between other books. Starts interesting enough with a lot of action.
A day later I started another book [b:Fear Nothing|18044917|Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren, #7)|Lisa Gardner|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1376377648s/18044917.jpg|25323488] and will finish that first, returning to this one after that.
Have read on, but also taken another break with the start of [b:The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line|18209454|The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1)|Rob Thomas|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393100477s/18209454.jpg|25630244] - pre-ordered.
But back to this book, I am now at 71% and will surely finish - but it took me long to get there, there is a lot of action, too long, too much and too much detail. While not bad, I saw the same in the codename: chandler trilogy [b:Spree|16126316|Spree (Codename Chandler #2)|J.A. Konrath|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361694225s/16126316.jpg|21949877]. It's a case of tl;dr, and so I have a hard time finishing it. Not that is not suspenseful, but I do not connect to the characters (which have a lot of background, at least) and could not care less, some are even unlikeable, but thats ok, I guess that's on purpose.
The main science idea is on a level with [b:Influx|18114057|Influx|Daniel Suarez|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374634071s/18114057.jpg|25441287] and to some degree [b:Inferno|17212231|Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)|Dan Brown|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1368245488s/17212231.jpg|23841765], mixed with a lot of info about fighting, weapons, vehicles etc. - it gets too much. My Kindle shows me a guess of the remaining reading time, which is now 1 h 42 min. And that just might tip me to read the last 30% soon.
The book should have been shorter, and while I cannot guess the ending, I hope it will be good, but still I would have liked less action. As it is, and with a solid idea, I guess I will give 3 stars, depending on the ending. Some might praise this book for its page-turning-action-scenes, but I think it would have worked and read better with less action and shorter. And being as it is, the body-count is rather high, with main characters saved in impossible situations - again, some might be ok, but here there where too many, to be realistic.
A day after I finished: yes, the above still stands. While the main storyline is concluded, it is just barely, too many people where you constantly wonder on which side they are on - sometime manipulated in ways the could not say themselves for sure!
Took to long, as the constant fighting and the manipulations just where not that interesting.
If you can stand that or overlook it, the book might be for you and it is not that expensive.
As it is, for and from me, not a recommendation, even with a solid 3 stars (1 of them for the DNA/Science-Idea).
Interesting enough, I did not notice any obvious errors, so I guess it is not self-published, or it has been seen by a Lektor - who should have seen that the book is too long and has too much action.
mkpatt's review
3.0
This was an okay book, but a lot of the characters were cardboard cutouts. Also, some of the action scenes were inconsistent. For example, three protagonists are in a car trying to escape, one tosses a flash-bang and all the characters cover their ears and close their eyes except for the driver and when the grenades go off the driver is unaffected even though the passengers are slightly stunned.
The book had an interesting plot and premise and the story moved at a good pace although in parts it got bogged down in techno-babble. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read. Not sure whether I'll read any of the sequels though.
The book had an interesting plot and premise and the story moved at a good pace although in parts it got bogged down in techno-babble. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read. Not sure whether I'll read any of the sequels though.
zer0faults's review
4.0
I enjoyed Chimera with mixed feelings. I am a big fan of advanced tech weaponry, gene manipulation and hugely, secret governments / powers. Chimera Vector ticks off all of the things I look for and packages them with fast paced nicely detailed action scenes. Sadly books like this usually don't involve too much character development, and partially through I was starting to think Chimera Vector was another book where its characters were interchangeable set pieces. About half way through (maybe earlier) I started to get peaks at some of the minor details, things that define a person beyond their standard dialogue, which really helped pull things together.
Now into spoiler territory I did have some gripes. Without knowing anything about the second book, it seemed there was a little too much switching sides. While I know its pretty par for course to have a twist at the end, or a unsuspecting ally turned foe, Chimera Vector really took all its characters and spun them on a turn table. Denton who works for 5th Column is really working against them, he doesn't like his boss, you get this early on, its almost expected he is up to something, at least against his 6 star friend. Jay and Damien bounce back and forth, even though technically you are suppose to believe they are allied to Sophia the whole time. Couple of sleeper agents you are made aware of. Then it kind of goes down hill. Cecilia decides that she instead wants to kill all these psychopath people, and no one really knew it was going to do that, or everyone who was working on adapting and or studying the vectors, etc. just didn't care? But Cecilia is not a complete twist, she still hates the 5th Column, she was just lying about the effect of sterility, instead its death ... and her guys are actually brainwashed operatives that no one realized were still brainwashed because some left behind programming, except for Denton. Everything involving Cecilia could have been ripped out, it seemed to forced, even her death.
I liked Damien and Jay, including their back stories. The idea that all operatives have to kill their parents to advance is interesting, especially as a test of programming. At first I was reading through the book wondering why they acted so "broish" or just childish. Later they kind of piece together that these grown killers are really still children in a way, not having it seems, much time to just grow up and into their own.
This sort of brings me into another gripe. Sophia gets deprogrammed by someone who was studying how to do it, and she learns in no time how to do what seemed to take days in just a couple of minutes in a bathroom? What did come of all of the programming / deprogramming is the wonderful little trigger rhymes, I thought this was a nice aspect to the story, especially because they are taken as children and the triggers all resemble tiny nursery rhymes, coincidence?
All together I really enjoyed Chimera Vector, even with the minor issues above.
Spoiler
Now into spoiler territory I did have some gripes. Without knowing anything about the second book, it seemed there was a little too much switching sides. While I know its pretty par for course to have a twist at the end, or a unsuspecting ally turned foe, Chimera Vector really took all its characters and spun them on a turn table. Denton who works for 5th Column is really working against them, he doesn't like his boss, you get this early on, its almost expected he is up to something, at least against his 6 star friend. Jay and Damien bounce back and forth, even though technically you are suppose to believe they are allied to Sophia the whole time. Couple of sleeper agents you are made aware of. Then it kind of goes down hill. Cecilia decides that she instead wants to kill all these psychopath people, and no one really knew it was going to do that, or everyone who was working on adapting and or studying the vectors, etc. just didn't care? But Cecilia is not a complete twist, she still hates the 5th Column, she was just lying about the effect of sterility, instead its death ... and her guys are actually brainwashed operatives that no one realized were still brainwashed because some left behind programming, except for Denton. Everything involving Cecilia could have been ripped out, it seemed to forced, even her death.
I liked Damien and Jay, including their back stories. The idea that all operatives have to kill their parents to advance is interesting, especially as a test of programming. At first I was reading through the book wondering why they acted so "broish" or just childish. Later they kind of piece together that these grown killers are really still children in a way, not having it seems, much time to just grow up and into their own.
This sort of brings me into another gripe. Sophia gets deprogrammed by someone who was studying how to do it, and she learns in no time how to do what seemed to take days in just a couple of minutes in a bathroom? What did come of all of the programming / deprogramming is the wonderful little trigger rhymes, I thought this was a nice aspect to the story, especially because they are taken as children and the triggers all resemble tiny nursery rhymes, coincidence?
All together I really enjoyed Chimera Vector, even with the minor issues above.
lorune's review
2.0
This book has a lot of action, and not a lot else.
It for sure was entertaining read in the same way 'The expendables' is a entertaining movie, no thinking required just a action movie style book.
Don't expect any sort of real character development or proper story flow, just jump from scene 1 'blow up this' to scene 2 ' blow up this as well escape bad guy' to scene 3 'shoot more people and get betrayed'.
If that's what you are looking for in a book read this book, if you want good background stories, characters you can care for steer away from this one.
It for sure was entertaining read in the same way 'The expendables' is a entertaining movie, no thinking required just a action movie style book.
Don't expect any sort of real character development or proper story flow, just jump from scene 1 'blow up this' to scene 2 ' blow up this as well escape bad guy' to scene 3 'shoot more people and get betrayed'.
If that's what you are looking for in a book read this book, if you want good background stories, characters you can care for steer away from this one.
annkniggendorf's review
3.0
The Chimera Vector was suggested to me because I also read - and reviewed - two books by [a:Daniel Suarez|1956402|Daniel Suarez|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1265394868p2/1956402.jpg] (Disclaimer: I loved "[b:Kill Decision|15808659|Kill Decision|Daniel Suarez|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365395383s/15808659.jpg|19106895]" and hated "[b:Daemon|6665847|Daemon|Daniel Suarez|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348912643s/6665847.jpg|4763873]").
The Chimera Vector is written from a third person limited perspective, a style I enjoy as it allows me to discover the events along with the characters being put through them, and is an intriguing, fast-paced, action-filled thriller that tries very hard not to be science fiction. Unfortunately, it gets very much in your face with that distinction, going to lengths with rooting the story in contemporary times (down to weaponry model brands and locations), and getting into its own way with it.
Especially the reasoning that the the crucial scientific advantages had been developed in secret several decades before they were discovered in reality gets problematic the moment you know about which underlying physical effects and discoveries are required just to construct the instruments that ultimately lead to their discovery. Allowing the plot to spin just a few years into the future - without anchoring it as far back as WWII - would have removed that issue along with most of the distractions that made finishing the book not as easy as its intriguing plot promises.
Ultimately, I would have enjoyed the book much more if it weren't that adamant about not being science fiction. As it is, solid three stars from me for good action and an intriguing plot, but as a physicist I'm not tempted to continue the series.
The Chimera Vector is written from a third person limited perspective, a style I enjoy as it allows me to discover the events along with the characters being put through them, and is an intriguing, fast-paced, action-filled thriller that tries very hard not to be science fiction. Unfortunately, it gets very much in your face with that distinction, going to lengths with rooting the story in contemporary times (down to weaponry model brands and locations), and getting into its own way with it.
Especially the reasoning that the the crucial scientific advantages had been developed in secret several decades before they were discovered in reality gets problematic the moment you know about which underlying physical effects and discoveries are required just to construct the instruments that ultimately lead to their discovery. Allowing the plot to spin just a few years into the future - without anchoring it as far back as WWII - would have removed that issue along with most of the distractions that made finishing the book not as easy as its intriguing plot promises.
Ultimately, I would have enjoyed the book much more if it weren't that adamant about not being science fiction. As it is, solid three stars from me for good action and an intriguing plot, but as a physicist I'm not tempted to continue the series.
jacqueshol's review
3.0
I took me a while to get into the book. At times it was a rather confusing with just too many twists and turns. At one stage I didn't know who were the "goodies" and who the "baddies" were anymore. Also the book seem to jump sequences,but I suppose that all added to the drama. I just felt lost at times with the pace of the book a tad inconsistent for me. Notwithstanding my seemingly negative comments above, and considering it is Nathan's first book, I think he has done an admirable job. I will complete the series for sure and I'm pretty sure it will only get better.
angelicide's review
4.0
Although it involves some sci-fi elements, I would consider this to be primarily a military thriller. That isn't a genre with which I am terribly familiar, but I enjoyed reading this one. The story is fast-paced, action-packed and smartly written, with the author's military experience really shining through in the details. As you might expect, there are many twists and turns along the way, but I was most surprised by the multi-layered characters. The ethical dilemmas faced by several of the protagonists are -- let's just say, uniquely challenging. All in all, an exciting, terrifying and ultimately satisfying read.
jmoses's review
3.0
If I had half stars, this would be a 3.5. Overall I enjoyed this read, although I stopped about 1/3rd of the way through and picked it back up after a few weeks. The comparison to [a:Matt Reilly|5805993|Matt Reilly|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png] is fairly apt, as far as style goes. The big parts of the plot here are nothing new, although the details were interesting and the science was intriguing. My main issue with this was the constant "let's end the chapter after something 'unexpected' just happened." I'm ok with this for a few chapters, but after 10 or so it gets old. Quick. I found some of the characters to be rather flat, but the main characters were fairly well fleshed out and motivated. So, mostly entertaining, but I'm not sure if I'm up for more in the series. I'd probably give the next one a try and see after that.
--edit--
I received a "review copy" of this book.
--edit--
I received a "review copy" of this book.
storiesandshiraz's review
3.0
Certainly enjoyable, but I found myself disengaged with primary characters and unable to form any kind of serious characterisation in my mind for them. The biological concepts were intriguing and obviously researched but I felt could have used more work.
A reasonable novel, but definitely needs a bit of polishing.
A reasonable novel, but definitely needs a bit of polishing.
kcfromaustcrime's review
4.0
The combination of science fiction and thriller works particularly well in THE CHIMERA VECTOR - an action packed, roller-coaster of a ride from local writer Nathan M. Farrugia.
Although action packed doesn't quite do justice to the level of no prisoner's taken, hard fought action and thrills and spills in this novel, combined with a set of really good, strong characters. The combination of the science fiction style elements with the covert ops thriller styling works seamlessly, creating real tension, threat and people to connect with.
For this reader, who doesn't always quite "get" science fiction, the combination of different types of humans coexisting, battling with power games, and those that use similar technology to try to control everything had a lot of obvious parallels to real life. The idea that the "science" here wasn't that far out there actually made the thriller aspects work particularly well, particularly the urgency of the battle between the "good" and "bad" guys.
Obviously those with more knowledge of this type of cross genre work would be able to provide comparisons to like works to give potential readers some hints, but for this none science fiction reader, who loves a good thriller nonetheless, THE CHIMERA VECTOR was really quite a surprise. The balance between plot and characters is spot on, the action unrelenting and the battle between good and bad believable and highly entertaining.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-chimera-vector-nathan-m-farrugia
Although action packed doesn't quite do justice to the level of no prisoner's taken, hard fought action and thrills and spills in this novel, combined with a set of really good, strong characters. The combination of the science fiction style elements with the covert ops thriller styling works seamlessly, creating real tension, threat and people to connect with.
For this reader, who doesn't always quite "get" science fiction, the combination of different types of humans coexisting, battling with power games, and those that use similar technology to try to control everything had a lot of obvious parallels to real life. The idea that the "science" here wasn't that far out there actually made the thriller aspects work particularly well, particularly the urgency of the battle between the "good" and "bad" guys.
Obviously those with more knowledge of this type of cross genre work would be able to provide comparisons to like works to give potential readers some hints, but for this none science fiction reader, who loves a good thriller nonetheless, THE CHIMERA VECTOR was really quite a surprise. The balance between plot and characters is spot on, the action unrelenting and the battle between good and bad believable and highly entertaining.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-chimera-vector-nathan-m-farrugia