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The Most Unlikely Beginnings
James Russell is just an ordinary desk jockey grinding away at a dead-end job with dreams of becoming a highly paid computer programmer. When he decides to duck out the office for an early lunch break, everything changes through an event of sheer chance -- he obtains a mysterious power called The Signet! Now gifted with the most powerful weapon in the universe, James learns that the fate of his planet rests on his shoulders. Struggling between coming to grips with his newfound skills, battling alien assassins, dealing with foxy women and not losing his job, James realizes the hard way that the only way to get his life back normal is to fight for it… that is if he lives long enough!
382 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
11 people want to read
About the author
K.P. Merriweather
11 books32 followersKP churns out literary pulp and epic saga doorstoppers in fantasy, science fiction, and psychological thriller genres. Between writing projects, she programs retro games for Windows, Android, Nintendo and Xbox.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 2, 2015
This is a well written and incredibly action packed story and something of a great tease as well. The story follows James, a twenty five year old computer genius in a dead end job so soul sucking that the turnover rate is due to employees considering suicide. On his lunch break one day, James has a close encounter with an alien and is branded with the Signet.
In addition to just being a nifty tattoo, the Signet gives James super powers. But with great power comes great enemies who want what James has. Throughout the book, James is trying to figure out what exactly he is now capable of and why, all the while fending off the many people who want to take the power from him. Even his friends become untrustworthy. While I truly enjoyed the book, I did have a few nitpicks. There are a few descriptions that become repetitive. Specifically, the television on the cart in the parlor and Adnan's frizzy strawberry blonde hair. And then there is James himself. He's hard to like. His last name might as well be Bond seeing as I lost count of the women who threw themselves at him. But to be fair, I don't think that James is meant to be likeable. He's a flawed character who is stumbling through the situation he has been thrust into. There is a small amount of character growth, so we'll see if this continues in the next installment.
I would recommend this to fans of super hero comics, action films, or action/adventure anime.
In addition to just being a nifty tattoo, the Signet gives James super powers. But with great power comes great enemies who want what James has. Throughout the book, James is trying to figure out what exactly he is now capable of and why, all the while fending off the many people who want to take the power from him. Even his friends become untrustworthy. While I truly enjoyed the book, I did have a few nitpicks. There are a few descriptions that become repetitive. Specifically, the television on the cart in the parlor and Adnan's frizzy strawberry blonde hair. And then there is James himself. He's hard to like. His last name might as well be Bond seeing as I lost count of the women who threw themselves at him. But to be fair, I don't think that James is meant to be likeable. He's a flawed character who is stumbling through the situation he has been thrust into. There is a small amount of character growth, so we'll see if this continues in the next installment.
I would recommend this to fans of super hero comics, action films, or action/adventure anime.
October 3, 2014
Very well written. Every description leaves a vivid picture in your mind.
February 21, 2016
Review posted by request of author; I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
KP Merriweather’s Signet: The Most Unlikely Beginnings is the story of James Russell, a womanising paper-pusher with Parsons and Parker, where staff turnover due to suicide is at an all-time high. When James takes a hurried lunch break one day, he isn’t expecting to end up in the middle of a shooting war between two galactic factions who’ve moved one front of their war to Earth ... and when a dying operative passes him a Signet and tasks him to access a top-secret program code-named ‘Supernova’, James starts to wonder if Parsons and Parker hasn’t done more damage to his sanity than he thought.
Signet: The Most Unlikely Beginnings offers an interesting contrast between 80s-era floppy disks and space-faring technology levels, with James alternately utterly fascinated by the prospects of self-aggrandisement offered by the Signet and terrified by the factions trying to kill him and everyone he knows. Unfortunately, while the basic plot is sound, there are technical errors in the writing and pacing which make it hard to remain immersed in the story, and the characters start to give a rather flat, 2-D feeling as the book progresses. With its multiple willing women and fights peppered with special effects, the overall feeling is of classic 60s sci-fi.
KP Merriweather’s Signet: The Most Unlikely Beginnings is the story of James Russell, a womanising paper-pusher with Parsons and Parker, where staff turnover due to suicide is at an all-time high. When James takes a hurried lunch break one day, he isn’t expecting to end up in the middle of a shooting war between two galactic factions who’ve moved one front of their war to Earth ... and when a dying operative passes him a Signet and tasks him to access a top-secret program code-named ‘Supernova’, James starts to wonder if Parsons and Parker hasn’t done more damage to his sanity than he thought.
Signet: The Most Unlikely Beginnings offers an interesting contrast between 80s-era floppy disks and space-faring technology levels, with James alternately utterly fascinated by the prospects of self-aggrandisement offered by the Signet and terrified by the factions trying to kill him and everyone he knows. Unfortunately, while the basic plot is sound, there are technical errors in the writing and pacing which make it hard to remain immersed in the story, and the characters start to give a rather flat, 2-D feeling as the book progresses. With its multiple willing women and fights peppered with special effects, the overall feeling is of classic 60s sci-fi.
November 22, 2015
I am (sadly)afflicted with a compulsion to finish what I start. Otherwise, I wouldn't have read beyond the first few pages of "Unlikely Beginnings".
Characters show up with no introduction, only a name, receiving no development or background.
The presentation of the world, environs, etc. is jerky, and never tied together.
The protagonist is presented as college educated, yet supremely stupid and amoral, unable to make decisions, and easily distracted by urges of his lower appendages.
Poor grammar, both missing and extra words, and screwed up word order also contributed to the mayhem.
Followed by an unsatisfying ending, letting the reader know they're being suckered into probably more of the same...
I'm not buying it. Let me off here.
Characters show up with no introduction, only a name, receiving no development or background.
The presentation of the world, environs, etc. is jerky, and never tied together.
The protagonist is presented as college educated, yet supremely stupid and amoral, unable to make decisions, and easily distracted by urges of his lower appendages.
Poor grammar, both missing and extra words, and screwed up word order also contributed to the mayhem.
Followed by an unsatisfying ending, letting the reader know they're being suckered into probably more of the same...
I'm not buying it. Let me off here.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews