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A review by teachinsci
(R)evolution by P.J. Manney
4.0
I am very torn on my rating for this book. It is, in my opinion, about a 3.5 really. If you love Dan Brown, James Rollins, or Michael Crichton and can suffer a few mis-steps by a writer, you will enjoy this book. I think that this is a good first book from the author. I hope to see her write more sci-if-thrillers in the future, though I hope she leaves this story as a one-off and not the first of a series. Allow me to explain...
**minor spoilers follow**
First off, like many reviewers, I found the opening of the book to be promising for a sci-fi-thriller. The nanobot attack scene was well thought out and gave an immediate adventure pace to the book. There was a thread lost here with the nano-terrorist who we followed at the beginning disappearing from subsequent pages. We find out late in the book what happened to the other two terrorists... Very cool idea, but undeveloped.
The writer kept things going when she introduced the main character (Peter/Tom), giving some insight into his "when cornered, attack" attitude. He is pretty much the only character with much depth though. His wife, allegedly a very intelligent and successful woman, seems focused on nothing so much as making a baby and has no more contribution than that to the storyline or her husband's actions. She is emblematic of the rest of the female characters in the book... They are given back stories that would make them seem to be strong, intelligent, and/or capable. From their dialogue and actions after being around the main character they each have one function besides being infatuated with Peter/Tom.
I enjoyed the nanotech component of the book and even the eventual creation of a near cyborg seemed to fit with the characters (mostly). The main character suddenly gains the ability to dodge bullets, explained fairly adequately... ends up being saved by dolphins (who didn't swim away from the exploding vessels around them).
The main character actually becomes more and more capable throughout the book (along the way, changing several ingrained habits). Each addition to his powers is explained and (rightly) seems to come with a period of adjustment (if a bit rapid) until the end when he gains several powers and the ability to use them flawlessly within hours (book time) even as they are described in ways that are later used to explain the debilitation of his enemies.
The uber-cabal running the country seemed at once too powerful and too incompetent. They searched for talent to recruit, allegedly with rigorous screening, but are easily taken in and recruit poorly or indiscriminately often (some of the megalomaniacs/sociopaths they recruit for example). The characters related to the group also seem fairly one dimensional, although the author does give each of them a specific archetype and decent back stories, they are fairly predictable as to their actions and dialogue.
***I received this book as part of a Goodreads First Read giveaway.***
**minor spoilers follow**
First off, like many reviewers, I found the opening of the book to be promising for a sci-fi-thriller. The nanobot attack scene was well thought out and gave an immediate adventure pace to the book. There was a thread lost here with the nano-terrorist who we followed at the beginning disappearing from subsequent pages. We find out late in the book what happened to the other two terrorists... Very cool idea, but undeveloped.
The writer kept things going when she introduced the main character (Peter/Tom), giving some insight into his "when cornered, attack" attitude. He is pretty much the only character with much depth though. His wife, allegedly a very intelligent and successful woman, seems focused on nothing so much as making a baby and has no more contribution than that to the storyline or her husband's actions. She is emblematic of the rest of the female characters in the book... They are given back stories that would make them seem to be strong, intelligent, and/or capable. From their dialogue and actions after being around the main character they each have one function besides being infatuated with Peter/Tom.
I enjoyed the nanotech component of the book and even the eventual creation of a near cyborg seemed to fit with the characters (mostly). The main character suddenly gains the ability to dodge bullets, explained fairly adequately... ends up being saved by dolphins (who didn't swim away from the exploding vessels around them).
The main character actually becomes more and more capable throughout the book (along the way, changing several ingrained habits). Each addition to his powers is explained and (rightly) seems to come with a period of adjustment (if a bit rapid) until the end when he gains several powers and the ability to use them flawlessly within hours (book time) even as they are described in ways that are later used to explain the debilitation of his enemies.
The uber-cabal running the country seemed at once too powerful and too incompetent. They searched for talent to recruit, allegedly with rigorous screening, but are easily taken in and recruit poorly or indiscriminately often (some of the megalomaniacs/sociopaths they recruit for example). The characters related to the group also seem fairly one dimensional, although the author does give each of them a specific archetype and decent back stories, they are fairly predictable as to their actions and dialogue.
***I received this book as part of a Goodreads First Read giveaway.***