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schism's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ekmook's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
bmg20's review
2.0
‘We stand on the edge of extinction. The brink, if you will.’
After surviving the subway attack in New York City, NYC Mayor Tom Cafferty and fellow survivors have teamed up to take on the Foundation for Human Advancement, the secret organization that maintains control of the creatures that could wipe out the planet. For decades, the Foundation has demanded funds from world leader’s in exchange for their continued survival but following the subway attack and information uncovered about the Foundation and its leader, Albert Van Ness, no one is willing to comply anymore.
The Brink picks up where the first installment, Awakened, left off with a race against time to stop a madman from destroying the world with bloodthirsty creatures that live beneath the Earth’s surface. Discovered during the end of WWII in Germany, Van Ness’ father discovered the way to control the creatures and has been using them as blackmail since. When Albert took over following his father’s death, he continued working towards achieving his dream of purifying humanity. Much like the second-half of Awakened, the story devotes much of its focus to the political drama and conspiracies rather than the actual creatures. Personally, I found the creatures to be of far more interest than anyone in this cast of one-dimensional characters. The creatures are only featured in a few scenes and they were horrific and thrilling but the authors placed much more focus on their laughably evil villain. It’s pretty disappointing when humans are more monstrous than the actual monsters.
The book is a very short read, however, I’m sad to say the dialogue is inept, the storyline is banal, and the ending was so ridiculous that it removed any interest I had in completing the trilogy. Disappointing that the exciting world these authors created with Alien-like creatures ended up being backseat drivers to a story about a Hitler-esque villain.
“My God,” Cafferty said.
“No, not God,” he replied. “Albert Van Ness.”
After surviving the subway attack in New York City, NYC Mayor Tom Cafferty and fellow survivors have teamed up to take on the Foundation for Human Advancement, the secret organization that maintains control of the creatures that could wipe out the planet. For decades, the Foundation has demanded funds from world leader’s in exchange for their continued survival but following the subway attack and information uncovered about the Foundation and its leader, Albert Van Ness, no one is willing to comply anymore.
The Brink picks up where the first installment, Awakened, left off with a race against time to stop a madman from destroying the world with bloodthirsty creatures that live beneath the Earth’s surface. Discovered during the end of WWII in Germany, Van Ness’ father discovered the way to control the creatures and has been using them as blackmail since. When Albert took over following his father’s death, he continued working towards achieving his dream of purifying humanity. Much like the second-half of Awakened, the story devotes much of its focus to the political drama and conspiracies rather than the actual creatures. Personally, I found the creatures to be of far more interest than anyone in this cast of one-dimensional characters. The creatures are only featured in a few scenes and they were horrific and thrilling but the authors placed much more focus on their laughably evil villain. It’s pretty disappointing when humans are more monstrous than the actual monsters.
The book is a very short read, however, I’m sad to say the dialogue is inept, the storyline is banal, and the ending was so ridiculous that it removed any interest I had in completing the trilogy. Disappointing that the exciting world these authors created with Alien-like creatures ended up being backseat drivers to a story about a Hitler-esque villain.
“My God,” Cafferty said.
“No, not God,” he replied. “Albert Van Ness.”
jvzyxx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hoffworld's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
squidxiii's review against another edition
1.0
I received a copy of Brink included in the My coffee and a book club subscription. The theme of the box is supposed to be horror. Brink isn’t a horror story it’s a international thriller with monsters. Brink the sequel to awakening. Which means that getting brink in a box subscription is getting the second book in a series. I don’t know why the authors would want readers to start the story on the se one book rather than the first, and also be included in a horror box when the book isn’t a horror story but a thriller. The story is interesting and follows a global response to a terrorist using monsters to get 2% of each countries yearly income. Nothing is particularly scary or horrific in the book. The origin of the monsters isn’t explained much in Brink, I assume much of the background for characters was included in the first book. It’s unfortunate that book was included in the subscription box. Feels like a way to recoup losses when’s box doesn’t sell well. Over all the book is an interesting thriller. But I was not expecting to get a thriller when I subscribed to horror. The book isn’t scary, character development is extremely thin. Again the book starts in the middle of a story, where some characters have backstories we’re probably included in the first book. Biggest problem with the story is the absolute blandness of the characters and their motivations. What confused me the most was why the monsters have telekinetic powers at all. I mean their monsters that act like animals hunting and killing. But someone know when to freeze the bad guy and stop the world from blowing up. What’s the point of all the characters running all over the world when the monsters would stop the mad scientist all on their own. Huge plot and logic gaps in this story. I also find it frustrating that the what they monsters look like isn’t described much in this book. They have claws and tails and black skin. That’s it.
tinacripps's review
2.0
I felt the need to read the next book in the series even though I only gave the first book 2.7. This one was worse. I was turned off by the shameless plugging of Impractical Jokers repeatedly in the 1st chapter. Apparently they like the word cacophony as it was used multiple times in the book. Murr May no longer be my favorite Impractical Joker.
vandelocht's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ash_allen's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0