Suspenseful and Well-Written . . .
Elara Clay has not had a simple life. She has a degenerative disease that has kept her in a wheelchair the majority of her life. She is given the opportunity of replacing her legs to give her the ability to walk on her own. She ultimately decides to go with that choice. A drop of water drips on her face and she hears water dripping around her. She seems to be alone, however. She calls to her dad and mom, but no one answers. She pushes herself off the bed and stands on her new legs. Looking around the strange room she is in, she sees a soggy note on the counter, but it makes no sense. She finds a walkie-talkie and tries to reach someone. At last her Uncle Robbie answers and tells her he will get her out of that safe room that has no doors or windows. But he will first have to clear away the rubble. And when he gets inside, he has many things to tell her.
She learns that her surgery was 6 months ago, and this is the beginning of a major adjustment to her life. They are currently at war. Her parents have been abducted by automatons under the control of a destructive AI named Fade. Her last memory of Fade was that it was the AI built to run the defense network. But something went wrong. Her parents hid her in this safe room which saved her life. Are her parents still alive? If there is any hope of defeating the rogue AI, Elara must enter into the battle. But she is only one person… and then she discovers there is more to what was done to her than just her new legs! Will it be enough to give her a chance to fight back against Fade and save the world? Was this what her father had wanted?
The story line is well-written and the tension the author creates feels real as the military and Elara try to avoid discovery by whatever is after them in the tunnels. Elara did get on my nerves quite frequently, but then I remember this is all new to her and she lets her mind get easily distracted. Grab your copy and enjoy this suspenseful story to see how it all resolves.