Atom Inc is the third book in the race is on series, following Uma and Ethan as they deal with the fallout of Green Ray, and the reality of the LEAP technology being released into the world. This book takes place 7 years after the development of LEAP, and a couple of weeks after Green Ray (book two)
This novel jumps straight into the action and grips the reader from the first paragraph, I like that the author has included brief round ups of plot points from the previous two books just to act as a gentle reminder of what has occurred to lead up to the points the characters find themselves in. The book is action packed and fast paced, there are short chapters that follow a set timeline, but flick between a variety of locations and perspectives which really helps the reader engage with the high stakes, and suspense throughout the book.
There are many action sequences, and environmental fallouts that are explained in great details, and vividly so. I like that the author took time in the book, teaching Ethan (and the audience) how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull, this was a great inclusion within the book. The writing was brilliant, and the world building was great, you could easily see the environments, and characters come to life (this would make an interesting TV series!) and I just feel that the author has done a great deal of research regarding environmental and political situations, as well as the science/technology that would be required for this type of system to be real.
The amount of plot twists and shocks throughout this book was unreal, I honestly could not tell which direction this book was taking us, and the way Ethan and Uma’s characters have developed and changed in this book has me on edge, I really feel like we could see a villainous Uma emerge in future books, I just don't trust her character anymore, and I didn’t really like the way she referred to her situations as “a dirty secret” I felt that could have been handled slightly more delicately. Other characters were also interesting, Forsyth and Crouch still their evil bigotry continued throughout this book, but this time they roped in the help of Ed Fox, who wanted to enact revenge on Ethan and Rae, as he blamed them for the deaths of his family, I would of liked more development regarding Fox as he was a character I was interested in, I just wanted more detail about his ordeal – but there is news that he has his own spin off coming soon, so I guess wishful thinking pays off?
Overall, this is a fast, action-packed book, full of suspense, mystery and plot twists, with often high stakes on each turn of the page. This is a book I would recommend to fans of science fiction thrillers, but I will mention that I believe this book comes with more trigger warnings than its predecessors. Such as; rape, sextortion, terminations, abortions, blackmail, violence, torture (masked as punishment) and very graphic scenes – personally chapter 42 was one of the more harrowing violent scenes and I did skim this chapter as it made me queasy. So just bare that in mind before picking up this book/series.