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For decades, people believed the world would change in a flash of light.
We were right. But it wasn't a nuclear weapon. On a day in late November in the year 2000, the flash happened. A surge of incredible power annihilated a small town and announced the arrival of a new breed. One man was enough to change everything, but he was not alone.
He was only the first.
More than a decade later, the Next are everywhere. They are registered, cataloged, and forced to wear identification. Even under the burden of suspicion and fear, most of them live normal lives. Others serve their communities as police or firefighters, the closest thing to heroes they are allowed to be.
Some are criminals.
It is this group Kitra Singh will face when she is pulled from her comfortable existence as a government agent and thrust into the limelight as a member of the OSA, an organization that captures and contains superhuman criminals. The stakes are high: a killer is on the loose, hunting human and Next alike. Time is short, the danger growing, and hundreds of lives are at risk.
In a race against the clock, Kit will be tested as never before. She will stand toe to toe with god-like beings, and be forced to discover how far she is willing to go to stop them.
We were right. But it wasn't a nuclear weapon. On a day in late November in the year 2000, the flash happened. A surge of incredible power annihilated a small town and announced the arrival of a new breed. One man was enough to change everything, but he was not alone.
He was only the first.
More than a decade later, the Next are everywhere. They are registered, cataloged, and forced to wear identification. Even under the burden of suspicion and fear, most of them live normal lives. Others serve their communities as police or firefighters, the closest thing to heroes they are allowed to be.
Some are criminals.
It is this group Kitra Singh will face when she is pulled from her comfortable existence as a government agent and thrust into the limelight as a member of the OSA, an organization that captures and contains superhuman criminals. The stakes are high: a killer is on the loose, hunting human and Next alike. Time is short, the danger growing, and hundreds of lives are at risk.
In a race against the clock, Kit will be tested as never before. She will stand toe to toe with god-like beings, and be forced to discover how far she is willing to go to stop them.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2014
47 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Guess
50 books363 followersJoshua Guess (who goes by Josh most of the time, but Joshua professionally because his mom insists) is originally from southern Illinois, but moved to central Kentucky at an early age.
Always a storyteller, his interest in creating began with art. He loved to draw and come up with stories about his pictures.
Then he discovered comic books and novels, and things...took a turn.
Devouring everything from superboy to Stephen King, Josh started to gain a greater interest in writing, making it a hobby during high school and achieving distinguished marks in his portfolio.
Then, life got in the way. College and the struggle to start a life of his own away from home took up most of his time. His love of telling stories took a back seat to the needs of daily life for many years, with the occasional foray into working on one project or another.
In late 2009, Josh buckled down and started work on an idea for a fantasy novel that had been stuck in his head since those halcyon days back in high school. Struggling to find a voice, Josh realized months later after many false starts that he needed to stretch his brain a little, strengthen his writing muscles. So he began another project that had been simmering in the back of his mind, a continuing serialized zombie story, told in the form of a daily blog.
Living With the Dead has given him a measure of success, but more important has imparted new skills at wordsmithing and the drive to complete. 'Bound to Silence', his debut novel, has been released and is available now, as are many collections and versions of Living With the Dead.
Once that tipping point was reached, there was no choice for him but to keep on writing. Much more of Josh's work will be released in the coming months.
I hate writing in the third person about myself. I live an average life and work a full time job. I have three cats, two dogs, two ferrets, and a wife that I'm so in love with it hurts. My goal is to some day have enough success to write full time, and to manage a level of long term financial security that I don't have to worry about money. It's my dream to make a good living doing what I love--telling stories. I hope you enjoy my work. That's why I do it.
Always a storyteller, his interest in creating began with art. He loved to draw and come up with stories about his pictures.
Then he discovered comic books and novels, and things...took a turn.
Devouring everything from superboy to Stephen King, Josh started to gain a greater interest in writing, making it a hobby during high school and achieving distinguished marks in his portfolio.
Then, life got in the way. College and the struggle to start a life of his own away from home took up most of his time. His love of telling stories took a back seat to the needs of daily life for many years, with the occasional foray into working on one project or another.
In late 2009, Josh buckled down and started work on an idea for a fantasy novel that had been stuck in his head since those halcyon days back in high school. Struggling to find a voice, Josh realized months later after many false starts that he needed to stretch his brain a little, strengthen his writing muscles. So he began another project that had been simmering in the back of his mind, a continuing serialized zombie story, told in the form of a daily blog.
Living With the Dead has given him a measure of success, but more important has imparted new skills at wordsmithing and the drive to complete. 'Bound to Silence', his debut novel, has been released and is available now, as are many collections and versions of Living With the Dead.
Once that tipping point was reached, there was no choice for him but to keep on writing. Much more of Josh's work will be released in the coming months.
I hate writing in the third person about myself. I live an average life and work a full time job. I have three cats, two dogs, two ferrets, and a wife that I'm so in love with it hurts. My goal is to some day have enough success to write full time, and to manage a level of long term financial security that I don't have to worry about money. It's my dream to make a good living doing what I love--telling stories. I hope you enjoy my work. That's why I do it.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 10, 2014
Mr. Guess always delivers!
I was a bit concerned that a "Super Hero" genre type book would be such a departure from the introspective and insightful ability of Guess to write about the human condition. I was so wrong!
I will apologize for my doubts! I will never doubt Guess and his ability to keep in touch with the inner workings of a cast of characters minds and still create a rich and believable world, even if it is populated with Heroes, Zombies or anything else he can dream up!
This is a great intro story to the world he is inviting you to spend some time in! There is enough detail to keep you reading, and just enough teaser information to make you beg for more at the end. The pacing is great, the characters are believable and flawed, even though some of them are "Super".
I am impressed and really recommend you give this a shot!
I was a bit concerned that a "Super Hero" genre type book would be such a departure from the introspective and insightful ability of Guess to write about the human condition. I was so wrong!
I will apologize for my doubts! I will never doubt Guess and his ability to keep in touch with the inner workings of a cast of characters minds and still create a rich and believable world, even if it is populated with Heroes, Zombies or anything else he can dream up!
This is a great intro story to the world he is inviting you to spend some time in! There is enough detail to keep you reading, and just enough teaser information to make you beg for more at the end. The pacing is great, the characters are believable and flawed, even though some of them are "Super".
I am impressed and really recommend you give this a shot!
September 15, 2014
I really enjoyed this superhero thriller. The Next (mutant X-Men, Alphas, etc...) are super-powered people of all various levels. The government regulates them in an effort to curb them and keep an eye on them. One or two of them are EXTREMELY powerful. The story focuses on a female Next (Kit Singh) who joins a secret organization set up to track down and house (imprison) the Next that cause troubles or are too powerful to let just walk around. Plenty of superhuman action in this one as our heroes come across one VERY POWERFUL and TICKED OFF Next. Doom and gloom if they don't stop this guy. I will definitely read the 2nd book in this series (Damage) when it becomes available. Another Kindle Unlimited book selection for me.
May 7, 2015
It's a fun ride and an interesting take of the superhero genre.
March 8, 2018
More than 2 stars, but less than 3. It's somewhere between OK and like, .. but not LIKE like.
Let's start by saying I prefer the Goodreads ranking to the Amazon one, which is not surprising, as a shop will have an inherent tendency to over-rate.
The Blurb on the back was intriguing. I started the book and it was quite entertaining. Then it seemed to shift a little around 100 pages in and I lost interest. Maybe the pacing was too slow as we explored the evolution of the main character Kit, or else we didn't get a strong enough emotional bond with her. Anyway I stopped reading when another book arrived and didn't really have any intention to pick it back up.
What got me to continue was I was stuck on the tube and my podcast had finished, so I used the kindle mobile app and kept reading. I was flicking the pages and generally skimming but the book got better and in the end I finished it.
I'll probably buy the next book.
Let's start by saying I prefer the Goodreads ranking to the Amazon one, which is not surprising, as a shop will have an inherent tendency to over-rate.
The Blurb on the back was intriguing. I started the book and it was quite entertaining. Then it seemed to shift a little around 100 pages in and I lost interest. Maybe the pacing was too slow as we explored the evolution of the main character Kit, or else we didn't get a strong enough emotional bond with her. Anyway I stopped reading when another book arrived and didn't really have any intention to pick it back up.
What got me to continue was I was stuck on the tube and my podcast had finished, so I used the kindle mobile app and kept reading. I was flicking the pages and generally skimming but the book got better and in the end I finished it.
I'll probably buy the next book.
September 15, 2017
I really liked some of this author's other works, so I read this book. It's a decent superhero novel which reminded me a lot of Marvel's X-Men. I didn't find any of the characters particularly lovable, but it's a solid story.
I think I'll read Victim Zero next. After three books I'm really liking Joshua Guess.
I think I'll read Victim Zero next. After three books I'm really liking Joshua Guess.
February 17, 2015
Starting off, I started this book right after finishing Brandon Sanderson's "Steelheart". I just finished that book about a modern day Super human world and had to dive into another. This was one that I had passed up many times and I finally just started reading it.
It has a choppy start, but as the pieces begin to come together (about 50 or 60 percent in) it really picks up the pace and I, at least, got really invested into the story.
It has an interesting contrast to Sanderson's telling of people developing powers that is really the norm. Many people would use those powers for good. (I really liked Sanderson's take on showing absolute power corrupting) I found many of the characters to not really have depth until near the end of the book. It was an interesting story and if you like sci-fi or superheros in general you should take it for a spin.
It is a pretty simple and quick read. The story finishes in this one book, but it leads it open to a series to come, which I am interested in continuing. The language was rough at times, but mostly mild.
It has a choppy start, but as the pieces begin to come together (about 50 or 60 percent in) it really picks up the pace and I, at least, got really invested into the story.
It has an interesting contrast to Sanderson's telling of people developing powers that is really the norm. Many people would use those powers for good. (I really liked Sanderson's take on showing absolute power corrupting) I found many of the characters to not really have depth until near the end of the book. It was an interesting story and if you like sci-fi or superheros in general you should take it for a spin.
It is a pretty simple and quick read. The story finishes in this one book, but it leads it open to a series to come, which I am interested in continuing. The language was rough at times, but mostly mild.
July 10, 2015
The Next.... jump in evolution.
Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. Or does it? Does it always have to corrupt? What if you were given the powers of a God? How would you handle it?
In "The Next", some people begin to have extraordinary powers. Generally only one or two, but, then there are those who have more.
This is a good book that makes you think. It challenges thoughts on bigotry, social classes, social conduct, social responsibility, and views of good and evil; of what is right and wrong.
Sound dry, and boring? It isn't!! All these things are wrapped in a good Adventure Story.
Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. Or does it? Does it always have to corrupt? What if you were given the powers of a God? How would you handle it?
In "The Next", some people begin to have extraordinary powers. Generally only one or two, but, then there are those who have more.
This is a good book that makes you think. It challenges thoughts on bigotry, social classes, social conduct, social responsibility, and views of good and evil; of what is right and wrong.
Sound dry, and boring? It isn't!! All these things are wrapped in a good Adventure Story.
November 6, 2014
was the accident that decimated a city and resulted in the spread of unusual powers to only part of the population truly spontaneous or planned in advance by the military and powers that be? read and find out. It's a good story with interesting characters. right from the beginning the auto accident that triggered the display of power sounded staged.
April 13, 2015
Superpowers and.......
This is different than Joshua's usual stuff, at least for me. But liking the author meant giving it a try. Glad I did. This one has it all, and although I did see 2 of the plot lines coming, I was vastly entertained. This is another winner. Can't wait for part 2. Good job Joshua!!
This is different than Joshua's usual stuff, at least for me. But liking the author meant giving it a try. Glad I did. This one has it all, and although I did see 2 of the plot lines coming, I was vastly entertained. This is another winner. Can't wait for part 2. Good job Joshua!!
February 20, 2015
cool concept
I like this alternate take on "mutants"/x-men. The rules are different in this universe. I disagree that the solution to the danger was not done sooner but I liked how the conclusion unfolded nonetheless. Looking forward to the next installment.
I like this alternate take on "mutants"/x-men. The rules are different in this universe. I disagree that the solution to the danger was not done sooner but I liked how the conclusion unfolded nonetheless. Looking forward to the next installment.
June 3, 2015
The plot was rather thin, with hints of a grand conspiracy theory (I don't buy into conspiracy theories). No real character development. Decent action. An Okay read, but not anything I care to continue with.
July 11, 2014
Quite good super-hero/science fiction novel. Well-written and entertaining; I await the sequel :-)
August 2, 2014
I liked it. I had a hard time getting into the story for the second half of the book. I'll probably read more in the series at some time.
July 5, 2015
I enjoyed this story. A departure from Joshua's zombie books. I'm reading the second book, Damage now.
August 22, 2015
Character development was really well done. It was an enjoyable quick read with more realistic issues (as much as can be expected based on the subject matter) the protagonist had to deal with.
June 13, 2014
excellent story. great read.
May 2, 2017
Fun book
I liked this book it's almost in the style of Corella and has a good storyline with good character development to make it interesting.
I liked this book it's almost in the style of Corella and has a good storyline with good character development to make it interesting.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews