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Wraith
The New York Times bestselling Reeves-Stevens team offer a no-holds-barred adrenaline rush perfect for fans of Preston and Child
In 1995, the CIA made a breakthrough that they hid from the world because it would change everything in modern science—but some secrets can't stay hidden. A rogue force has learned how to make disembodied minds capable of lethal action. Ghosts have been weaponized, and now a Russian general has infiltrated the U.S. with a squad of "berzerkers"—an army that can't be killed because they're already dead. Only one person knew the general's plans, but she died in a car crash. The only person who can communicate with her is the cop who was at her side when she died—and now he must race to stop a force that could end life as we know it.
In 1995, the CIA made a breakthrough that they hid from the world because it would change everything in modern science—but some secrets can't stay hidden. A rogue force has learned how to make disembodied minds capable of lethal action. Ghosts have been weaponized, and now a Russian general has infiltrated the U.S. with a squad of "berzerkers"—an army that can't be killed because they're already dead. Only one person knew the general's plans, but she died in a car crash. The only person who can communicate with her is the cop who was at her side when she died—and now he must race to stop a force that could end life as we know it.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2013
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59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 6, 2022
I picked up this book solely because I had recently read their Star Trek: Prime Directive novel and really enjoyed it. This was another exceptional collaboration between Judith and Garfield. An intriguing mixture of horror, sci-fi and spy thriller. They make ghosts truly terrifying again as they are weaponized by a Russian intelligence agency in a supernatural arms race.
November 18, 2023
The ending (no spoilers) is one that I'm not sure if I hate, love, or am just "meh" about. Like was it completely stupid, the perfect ending, or the obvious conclusion?
Anyway, this book is good. Nowhere near great, and probably not far from bad. But it is good.
A lot I liked and a lot I disliked.
The idea of the story is really cool. I loved the mixture of horror and political espionage. I don't even know if "political espionage" would be the right term, but as soon as it entered my head, I couldn't resist, I just had to type it.
There are a few too many "main" characters, and when the book wasn't focused on like THE main character I did have problems with them kinda blending together. But that could just be a me problem.
One pet peeve I have though, is when a foreign language speaking character speaks English for the ease of the reader, but the writer still wants you to know that they're actually still speaking their native tounge (Russian in this case) so they throw in random words written in that language.
Put an accent in the writing, put it in italics, do anything, just don't throw in random words in a different language. It really bugs me. I know that probably sounds like a dumb complaint. But to me it's like hitting the brakes randomly during a nice peaceful drive.
It is a well written book full of cool original ideas. I just think it has an equal number of parts that drag it down a bit.
I'm not gonna say I recommend it. But I wouldn't not recommend it.
Anyway, this book is good. Nowhere near great, and probably not far from bad. But it is good.
A lot I liked and a lot I disliked.
The idea of the story is really cool. I loved the mixture of horror and political espionage. I don't even know if "political espionage" would be the right term, but as soon as it entered my head, I couldn't resist, I just had to type it.
There are a few too many "main" characters, and when the book wasn't focused on like THE main character I did have problems with them kinda blending together. But that could just be a me problem.
One pet peeve I have though, is when a foreign language speaking character speaks English for the ease of the reader, but the writer still wants you to know that they're actually still speaking their native tounge (Russian in this case) so they throw in random words written in that language.
Put an accent in the writing, put it in italics, do anything, just don't throw in random words in a different language. It really bugs me. I know that probably sounds like a dumb complaint. But to me it's like hitting the brakes randomly during a nice peaceful drive.
It is a well written book full of cool original ideas. I just think it has an equal number of parts that drag it down a bit.
I'm not gonna say I recommend it. But I wouldn't not recommend it.
March 22, 2019
I thought that this book was well-written and intriguing. It had a great flow and was easy to follow, despite changing perspectives and going between different groups of characters quite frequently. My only complaint is how it ended. It felt like the ending of a book in a series, but as far as I can tell, this was a stand-alone book (and the last book they've written which came out 3 years ago at the time of this review).
It really left me feeling like there was something missing and wishing for more closure to the characters and the story. I wish it was part of a series because I'd love to read more of it!
It really left me feeling like there was something missing and wishing for more closure to the characters and the story. I wish it was part of a series because I'd love to read more of it!
June 8, 2019
A fun, cinematic fast-paced action thriller with supernatural elements, Wraith, by Garfield & Judith Reeves-Stevens practically begs to be made into a movie. Featuring Russian villains, disgraced cops, and weaponized ghosts, this novel has everything that an action fan could want, with just enough depth of character to give the readers an emotional stake in the proceedings.
It's a fun roller coaster of a read and sets its self up nicely for a sequel that I would certainly be up for. If you're a fan of action thrillers with a slight supernatural bent put the Wraith at the top of your TBR pile. Strongly recommended.
It's a fun roller coaster of a read and sets its self up nicely for a sequel that I would certainly be up for. If you're a fan of action thrillers with a slight supernatural bent put the Wraith at the top of your TBR pile. Strongly recommended.
April 1, 2019
These authors accent each other pretty perfectly. I'm really not one to get into books dealing with government and politics but this book has thr perfect blend of just about everything and the ending is one of the sweetest I have read in a long time.
January 10, 2021
the free book i got about uhh the government weaponizing ghosts (?) wasnt as good as i expected
July 23, 2016
OK they had me at weaponized ghosts... Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens are most widely know for writing several of the best Star Trek novels. People who have followed their original work are aware that they write a brand of techno thriller that gets strength from the intense amounts of research they do. That is one reason I really was interested in their take on remote viewing and paranormal spies that has not been done this effectively since Brian Lumley's first three Necroscope books.
The Reeves-Stevens won me over in the mid-90's by writing what I still believe is the best Star Trek novel ever, and consider that I read about 150 of them before I burned out on trek fiction. That novel Federation got crushed by the film of First Contact, which is actually cannon. to bad Federation not only had the second best Trek bad guy ever, but combined both of the first two crews in a logical non-corny way and made one of the worst most boring episodes of Trek into a cool prequel to their novel. Federation is the only Star Trek novel I re-read.
The story of a detective named Matt Caidin who is trying to put back the pieces of his life back together after a nasty divorce. He witnesses a crash at a diner where he is a regular. He is shocked when the woman who he saw die in the car shows up and asks him for help. That woman Laura Hart is a agent for Crosswind at black ops psychic national security agency that needs Matt to get information from her about the counter organization in Russian. He learns that it is her ghost and she died with information about a coming terrorist attack.
This novel has alot in common with Necroscope but with ghosts instead of vampires and of course the lack of cold war makes a different tone. Wraith doesn't have the bloated scope of that series. One of the strength of Wraith is the short and to the point nature of the story. That is not to say that alot doesn't happen in the book, because many things happen in the perfect 315 page length. there are plenty of seeds that could grown into more novels, or a TV series.
You might think that the authors strength for research and technical accuracy would be wasted in a story about remote viewing but you would be wrong. I can only assume that they did their homework because they seem familar with the rumors and lore of remote viewing. Their knack for research comes in handy when the various intelligence agencies try to track our hero Caidin when he goes off the map to try and stop the attacks.
Rogue agents from the counter Russian agency VEKTOR provides many of the novel most interesting moments. While Crosswind is using remote viewing to spy it is VEKTOR that weaponize the psychic field created by it's dead agents. These ghosts called Bezerkers. One of the scenes with these ghosts in a restaurant is very very effective.(page 195-96) Borodin the rogue Russian agent is a great villain and the novel gives him a proper motivation even if he seems like mustache twirling bad guy at first.
I really enjoyed this novel and thought it was light fun. I wouldn't say this is a must read, groundbreaking but it was solid. The cover art is a little corny but don't let that scare you off. Reeves-Stevens are a great team and I am always open to check out their work.
The Reeves-Stevens won me over in the mid-90's by writing what I still believe is the best Star Trek novel ever, and consider that I read about 150 of them before I burned out on trek fiction. That novel Federation got crushed by the film of First Contact, which is actually cannon. to bad Federation not only had the second best Trek bad guy ever, but combined both of the first two crews in a logical non-corny way and made one of the worst most boring episodes of Trek into a cool prequel to their novel. Federation is the only Star Trek novel I re-read.
The story of a detective named Matt Caidin who is trying to put back the pieces of his life back together after a nasty divorce. He witnesses a crash at a diner where he is a regular. He is shocked when the woman who he saw die in the car shows up and asks him for help. That woman Laura Hart is a agent for Crosswind at black ops psychic national security agency that needs Matt to get information from her about the counter organization in Russian. He learns that it is her ghost and she died with information about a coming terrorist attack.
This novel has alot in common with Necroscope but with ghosts instead of vampires and of course the lack of cold war makes a different tone. Wraith doesn't have the bloated scope of that series. One of the strength of Wraith is the short and to the point nature of the story. That is not to say that alot doesn't happen in the book, because many things happen in the perfect 315 page length. there are plenty of seeds that could grown into more novels, or a TV series.
You might think that the authors strength for research and technical accuracy would be wasted in a story about remote viewing but you would be wrong. I can only assume that they did their homework because they seem familar with the rumors and lore of remote viewing. Their knack for research comes in handy when the various intelligence agencies try to track our hero Caidin when he goes off the map to try and stop the attacks.
Rogue agents from the counter Russian agency VEKTOR provides many of the novel most interesting moments. While Crosswind is using remote viewing to spy it is VEKTOR that weaponize the psychic field created by it's dead agents. These ghosts called Bezerkers. One of the scenes with these ghosts in a restaurant is very very effective.(page 195-96) Borodin the rogue Russian agent is a great villain and the novel gives him a proper motivation even if he seems like mustache twirling bad guy at first.
I really enjoyed this novel and thought it was light fun. I wouldn't say this is a must read, groundbreaking but it was solid. The cover art is a little corny but don't let that scare you off. Reeves-Stevens are a great team and I am always open to check out their work.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews