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Mutant Files #1
Deadeye
The national bestselling author of the Legion of the Damned novels, "a must-read for any fan of Mil Fic," (Archaeologist’s Guide to the Galaxy) begins a brand new science fiction police procedural series...
In the year 2038, an act of bioengineered terrorism decimated humanity. Those who survived were either completely unaffected or developed horrible mutations. Across the globe, nations are now divided between areas populated by “norms” and lands run by “mutants”…
Detective Cassandra Lee of Los Angeles’s Special Investigative Section has built a fierce reputation taking down some of the city’s most notorious criminals. But the serial cop killer known as Bonebreaker—who murdered Lee’s father—is still at large. Officially, she’s too personally involved to work on the Bonebreaker case. Unofficially, she’s going to hunt him to the ends of the earth.
In the meantime, duty calls when the daughter of Bishop Screed, head of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped by mutants and taken into the red zone to be used for breeding. Assigned to rescue her, Lee must trust her new partner—mutant lawman Deputy Ras Omo—to guide her not only through the unfamiliar territory but through the prejudicial divisions between mutants and norms…
In the year 2038, an act of bioengineered terrorism decimated humanity. Those who survived were either completely unaffected or developed horrible mutations. Across the globe, nations are now divided between areas populated by “norms” and lands run by “mutants”…
Detective Cassandra Lee of Los Angeles’s Special Investigative Section has built a fierce reputation taking down some of the city’s most notorious criminals. But the serial cop killer known as Bonebreaker—who murdered Lee’s father—is still at large. Officially, she’s too personally involved to work on the Bonebreaker case. Unofficially, she’s going to hunt him to the ends of the earth.
In the meantime, duty calls when the daughter of Bishop Screed, head of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped by mutants and taken into the red zone to be used for breeding. Assigned to rescue her, Lee must trust her new partner—mutant lawman Deputy Ras Omo—to guide her not only through the unfamiliar territory but through the prejudicial divisions between mutants and norms…
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 27, 2015
30 people are currently reading
587 people want to read
About the author
William C. Dietz
124 books453 followersNew York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
January 25, 2016
3 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/02/04/b...
William C. Dietz brings us an interesting new sci-fi police procedural series set in a plague-ravaged future. Those who survived the bioengineered threat of 2038 were either left completely unaffected or developed a wide range of disfiguring mutations, leaving a great divide – both socially and geographically – between the world’s “norms” and “mutants”. Relations between the two groups aren’t great, to say the least. Anti-mutant organizations sow hatred and incite brutal attacks and killings against mutants, making no small amount of work for Los Angeles detective Cassandra Lee who has built her reputation around taking down some of the city’s worst criminals.
When the daughter of Bishop Screed, leader of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped, all signs point to the work of mutants. Assigned to the case is Lee and her new mutant partner Deputy Ras Omo, who must race against time to save the young woman before she is sold and used for breeding by the ruthless human smuggling rings in the Red Zone. And if only that were the end of it. While chasing down leads, the two cops are also hounded every step of the way by Bonebreaker, the serial killer believed to have taken the lives of more than half a dozen police officers, including detective Frank Lee, Cassandra’s own father.
For a first book of a new series, Dietz has established quite a solid foundation for the world of Mutant Files, especially when it comes the social climate with regards to norms and mutants. Stigma is strong against the latter group, a lot of whom live in lawless and run-down “freak towns” where no norms fear to tread. To avoid catching the incurable disease, norms also wear masks and nose filters in the presence of mutants, and while most mutants wear masks too, they do so more to hide their terrible mutations. While world-building elements such as these are compelling, unfortunately they also come to the reader in a series of heavy info-dumps near the beginning of the novel, weighing down the introduction and making the first couple of chapters a slow read.
There’s quite a good story in here too, which, if not immediately apparent, does admittedly take a bit of effort to uncover. The major obstacle was once again the introduction, where I had a very difficult time adjusting to the writing.
Firstly, Dietz seems to have a fondness for frequent point-of-view switches, and not just between major characters. Every so often, minor characters and even random bystanders seem to feel the need to chime in for a paragraph or two, presumably so the reader can get a better feel of a situation by seeing it through their eyes. While I understood the intention, I didn’t think this was very effective and could have done with less of these seemingly arbitrary asides. And because they were often so short, rather than contribute to a scene I found them to be more distracting than anything.
Secondly, the author has a peculiar tendency to insert in-line explanations between parentheses in cases, say, where an acronym is being used or when a character says something in another language etc., and Dietz will place the translation right there in the middle of the prose and even dialogue. Not a big deal to some readers, perhaps, but for me it had a light immersion breaking effect. It would have been preferable if these explanations were naturally worked into the narrative, rather than placed glaringly between a pair of brackets. But then again, it’s also possible this may be changed in the finished book.
Without a doubt though, sandwiched between the beginning and end of the book is where all the good stuff is. The plot is entertaining and fast-paced, and kept me turning the pages once it got going. I did stumble again at the end when things wrapped up a bit too quickly and in much chaos, especially where the Bonebreaker aspect of the story was concerned, but generally I was quite pleased with the overall pacing as well as the characterization of Cassandra Lee, a badass female cop who is great at what she does. There’s always room for improvement when it comes to character development, but nonetheless I found myself greatly invested in Lee and Omo’s relationship.
I would rate this book between a 3 and 3.5 out of 5 stars if I could, with emphasis on the fact I really enjoyed the story but only after a fierce struggle with the writing. To be fair, most of my quibbles have to do with certain quirks of the author’s style, which may not matter as much to another reader. I’d definitely be open to reading the sequel, especially since there are still questions about the Bonebreaker that require addressing, and I’d be curious where those answers will take our protagonist.
William C. Dietz brings us an interesting new sci-fi police procedural series set in a plague-ravaged future. Those who survived the bioengineered threat of 2038 were either left completely unaffected or developed a wide range of disfiguring mutations, leaving a great divide – both socially and geographically – between the world’s “norms” and “mutants”. Relations between the two groups aren’t great, to say the least. Anti-mutant organizations sow hatred and incite brutal attacks and killings against mutants, making no small amount of work for Los Angeles detective Cassandra Lee who has built her reputation around taking down some of the city’s worst criminals.
When the daughter of Bishop Screed, leader of the Church of Human Purity, is kidnapped, all signs point to the work of mutants. Assigned to the case is Lee and her new mutant partner Deputy Ras Omo, who must race against time to save the young woman before she is sold and used for breeding by the ruthless human smuggling rings in the Red Zone. And if only that were the end of it. While chasing down leads, the two cops are also hounded every step of the way by Bonebreaker, the serial killer believed to have taken the lives of more than half a dozen police officers, including detective Frank Lee, Cassandra’s own father.
For a first book of a new series, Dietz has established quite a solid foundation for the world of Mutant Files, especially when it comes the social climate with regards to norms and mutants. Stigma is strong against the latter group, a lot of whom live in lawless and run-down “freak towns” where no norms fear to tread. To avoid catching the incurable disease, norms also wear masks and nose filters in the presence of mutants, and while most mutants wear masks too, they do so more to hide their terrible mutations. While world-building elements such as these are compelling, unfortunately they also come to the reader in a series of heavy info-dumps near the beginning of the novel, weighing down the introduction and making the first couple of chapters a slow read.
There’s quite a good story in here too, which, if not immediately apparent, does admittedly take a bit of effort to uncover. The major obstacle was once again the introduction, where I had a very difficult time adjusting to the writing.
Firstly, Dietz seems to have a fondness for frequent point-of-view switches, and not just between major characters. Every so often, minor characters and even random bystanders seem to feel the need to chime in for a paragraph or two, presumably so the reader can get a better feel of a situation by seeing it through their eyes. While I understood the intention, I didn’t think this was very effective and could have done with less of these seemingly arbitrary asides. And because they were often so short, rather than contribute to a scene I found them to be more distracting than anything.
Secondly, the author has a peculiar tendency to insert in-line explanations between parentheses in cases, say, where an acronym is being used or when a character says something in another language etc., and Dietz will place the translation right there in the middle of the prose and even dialogue. Not a big deal to some readers, perhaps, but for me it had a light immersion breaking effect. It would have been preferable if these explanations were naturally worked into the narrative, rather than placed glaringly between a pair of brackets. But then again, it’s also possible this may be changed in the finished book.
Without a doubt though, sandwiched between the beginning and end of the book is where all the good stuff is. The plot is entertaining and fast-paced, and kept me turning the pages once it got going. I did stumble again at the end when things wrapped up a bit too quickly and in much chaos, especially where the Bonebreaker aspect of the story was concerned, but generally I was quite pleased with the overall pacing as well as the characterization of Cassandra Lee, a badass female cop who is great at what she does. There’s always room for improvement when it comes to character development, but nonetheless I found myself greatly invested in Lee and Omo’s relationship.
I would rate this book between a 3 and 3.5 out of 5 stars if I could, with emphasis on the fact I really enjoyed the story but only after a fierce struggle with the writing. To be fair, most of my quibbles have to do with certain quirks of the author’s style, which may not matter as much to another reader. I’d definitely be open to reading the sequel, especially since there are still questions about the Bonebreaker that require addressing, and I’d be curious where those answers will take our protagonist.
March 2, 2015
I’ve been procrastinating on this review, not because I have nothing to say, but because I’m not going to particularly enjoy saying it. This book did not work for me, to the extent that if it had not been from Netgalley, I would not have finished it. So while this review is going to be negative--perhaps vehemently so--I think it’s important to explain my reasons. After all, an aspect that drives me to distraction may be a draw for another reader.
The basic plot: Cassandra “Deadeye” Lee is a member of the LAPD in the semi-post-apocalyptic country of Pacifica. In 2038, a Muslim extremist (wince) turned the bioengineered Bacillus nosilla loose upon the unbelievers. (Really? You had to go there?) B. nosilla rapidly transformed the U.S., slaying a quarter of its citizens and turning many more into bizarre mutants. In the resulting turmoil, the U.S. broke into the non-mutant countries Pacifica, Atlantica, and the Commonwealth, and the mutants established the Republic of Texas and the New Confederacy. Nowadays, people wander the streets in disposable masks to avoid exposure to the airborne bacteria that the mutants still carry, and some women wear burqas (argh) to modestly cover their mutilated forms. Detective Lee finds herself thrown into mutant politics when the daughter of a bishop of an anti-mutant religion is kidnapped, apparently to act as a “surrogate” for mutants. Forced to work with a mutant partner, she must also stop the serial killer who murdered her father--before she becomes his next victim.
The basic plot aims straight at some of my favourite themes. Police procedural in semi-post-apocalyptic LA? How could you lose?
Quite easily, as it turns out. I’m primarily a reader of detective fiction, particularly detective fiction that bleeds into other genres. I read books with great attention to detail (“the smallest point may be the most essential”), which in turn means that I am extremely sensitive to inconsistencies. And this book is loaded with them. Let’s start with the disease. I’m not going to go into the whole “single bacteria causes lots of coherent animal mashup mutations” bit, because that’s pretty standard and can be seen as artistic license. But what I really couldn’t cope with was the treatment of the disease within the book. Apparently, mutants are carriers, and while they do tend to get segregated, moving back and forth between zones is acceptable without any quarantine or even any attempts at decontamination. If it was me, everyone in or out would be drenched in antiseptic and germicides, then quarantined until they were known to be free of disease.
Even in the mutant zones, normals can apparently take off their masks to shower, brush their teeth, or sleep. Dietz airily explains that drinking water and eating food “was safe because B. nosilla was an airborne disease.” The hell? Airborne diseases are the most contagious category because they do not require contact for infection. What does Dietz think “airborne” means? Even if the bacteria spontaneously combust when they hit a surface, said surfaces aren’t safe because the disease is airborne; they’re safe because the disease is magical. Plus, how does Lee manage to drink out of a straw whilst wearing a mask, or talk without breathing air whilst not wearing one? On a more personal level, apparently sexual contact is just fine, to the point that mutant men capture normal women to have their babies. So what, the only orifices the bacteria can enter through are the nose and mouth? Then how does the baby get it from a mutant mother? As I said, perhaps I’m a pedant, but that level of inconsistency drove me nuts. I’m not even going to talk about the bit with the Muslim extremists, or the Aztec Empire, or the Native Americans (no tribe mentioned) who shoot with bows and arrows rather than guns (because that's what they do, right? Argh). My blood pressure doesn’t need it. I was reminded, inevitably, of Mitchell and Webb’s doctor drama.
While fantastic characters and writing can enliven even the most absurd worldbuilding, unfortunately, I found the prose to be jerky, with lots of awkward phrasing, incomplete sentences, and stilted dialogue. Dietz also had a tendency to rely upon informed attributes and emotions rather than trying to convey them through the conversation or the character’s body language. Because of this, I felt distanced from the characters, and their personalities remained static, superficial, and unsympathetic. The plot, too, tended to utilize rather a lot of exposition and side-notes to the reader. One of the most irritating forms of this was Dietz’s insistence upon explaining, in parentheses, what various terms meant, from “BOLO (be on the lookout)” to “TA (transit area)” to Spanish phrases such as “hijo de puta (son of a whore)” and “cara mierda (shit face)”. Personally, I feel that authors need to either trust their readers’ intelligence or work the terms’ meanings into the characters’ conversations. The parentheses are distracting, especially when they’re inserted into dialogue. I suspect the baddie using “cara mierda” didn’t helpfully translate the term in an aside, even though the parentheses are in the middle of his comment. There is a lot of action, with quite a few shootouts, and I can see the book being made into a successful TV show. However, because I didn’t care for the characters, I didn’t care about their troubles, and I had to force myself to plow onwards.
In retrospect, maybe this just wasn’t the book for me. Even beyond the Critical Research Failure aspect, most of the plot involves the protagonist chasing kidnappers who sell young girls into slavery where they’ll be impregnated by the mutant men who buy them, and that’s just not precisely my favourite plotline. Not even the attempt at a cliffhanger piqued my interest in the next book. So while I can imagine it as a TV show, and can see how it might appeal to less persnickety readers than me, this book was most definitely not my cup of tea.
**Note: this review is of an uncorrected advanced reader copy. While the included quotes may not reflect the final phrasing, I believe they speak to the nature of the novel as a whole.**
~~I received an advanced reader copy of this ebook through Netgalley from the publisher, Ace, in exchange for my (depressingly) honest review.~~
The basic plot: Cassandra “Deadeye” Lee is a member of the LAPD in the semi-post-apocalyptic country of Pacifica. In 2038, a Muslim extremist (wince) turned the bioengineered Bacillus nosilla loose upon the unbelievers. (Really? You had to go there?) B. nosilla rapidly transformed the U.S., slaying a quarter of its citizens and turning many more into bizarre mutants. In the resulting turmoil, the U.S. broke into the non-mutant countries Pacifica, Atlantica, and the Commonwealth, and the mutants established the Republic of Texas and the New Confederacy. Nowadays, people wander the streets in disposable masks to avoid exposure to the airborne bacteria that the mutants still carry, and some women wear burqas (argh) to modestly cover their mutilated forms. Detective Lee finds herself thrown into mutant politics when the daughter of a bishop of an anti-mutant religion is kidnapped, apparently to act as a “surrogate” for mutants. Forced to work with a mutant partner, she must also stop the serial killer who murdered her father--before she becomes his next victim.
The basic plot aims straight at some of my favourite themes. Police procedural in semi-post-apocalyptic LA? How could you lose?
Quite easily, as it turns out. I’m primarily a reader of detective fiction, particularly detective fiction that bleeds into other genres. I read books with great attention to detail (“the smallest point may be the most essential”), which in turn means that I am extremely sensitive to inconsistencies. And this book is loaded with them. Let’s start with the disease. I’m not going to go into the whole “single bacteria causes lots of coherent animal mashup mutations” bit, because that’s pretty standard and can be seen as artistic license. But what I really couldn’t cope with was the treatment of the disease within the book. Apparently, mutants are carriers, and while they do tend to get segregated, moving back and forth between zones is acceptable without any quarantine or even any attempts at decontamination. If it was me, everyone in or out would be drenched in antiseptic and germicides, then quarantined until they were known to be free of disease.
Even in the mutant zones, normals can apparently take off their masks to shower, brush their teeth, or sleep. Dietz airily explains that drinking water and eating food “was safe because B. nosilla was an airborne disease.” The hell? Airborne diseases are the most contagious category because they do not require contact for infection. What does Dietz think “airborne” means? Even if the bacteria spontaneously combust when they hit a surface, said surfaces aren’t safe because the disease is airborne; they’re safe because the disease is magical. Plus, how does Lee manage to drink out of a straw whilst wearing a mask, or talk without breathing air whilst not wearing one? On a more personal level, apparently sexual contact is just fine, to the point that mutant men capture normal women to have their babies. So what, the only orifices the bacteria can enter through are the nose and mouth? Then how does the baby get it from a mutant mother? As I said, perhaps I’m a pedant, but that level of inconsistency drove me nuts. I’m not even going to talk about the bit with the Muslim extremists, or the Aztec Empire, or the Native Americans (no tribe mentioned) who shoot with bows and arrows rather than guns (because that's what they do, right? Argh). My blood pressure doesn’t need it. I was reminded, inevitably, of Mitchell and Webb’s doctor drama.
While fantastic characters and writing can enliven even the most absurd worldbuilding, unfortunately, I found the prose to be jerky, with lots of awkward phrasing, incomplete sentences, and stilted dialogue. Dietz also had a tendency to rely upon informed attributes and emotions rather than trying to convey them through the conversation or the character’s body language. Because of this, I felt distanced from the characters, and their personalities remained static, superficial, and unsympathetic. The plot, too, tended to utilize rather a lot of exposition and side-notes to the reader. One of the most irritating forms of this was Dietz’s insistence upon explaining, in parentheses, what various terms meant, from “BOLO (be on the lookout)” to “TA (transit area)” to Spanish phrases such as “hijo de puta (son of a whore)” and “cara mierda (shit face)”. Personally, I feel that authors need to either trust their readers’ intelligence or work the terms’ meanings into the characters’ conversations. The parentheses are distracting, especially when they’re inserted into dialogue. I suspect the baddie using “cara mierda” didn’t helpfully translate the term in an aside, even though the parentheses are in the middle of his comment. There is a lot of action, with quite a few shootouts, and I can see the book being made into a successful TV show. However, because I didn’t care for the characters, I didn’t care about their troubles, and I had to force myself to plow onwards.
In retrospect, maybe this just wasn’t the book for me. Even beyond the Critical Research Failure aspect, most of the plot involves the protagonist chasing kidnappers who sell young girls into slavery where they’ll be impregnated by the mutant men who buy them, and that’s just not precisely my favourite plotline. Not even the attempt at a cliffhanger piqued my interest in the next book. So while I can imagine it as a TV show, and can see how it might appeal to less persnickety readers than me, this book was most definitely not my cup of tea.
**Note: this review is of an uncorrected advanced reader copy. While the included quotes may not reflect the final phrasing, I believe they speak to the nature of the novel as a whole.**
~~I received an advanced reader copy of this ebook through Netgalley from the publisher, Ace, in exchange for my (depressingly) honest review.~~
February 10, 2015
Verdict: Nope, that ain’t good enough for me.
My first association after reading the blurb and seeing this awesome cover was a new Naked in Death - style of book: Detective mystery with a strong female lead combined with a slightly futuristic setting. Hell yeah, give it to me! :D (Is there even a definition for this genre like Urban Futuristic?)
However, I was really excited to read this. What a let down.
I have to admit the world building was interesting enough, with ugly and badass mutants due to a viral/bacterial outbreak. As the government segregated mutants and norms and whole states have therefore vanished from society as we know it, the setup makes for interesting conflicts. The detective mystery was plotted well.
What stood out for me was Cassandra Lee, the main character. She’s a bad ass detective out for revenge on her father’s murderer. She could have been awesome but was unappealing instead. I think that her character was missing something vital. She is so cold, embittered, and single-minded that spending time with her was torturous and frustrating. She never jokes around, is in fact so rude to everybody else to the point of being completely anti-social. She has no private or work friends, mistrusts her colleagues, has no partners, no acquaintances or any other kind of confidant (not even a cat) and she doesn’t want to befriend anybody. To be honest, she could have been a male character and nothing would have changed in her attitude. I waited and waited for something to show her vulnerability. But I waited in vain.
I could have ignored her character and concentrated on the plot if the writing wouldn’t have been so bad. Lots and lots of different POVs: Like the burka widow of the killed mutant who appears only for one scene, or better jet Cassandra's first partner who gets killed off in a majorly dumb way in the second chapter. Why the author even gave him space on paper was beyond me.
Let’s progress with what really pissed me off big time while reading this book: The inconsistencies. While the world building was interesting, the author didn’t even try to be consistent. As Cassandra and Omo go into the mutant zone she wears a face mask but doesn’t hesitate to drink some Coke from the fridge of a mutant? Cassandra and Ras, wouldn't eat together in the beginning for fear of contamination but later have sex? Those scientific plot holes were really confusing.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this.
My first association after reading the blurb and seeing this awesome cover was a new Naked in Death - style of book: Detective mystery with a strong female lead combined with a slightly futuristic setting. Hell yeah, give it to me! :D (Is there even a definition for this genre like Urban Futuristic?)
However, I was really excited to read this. What a let down.
I have to admit the world building was interesting enough, with ugly and badass mutants due to a viral/bacterial outbreak. As the government segregated mutants and norms and whole states have therefore vanished from society as we know it, the setup makes for interesting conflicts. The detective mystery was plotted well.
What stood out for me was Cassandra Lee, the main character. She’s a bad ass detective out for revenge on her father’s murderer. She could have been awesome but was unappealing instead. I think that her character was missing something vital. She is so cold, embittered, and single-minded that spending time with her was torturous and frustrating. She never jokes around, is in fact so rude to everybody else to the point of being completely anti-social. She has no private or work friends, mistrusts her colleagues, has no partners, no acquaintances or any other kind of confidant (not even a cat) and she doesn’t want to befriend anybody. To be honest, she could have been a male character and nothing would have changed in her attitude. I waited and waited for something to show her vulnerability. But I waited in vain.
I could have ignored her character and concentrated on the plot if the writing wouldn’t have been so bad. Lots and lots of different POVs: Like the burka widow of the killed mutant who appears only for one scene, or better jet Cassandra's first partner who gets killed off in a majorly dumb way in the second chapter. Why the author even gave him space on paper was beyond me.
Let’s progress with what really pissed me off big time while reading this book: The inconsistencies. While the world building was interesting, the author didn’t even try to be consistent. As Cassandra and Omo go into the mutant zone she wears a face mask but doesn’t hesitate to drink some Coke from the fridge of a mutant? Cassandra and Ras, wouldn't eat together in the beginning for fear of contamination but later have sex? Those scientific plot holes were really confusing.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this.
January 9, 2016
Not going to say much about this; my thoughts are similar to the other non-positive (but informative) reviews. So read theirs instead: here, here, here, or here. Not even going to try writing a summary for myself to remember the plot *shrugs*.
Basically, the writing left me cold and distant to the main heroine. The story felt like tons of facts and information; not one that elicited any real sympathetic emotion from me as a reader. Even when one of the characters who appeared early in the book, whom I thought I would like, died in the first 10% of the book.
Also, I really didn't understand why the "romantic element" was added (I even felt uncertain to call it romantic); it was unnecessary, it was awkward as hell, and when I actually got to the short lovemaking scene (seriously, it was written like that ... "Their lovemaking was slow at first, deliciously so, but as both became more confident, the tempo started to increase...") I cringed in discomfort because it just felt really off.
The ending is a hook for readers who want to continue with the series. Sadly, I'm not one of them.
Basically, the writing left me cold and distant to the main heroine. The story felt like tons of facts and information; not one that elicited any real sympathetic emotion from me as a reader. Even when one of the characters who appeared early in the book, whom I thought I would like, died in the first 10% of the book.
Also, I really didn't understand why the "romantic element" was added (I even felt uncertain to call it romantic); it was unnecessary, it was awkward as hell, and when I actually got to the short lovemaking scene (seriously, it was written like that ... "Their lovemaking was slow at first, deliciously so, but as both became more confident, the tempo started to increase...") I cringed in discomfort because it just felt really off.
The ending is a hook for readers who want to continue with the series. Sadly, I'm not one of them.
July 18, 2016
I picked up this book ignoring the fact that it was a male author with a female-centric main character. I try not to let this fact color my desire for a book but most of the time it does. I ended up really enjoying this book. I liked how Cass would having feelings for someone but wouldn't let that emotion overwhelm the reason she was there. Also that the book didn't end with a doomed romance. I'm planning on reading more of this series.
I would recommend this book.
I would recommend this book.
May 4, 2015
Well...hmmm...yeah... I have to admit that the premise of the story is essentially more interesting than the story itself. From the synopsis, I thought I was going to get some really interesting and thoughtful dynamics between the "norms" and the "mutants", and some deep and engaging detective work to solve a high-profile kidnapping. But everything here is right on the surface. It's all just kinda thrown at you without subtlety, which makes for a rather cold and impersonal read.
I wanted to like Cassandra Lee, I really really did. But I have a hard time with protagonists like her. She might as well be Gatsby with breasts, a badge and a gun. Everyone either wants her or wants to be like her. People fall hard for her within just a few hours of meeting her, even though she is gruff and unfriendly. And she eats and drinks nothing but junk, but is still the most desirable woman in the greater Los Angeles area. Not sure how that works out, but ok. She must have the world's best metabolism. I was actually far more interested in her partner, mutant Ras Omo, who had a much more interesting set-up (even though he fell victim to Love Potion # Cassandra as well).
The action beats were pretty well written, so I can see where the praise for Mr. Dietz comes from in that regard. If the rest of the book was written with that much flair, unpredictability and excitement, then the tale would have been much more enjoyable. As it was, the tale just kinda "happened", without a lot of emotional connection required from the reader. I don't feel like I wasted my time on this book, but I also doubt I'll read any of the follow-up stories.
I wanted to like Cassandra Lee, I really really did. But I have a hard time with protagonists like her. She might as well be Gatsby with breasts, a badge and a gun. Everyone either wants her or wants to be like her. People fall hard for her within just a few hours of meeting her, even though she is gruff and unfriendly. And she eats and drinks nothing but junk, but is still the most desirable woman in the greater Los Angeles area. Not sure how that works out, but ok. She must have the world's best metabolism. I was actually far more interested in her partner, mutant Ras Omo, who had a much more interesting set-up (even though he fell victim to Love Potion # Cassandra as well).
The action beats were pretty well written, so I can see where the praise for Mr. Dietz comes from in that regard. If the rest of the book was written with that much flair, unpredictability and excitement, then the tale would have been much more enjoyable. As it was, the tale just kinda "happened", without a lot of emotional connection required from the reader. I don't feel like I wasted my time on this book, but I also doubt I'll read any of the follow-up stories.
April 6, 2015
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
DEADEYE, the first book in The Mutant Files series by Dietz, has a kick-ass cover, a potentially awesome premise, and not much else.
The setting, a disease ravaged, separated America is incredibly complex, and the author tries to fit it all in. I lost count of how many different gangs were mentioned, I stopped caring how many different empty-shell towns the characters raced through, and I gave up trying to figure out where the borders between the different new countries were.
There was so much information that turned out to be trivial by the end of the book that I stopped absorbing it. There is a literal war escalating while the events of DEADEYE unfold, and other than showing that the world is in chaos, it added nothing to the plot.
Cassandra Lee, the main character, is flat. She is anti-social, nasty to her boss and her co-workers, and wasn't even that close to her own parents, but every one seems to grunt and ignore it because she's a good shot and manages to solve crimes (by shooting at the problem, usually). She was so devoid of any humanity that I was surprised when two of the guys in the book declared their love for her – there is nothing to love. This is one of those books where the characters will say they fall in love, instead of showing you an evolution of their relationship.
Another issue is the constant change of point of view. You get to see Cassandra's point of view for most of the book, but the author switches to dozens of other points of view throughout: Cassandra's partners, her boss, the rival police chief, the bad guy, the bad guy's lackey, the kidnap victim, the gang leader, the gang leader's lackey... As if that wasn't enough, you also get two to four paragraph changes of point of view from characters who get shot or murdered by the end of it. Every one of these shifts was jarring, and made me feel less attached to the secondary characters, since I knew they could be killed instantly.
Readers are even treated to the point of view of the Bonebreaker, who I thought would be a bigger deal considering how much of the book description is dedicated to him. Cassandra manages to have multiple close calls and even a run-in with the Bonebreaker, yet for most of the book she doesn't share any of this information with the other police officers, because they might pull her off the case she is on, or she feels she doesn't have enough information. It was ridiculously unbelievable. The lone-wolf cop character can be interesting, but she was just making stupid decisions regarding both her safety and the safety of all police officers she worked with.
The most annoying thing, for me, was that Dietz seemed uninterested in creating a believable mutant plague. Some mutants are carriers of this airborne plague, which means that any mutant coming into the non-mutant zone must wear a full burqua-like suit. They need to stay in special zones, which are locked down every night. “Norms” going into a red-zone must wear nostril filters and masks, in order to avoid breathing in the toxic plague. The author goes into a lot of detail about the special restaurants where norms and mutants can eat together at, with a barrier between the two, and Cassandra packs her own food when she goes into the red zone...and then Cassandra has sex with a mutant. Multiple times. They don't kiss, but I still can't imagine that intercourse would be safe if they won't even eat in each others' immediate presence. It was such a jarring change of habit from the rest of the story that it completely ruined the feel of the paranoid, sterile world Dietz was trying to create. What is the point of only drinking through your special mask-straw if you are going to share bodily fluids?
The reason I think this book made me so frustrated is that there was potential, and that I have seen these kinds of complicated medically-paranoid worlds built successfully by other authors. All in all, DEADEYE was not worth the frustrating read, cool cover or not.
Sexual content: Sex scenes
DEADEYE, the first book in The Mutant Files series by Dietz, has a kick-ass cover, a potentially awesome premise, and not much else.
The setting, a disease ravaged, separated America is incredibly complex, and the author tries to fit it all in. I lost count of how many different gangs were mentioned, I stopped caring how many different empty-shell towns the characters raced through, and I gave up trying to figure out where the borders between the different new countries were.
There was so much information that turned out to be trivial by the end of the book that I stopped absorbing it. There is a literal war escalating while the events of DEADEYE unfold, and other than showing that the world is in chaos, it added nothing to the plot.
Cassandra Lee, the main character, is flat. She is anti-social, nasty to her boss and her co-workers, and wasn't even that close to her own parents, but every one seems to grunt and ignore it because she's a good shot and manages to solve crimes (by shooting at the problem, usually). She was so devoid of any humanity that I was surprised when two of the guys in the book declared their love for her – there is nothing to love. This is one of those books where the characters will say they fall in love, instead of showing you an evolution of their relationship.
Another issue is the constant change of point of view. You get to see Cassandra's point of view for most of the book, but the author switches to dozens of other points of view throughout: Cassandra's partners, her boss, the rival police chief, the bad guy, the bad guy's lackey, the kidnap victim, the gang leader, the gang leader's lackey... As if that wasn't enough, you also get two to four paragraph changes of point of view from characters who get shot or murdered by the end of it. Every one of these shifts was jarring, and made me feel less attached to the secondary characters, since I knew they could be killed instantly.
Readers are even treated to the point of view of the Bonebreaker, who I thought would be a bigger deal considering how much of the book description is dedicated to him. Cassandra manages to have multiple close calls and even a run-in with the Bonebreaker, yet for most of the book she doesn't share any of this information with the other police officers, because they might pull her off the case she is on, or she feels she doesn't have enough information. It was ridiculously unbelievable. The lone-wolf cop character can be interesting, but she was just making stupid decisions regarding both her safety and the safety of all police officers she worked with.
The most annoying thing, for me, was that Dietz seemed uninterested in creating a believable mutant plague. Some mutants are carriers of this airborne plague, which means that any mutant coming into the non-mutant zone must wear a full burqua-like suit. They need to stay in special zones, which are locked down every night. “Norms” going into a red-zone must wear nostril filters and masks, in order to avoid breathing in the toxic plague. The author goes into a lot of detail about the special restaurants where norms and mutants can eat together at, with a barrier between the two, and Cassandra packs her own food when she goes into the red zone...and then Cassandra has sex with a mutant. Multiple times. They don't kiss, but I still can't imagine that intercourse would be safe if they won't even eat in each others' immediate presence. It was such a jarring change of habit from the rest of the story that it completely ruined the feel of the paranoid, sterile world Dietz was trying to create. What is the point of only drinking through your special mask-straw if you are going to share bodily fluids?
The reason I think this book made me so frustrated is that there was potential, and that I have seen these kinds of complicated medically-paranoid worlds built successfully by other authors. All in all, DEADEYE was not worth the frustrating read, cool cover or not.
Sexual content: Sex scenes
February 11, 2015
I picked up this book because of the awesome cover and because Ace is one of those imprints that tends to put out my sort of books. I loved the beginning, wherein Detective Bruce Conti begins his partnership with Cassandra Lee. I liked that it was a reversal of the usual setup. The guy is the younger, less experienced one trying to prove himself to the squad and she's the world-weary one who has seen too many partners come and go.
But I started to suspect that DEADEYE wasn't for me when Conti died in chapter two of stupidity. That is, running out in front of nine armed men without a bulletproof vest for reasons that are never adequately explained. Lee's narration later suggests that he loved her, which ... they knew each other for about a week, and he was attracted to her but they were still standoffish. Of course, Lee's partner falls in love with her in about the same span of time, so it's that kind of book.
And it turned out the Lee that those first chapters sold me on was a mirage. She's not a hyper-competent cop with an aim to put everyone else to shame. Her competence comes and goes as the plot requires. This includes getting into a lockable cage just because a nice man asks her to. Her aim gets worse as the book goes on. As for her detective skills, she starts to suspect that the high-profile girl whose bodyguards were paid off was kidnapped specifically and not just snatched randomly by human traffickers after she tracks the traffickers down and they've already passed her off to the buyer. It's present like another obstacle in the plot instead of a flashing sign that all the detectives involved need to learn to stop and think before leaping in guns a-blazing.
But why is it called the Mutant Files, you might ask? Because a virus spread through the human race, killing some and mutating others. Now the norms and the mutants live separately, wearing face masks and other gear when they cross the border into the others' territory. After all, the virus is still highly contagious. Which is why Lee worries about eating too close to her partner but still has sex with him. As if a virus with a variety of wildly different symptoms didn't strain my disbelief enough.
This book is a mess. The main character is unbelievable, the world makes no sense, and the plot is basically an excuse for one shootout after another. There's almost no weight to the climax because it's just one more gun battle of many. It does have a woman as the lone-wolf detective with a guarded heart, which is about all it has going for it.
But I started to suspect that DEADEYE wasn't for me when Conti died in chapter two of stupidity. That is, running out in front of nine armed men without a bulletproof vest for reasons that are never adequately explained. Lee's narration later suggests that he loved her, which ... they knew each other for about a week, and he was attracted to her but they were still standoffish. Of course, Lee's partner falls in love with her in about the same span of time, so it's that kind of book.
And it turned out the Lee that those first chapters sold me on was a mirage. She's not a hyper-competent cop with an aim to put everyone else to shame. Her competence comes and goes as the plot requires. This includes getting into a lockable cage just because a nice man asks her to. Her aim gets worse as the book goes on. As for her detective skills, she starts to suspect that the high-profile girl whose bodyguards were paid off was kidnapped specifically and not just snatched randomly by human traffickers after she tracks the traffickers down and they've already passed her off to the buyer. It's present like another obstacle in the plot instead of a flashing sign that all the detectives involved need to learn to stop and think before leaping in guns a-blazing.
But why is it called the Mutant Files, you might ask? Because a virus spread through the human race, killing some and mutating others. Now the norms and the mutants live separately, wearing face masks and other gear when they cross the border into the others' territory. After all, the virus is still highly contagious. Which is why Lee worries about eating too close to her partner but still has sex with him. As if a virus with a variety of wildly different symptoms didn't strain my disbelief enough.
This book is a mess. The main character is unbelievable, the world makes no sense, and the plot is basically an excuse for one shootout after another. There's almost no weight to the climax because it's just one more gun battle of many. It does have a woman as the lone-wolf detective with a guarded heart, which is about all it has going for it.
November 25, 2021
Deadeye by William C. Dietz is the first book in the Mutant Files trilogy. It is set a few years in the future where a plague has killed much of the human race and those who are left are divided into two groups. One group is those that have been unaffected by the virus and the other group is those who were affected and have developed terrible mutations. The mutants live in separate areas known as Red Zones and must wear masks when they are around normal humans to help prevent the spread of the virus. Cassandra Lee is a detective who is at the top of her game and held down by the past and the murder of her father. When she is put on a kidnapping case that will lead her into a Red Zone she must team up with mutant lawman Deputy Ras Omo. She is also secretly working on her father's case. He was killed by a serial killer known as the "Bonebreaker". What she will soon learn is that the Bonebreaker is hunting her back!
August 3, 2015
I really liked the world that this book was set in. I felt sorry for the mutants, for how they were treated, mostly because how they got to be a mutant could have happened to any of us.
Cassie Lee was interesting. She so lived for her job, the sense of right and wrong. This case sure seemed to cause her to question her beliefs and how she viewed Mutants. Omo was able to show Cassie a whole different world in many ways. I felt bad with how things ended with them.
The person that I really felt sorry for was Amanda. She learned some harsh truths about her world and it will never be the same again.
Cassie Lee was interesting. She so lived for her job, the sense of right and wrong. This case sure seemed to cause her to question her beliefs and how she viewed Mutants. Omo was able to show Cassie a whole different world in many ways. I felt bad with how things ended with them.
The person that I really felt sorry for was Amanda. She learned some harsh truths about her world and it will never be the same again.
June 23, 2015
Originally posted on Feb 24 2015 at Butterfly-o-Meter Books:
In a Flutter: Fast paced action
Review
I confess when I requested the title my thinking was something like this: “OK, so big name. They’re totally owning it, right? Big name taking on what sounded (and looked) like a Sci-Fi equivalent of female MC Urban Fantasy. Gutsy, different. I wanna try this baby!”
If you got that impression too from reading the blurb and seeing the cover, you’re probably as wrong as I was. If I’d have to describe it, I’d say it’s probably old-school action-focused detective procedural. I don’t mean that in either a positive or negative way. It’s simply to give you what I feel is the right idea about what’s “under the hood”. If you like more old-school writing and action packed futuristic fiction, it’s for you.
The post-apocalyptic kind of world is interesting, with a new world order type of thing that I enjoyed. The virus that wiped out almost half the population provoked mutations to many who got infected but survived – affectionately called “freaks” by some of those uninfected. Some are carriers, some aren’t, and it’s an airborne virus. This must be mentioned because it’s mentioned a few times in the novel, and it helps explain why detective Cassandra Lee, the uninfected main character, does something-something with a “freak” at some point in the novel while they’re wearing masks (it takes protection to a whole other level, lol!), with no kissing, and resulting in quite possibly the most unromantic, even antiromantic, entanglement I’ve read in a while. Call me crazy, but I liked that. It was somehow pragmatic and fact-like. I’m in a bit of an antiromantic mood myself, lol, so for me this totally worked. I liked the different vibe.
So, Cassandra Lee is the main character. Her role is somewhat unsurprising; we’ve all seen the cop with a dead something (parent, child, spouse, sibling) who becomes obsessed with solving that murder case, right? Well, that’s Lee. She’s a detective for the LAPD with the odd habit of having her partners kind of die on her. (Some in what I’d call stupidoid conditions, almost shocking considering who and what said partners are – elite detectives. You’ll understand why I say this when you get to I think Chapter 2, and read what happens to Conti. I didn’t really get what the point of that was. “Humanizing” Lee, making the reader empathize with her? For me it didn’t work that way.)
Then comes Omo, a “freak” detective in to assist Lee with looking into the kidnapping of a prominent Pacifica dude’s daughter. This guy I liked. I can’t say his personality stood out too much, but what did stand out was how the “freak” thing affected him. I liked the way that issue was presented, the discrimination that goes on in this futuristic world. To be clear, I didn’t like the discrimination, lol, I’m soundly against it. I liked how William C. Dietz framed that issue. I felt the approach was almost starkly realistic.
The third person, past tense narrative mainly from Lee’s POV had some inserts from other POVs as well. One could argue the input of those characters was most often very short, didn’t shed much light upon something Lee couldn’t have known that was very relevant to the plot, and tended to be more irritating than enlightening. I don’t personally enjoy POV switches at all, head-hopping is tiring, breaks your investment in the story atmosphere and it constantly snaps you out of the story instead of helping the writing “disappear”. Many might find the POV jumps annoying, and I confess I didn’t see their use and didn’t feel they had any positive effect. But maybe that’s just me :)
It also needs to be said that the writing style was a bit different from what I’m used to. Nowadays fiction tends to do its best to make the writing “disappear”, meaning it strives to flow smoothly and immerse you into the story, evoke feelings, help you if not push you to empathize with at least the main character if not more of the characters involved. I believe this applies to all commercial genres, it’s a school of thought that has become something of a religion.
Reading Deadeye was a very weird experience because it evoked almost no emotion as far as I’m concerned. There were situations that I believe were meant to evoke emotion, the Conti thing, the Omo and Lee development – I mean the circumstances were there. But the approach to actually triggering emotion somehow wasn’t. It’s tough to explain… in a way, I felt emotional situations were somehow approached form a fact/action perspective. The part that made me feel emotion the most was the discrimination thing. But I didn’t feel for Lee as much as I would have liked to.
The plot could have easily made a fan out of me. Lee’s story could have made my heart throb, she had lots of qualities, also flaws, making her an authentic and non-perfect therefore very likable character (for me). The writing style just didn’t win my heart. It’s a subjective view, of course. You might love the style. It fits a police procedural imo, it helps focus on action of which there is plenty, and it makes this a fast paced read. For me though it kind of lacked feels.
All in all, I’d say this was an interesting read. I never once contemplated dropping it, for instance, I wasn’t bored, I didn’t feel the need to skip pages or fast-forward to the end. The story was fast paced and engaging, even if in some points it wasn’t as convincing as it could have been.
If you’re into action movies, futuristic post-plague scenarios, and wild chases, I think this is a novel you’ll enjoy.
In a Flutter: Fast paced action
Review
I confess when I requested the title my thinking was something like this: “OK, so big name. They’re totally owning it, right? Big name taking on what sounded (and looked) like a Sci-Fi equivalent of female MC Urban Fantasy. Gutsy, different. I wanna try this baby!”
If you got that impression too from reading the blurb and seeing the cover, you’re probably as wrong as I was. If I’d have to describe it, I’d say it’s probably old-school action-focused detective procedural. I don’t mean that in either a positive or negative way. It’s simply to give you what I feel is the right idea about what’s “under the hood”. If you like more old-school writing and action packed futuristic fiction, it’s for you.
The post-apocalyptic kind of world is interesting, with a new world order type of thing that I enjoyed. The virus that wiped out almost half the population provoked mutations to many who got infected but survived – affectionately called “freaks” by some of those uninfected. Some are carriers, some aren’t, and it’s an airborne virus. This must be mentioned because it’s mentioned a few times in the novel, and it helps explain why detective Cassandra Lee, the uninfected main character, does something-something with a “freak” at some point in the novel while they’re wearing masks (it takes protection to a whole other level, lol!), with no kissing, and resulting in quite possibly the most unromantic, even antiromantic, entanglement I’ve read in a while. Call me crazy, but I liked that. It was somehow pragmatic and fact-like. I’m in a bit of an antiromantic mood myself, lol, so for me this totally worked. I liked the different vibe.
So, Cassandra Lee is the main character. Her role is somewhat unsurprising; we’ve all seen the cop with a dead something (parent, child, spouse, sibling) who becomes obsessed with solving that murder case, right? Well, that’s Lee. She’s a detective for the LAPD with the odd habit of having her partners kind of die on her. (Some in what I’d call stupidoid conditions, almost shocking considering who and what said partners are – elite detectives. You’ll understand why I say this when you get to I think Chapter 2, and read what happens to Conti. I didn’t really get what the point of that was. “Humanizing” Lee, making the reader empathize with her? For me it didn’t work that way.)
Then comes Omo, a “freak” detective in to assist Lee with looking into the kidnapping of a prominent Pacifica dude’s daughter. This guy I liked. I can’t say his personality stood out too much, but what did stand out was how the “freak” thing affected him. I liked the way that issue was presented, the discrimination that goes on in this futuristic world. To be clear, I didn’t like the discrimination, lol, I’m soundly against it. I liked how William C. Dietz framed that issue. I felt the approach was almost starkly realistic.
The third person, past tense narrative mainly from Lee’s POV had some inserts from other POVs as well. One could argue the input of those characters was most often very short, didn’t shed much light upon something Lee couldn’t have known that was very relevant to the plot, and tended to be more irritating than enlightening. I don’t personally enjoy POV switches at all, head-hopping is tiring, breaks your investment in the story atmosphere and it constantly snaps you out of the story instead of helping the writing “disappear”. Many might find the POV jumps annoying, and I confess I didn’t see their use and didn’t feel they had any positive effect. But maybe that’s just me :)
It also needs to be said that the writing style was a bit different from what I’m used to. Nowadays fiction tends to do its best to make the writing “disappear”, meaning it strives to flow smoothly and immerse you into the story, evoke feelings, help you if not push you to empathize with at least the main character if not more of the characters involved. I believe this applies to all commercial genres, it’s a school of thought that has become something of a religion.
Reading Deadeye was a very weird experience because it evoked almost no emotion as far as I’m concerned. There were situations that I believe were meant to evoke emotion, the Conti thing, the Omo and Lee development – I mean the circumstances were there. But the approach to actually triggering emotion somehow wasn’t. It’s tough to explain… in a way, I felt emotional situations were somehow approached form a fact/action perspective. The part that made me feel emotion the most was the discrimination thing. But I didn’t feel for Lee as much as I would have liked to.
The plot could have easily made a fan out of me. Lee’s story could have made my heart throb, she had lots of qualities, also flaws, making her an authentic and non-perfect therefore very likable character (for me). The writing style just didn’t win my heart. It’s a subjective view, of course. You might love the style. It fits a police procedural imo, it helps focus on action of which there is plenty, and it makes this a fast paced read. For me though it kind of lacked feels.
All in all, I’d say this was an interesting read. I never once contemplated dropping it, for instance, I wasn’t bored, I didn’t feel the need to skip pages or fast-forward to the end. The story was fast paced and engaging, even if in some points it wasn’t as convincing as it could have been.
If you’re into action movies, futuristic post-plague scenarios, and wild chases, I think this is a novel you’ll enjoy.
February 16, 2015
Deadeye seemed perfect for me. Urban Fantasy, lots of action and a kick ass heroine, but it only gets an OK. I would consider reading a second book in the series, but I'm not anxiously awaiting it.
The book seems to be split into a small first part where Cassandra and a partner are trying to bring down a norm who steals from and kills mutants. Stupidity occurs which makes no sense in an officer with 6 years experience and is so good he's being given an opportunity to try out for an elite squad. The excuse for his stupid action is that he loves Cassandra, but there's no proof of that on the written page other than he thinks that he'd like to sleep with Cassandra when they first meet. Besides that, she wasn't in danger at that point. If this beginning event was meant to introduce us to the characters and world it wasn't terribly successful. We never really get to know Cassandra other than her obsession to find her father's and other cops' killer (the Bonebreaker). That mission takes a backseat to the longer story about a preacher's daughter getting abducted.
This part of the story had more world building and action with some nice twists. I liked how strong all the women are in this book, even Amanda, the preacher's daughter.
I noticed some of the other reviewers stated there were inconsistencies in the world building, but I read plenty of times about the masks that were being worn by both or one of the partners (including during sex), how straws were used to drink, how the virus was air borne, how it was presumably safe to eat if there was approx. 20 ft. between individuals etc. I felt these elements were mentioned more than enough.
Because there was so much action and so little communication between the characters, I couldn't develop much feeling for or interest in Cassandra (I felt more for the people killed off). That has to happen for a book/series to be really successful for me.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
The book seems to be split into a small first part where Cassandra and a partner are trying to bring down a norm who steals from and kills mutants. Stupidity occurs which makes no sense in an officer with 6 years experience and is so good he's being given an opportunity to try out for an elite squad. The excuse for his stupid action is that he loves Cassandra, but there's no proof of that on the written page other than he thinks that he'd like to sleep with Cassandra when they first meet. Besides that, she wasn't in danger at that point. If this beginning event was meant to introduce us to the characters and world it wasn't terribly successful. We never really get to know Cassandra other than her obsession to find her father's and other cops' killer (the Bonebreaker). That mission takes a backseat to the longer story about a preacher's daughter getting abducted.
This part of the story had more world building and action with some nice twists. I liked how strong all the women are in this book, even Amanda, the preacher's daughter.
I noticed some of the other reviewers stated there were inconsistencies in the world building, but I read plenty of times about the masks that were being worn by both or one of the partners (including during sex), how straws were used to drink, how the virus was air borne, how it was presumably safe to eat if there was approx. 20 ft. between individuals etc. I felt these elements were mentioned more than enough.
Because there was so much action and so little communication between the characters, I couldn't develop much feeling for or interest in Cassandra (I felt more for the people killed off). That has to happen for a book/series to be really successful for me.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
February 2, 2015
Cassandra is cop in a future Los Angeles that now deals with living with a plague that mutates people if they don’t die from it. And if you mutate you are then a carrier for the virus until you die. The world is fractured along the lines of infected and normal. The book starts out as the usual cop centric mystery of find the kidnap victim and all the evidence points that she has been taken to the mutant lands to be a surrogate mother. Cassandra is on the case and is teamed with a cop from the mutant side. If I didn’t think about the problems of biology it was an ok read but there were a few too many plot points that made me scratch my head. The main plot was good and the ending wasn’t bad but a few too many places in the book made me stop for a second and try and think of a workaround that would get over what would be a science plot point. A bubble gum read and not too bad if you like mysteries but I had a few too many parts that I questioned the science to really bother to read the next one in the series.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
January 28, 2015
Deadeye kept throwing me curves and the biggest one was right at the start. A character I really liked did not last long and that threw me off for most of the book. The story is OK. The character building is a little off. I thought the Cassandra Lee at the beginning of the book is very different from the Cassandra Lee at the end and I saw no reason for the change. There is a problem to be solved and Cassandra and Ras Omo succeed. There was a twist to that problem and I saw it coming.
Much of the world building and character development has been used before so while the plot was interesting it really did not have the twists to make it seem new and fresh. A nice read and I will look for book two. However it will not go on my re-read list.
Much of the world building and character development has been used before so while the plot was interesting it really did not have the twists to make it seem new and fresh. A nice read and I will look for book two. However it will not go on my re-read list.
January 17, 2020
Deadeye paints an image of near-future America, devastated by disease but doing its best to recover and get on with life. The disease, a bacterial infection, has left most of the infected as mutants, people with disfigurements and who are ostracized from society due to the possibility of passing the contagion to “norms.” Cassandra Lee escaped infection, is still “normal,” and works with law enforcement to make life safer for everyone.
Deadeye isn’t exactly a comfortable read at points, in no small part because of the prejudice between “muties” and “norms.” Mutants are actively discriminated against. They’re segregated from the rest of society, forced to live in “red zones” where the risk of contagion is higher, given little to no real support from the government, and even those in charge seem to just want to sweep them under the rug and not have to deal with them. Most of the animosity seems to stem less from fear of contagion and more disgust with the fact that they have disfigurements and people consider them ugly. Which got me wondering what kind of privileged life all these characters must have led, to have never seen a person with deformities from injury or genetic issue. That aspect of Dietz’s near-future world-building sat badly with me, to be honest, because it seemed to say that only people who contracted the disease look like that, and everyone else is has a perfect unblemished body. Especially given that some of the deformities listed are things like withered limbs or unhealing abscesses, rather than horns of pointy ears (though they’re present too).
I do have to commend Dietz for taking the idea of a new disease in the near-future that doesn’t create an army of zombies, because honestly, that idea’s been done to the point where it long since ceased even being stale. Having zombies as the outcome of emerging diseases seems to be weirdly in vogue, and as someone who vehemently dislikes zombies, I like seeing that concept go in a different direction. So while I imagine some people of similar mind might be put off by the description of this book, thinking that “mutants” is just going to be another word for the walking dead, I can assure you that it isn’t the case.
The ground is a little shaky when it comes to the science behind Dietz’s infection, however. Bacterial infections can cause disfigurements, but the kind of mutations you see in the book seem more likely to be caused by a virus meddling around with DNA, especially when you consider things like horns or elven ears. Also, it was stated that neither a cure nor a treatment has been found, because it keeps mutating and changing so quickly, and medical science can’t keep up with it. However, there seems to be no mention of people contracting it twice, which is what would happen if it kept mutating to a different strain. That’s why people get the flu multiple times in their lives. Influenza mutates quickly enough that the strain one year isn’t the same as the one next year. If it was mutating too quickly to formulate a vaccine, or even figure out which antibiotics might treat it, then people would run the risk of being infected multiple times, which doesn’t seem to be an issue since it never gets a mention.
Also, only mutants can be carriers or the disease, for some unexplained reason. This is part of the reason they’re segregated in the red zones. But the reason for this isn’t clear either, since it’s stated that people can survive infection without mutation, though it’s rarer. But logically, any human who survived infection could also be a carrier. It just seemed to be another piece of stigma attached to mutants, though this one can’t really be explained away by people being stupid and bigoted. Perhaps this is just so rare that it hasn’t happened yet, and this will be addressed in a future novel in the series; I don’t really know.
Dietz’s writing is decent, if a touch unpolished. In particular, what struck me was his tendency to explain acronyms with their full meaning in parentheses… in the middle of speech. Unless whoever was talking was doing the explaining (in which case, different punctuation than parentheses should have been used), that’s not the time to put aside the helpful little note for the reader’s sake. But for the most part, it’s okay. Very action-oriented, so if you’re looking for something that’s heavy on car chases and shootouts, then definitely take a look into Deadeye.
I think most of my apathy about this book is that unfortunately it just wasn’t too my taste. So while I didn’t think too highly of it, I think it’s quite likely that others, particularly those who tend to prefer police procedurals, will like it far more. The flaws I found may seem quite large partly because I didn’t find much to counter it, but even with that in mind I can’t say that it was a bad book. Just not one that I really enjoyed much. But I can say with certainty that there are those to whom this book will be quite appealing: as I said, those who like police procedurals, those who like their near-future fiction to be gritty and filled with action, those who are looking for a fast-paced ride through a grim and disturbing urban fantasy future that’s still in flux, then for you, it may well be worth checking out Deadeye when you get the chance. There’s enough mystery and suspense to keep the story going, and enough plot threads leading to the horizon to bring those readers back to the series for more.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
Deadeye isn’t exactly a comfortable read at points, in no small part because of the prejudice between “muties” and “norms.” Mutants are actively discriminated against. They’re segregated from the rest of society, forced to live in “red zones” where the risk of contagion is higher, given little to no real support from the government, and even those in charge seem to just want to sweep them under the rug and not have to deal with them. Most of the animosity seems to stem less from fear of contagion and more disgust with the fact that they have disfigurements and people consider them ugly. Which got me wondering what kind of privileged life all these characters must have led, to have never seen a person with deformities from injury or genetic issue. That aspect of Dietz’s near-future world-building sat badly with me, to be honest, because it seemed to say that only people who contracted the disease look like that, and everyone else is has a perfect unblemished body. Especially given that some of the deformities listed are things like withered limbs or unhealing abscesses, rather than horns of pointy ears (though they’re present too).
I do have to commend Dietz for taking the idea of a new disease in the near-future that doesn’t create an army of zombies, because honestly, that idea’s been done to the point where it long since ceased even being stale. Having zombies as the outcome of emerging diseases seems to be weirdly in vogue, and as someone who vehemently dislikes zombies, I like seeing that concept go in a different direction. So while I imagine some people of similar mind might be put off by the description of this book, thinking that “mutants” is just going to be another word for the walking dead, I can assure you that it isn’t the case.
The ground is a little shaky when it comes to the science behind Dietz’s infection, however. Bacterial infections can cause disfigurements, but the kind of mutations you see in the book seem more likely to be caused by a virus meddling around with DNA, especially when you consider things like horns or elven ears. Also, it was stated that neither a cure nor a treatment has been found, because it keeps mutating and changing so quickly, and medical science can’t keep up with it. However, there seems to be no mention of people contracting it twice, which is what would happen if it kept mutating to a different strain. That’s why people get the flu multiple times in their lives. Influenza mutates quickly enough that the strain one year isn’t the same as the one next year. If it was mutating too quickly to formulate a vaccine, or even figure out which antibiotics might treat it, then people would run the risk of being infected multiple times, which doesn’t seem to be an issue since it never gets a mention.
Also, only mutants can be carriers or the disease, for some unexplained reason. This is part of the reason they’re segregated in the red zones. But the reason for this isn’t clear either, since it’s stated that people can survive infection without mutation, though it’s rarer. But logically, any human who survived infection could also be a carrier. It just seemed to be another piece of stigma attached to mutants, though this one can’t really be explained away by people being stupid and bigoted. Perhaps this is just so rare that it hasn’t happened yet, and this will be addressed in a future novel in the series; I don’t really know.
Dietz’s writing is decent, if a touch unpolished. In particular, what struck me was his tendency to explain acronyms with their full meaning in parentheses… in the middle of speech. Unless whoever was talking was doing the explaining (in which case, different punctuation than parentheses should have been used), that’s not the time to put aside the helpful little note for the reader’s sake. But for the most part, it’s okay. Very action-oriented, so if you’re looking for something that’s heavy on car chases and shootouts, then definitely take a look into Deadeye.
I think most of my apathy about this book is that unfortunately it just wasn’t too my taste. So while I didn’t think too highly of it, I think it’s quite likely that others, particularly those who tend to prefer police procedurals, will like it far more. The flaws I found may seem quite large partly because I didn’t find much to counter it, but even with that in mind I can’t say that it was a bad book. Just not one that I really enjoyed much. But I can say with certainty that there are those to whom this book will be quite appealing: as I said, those who like police procedurals, those who like their near-future fiction to be gritty and filled with action, those who are looking for a fast-paced ride through a grim and disturbing urban fantasy future that’s still in flux, then for you, it may well be worth checking out Deadeye when you get the chance. There’s enough mystery and suspense to keep the story going, and enough plot threads leading to the horizon to bring those readers back to the series for more.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
March 9, 2015
I waited too long to write a review.
While this read had all the elements of a potentially fantastic UF read, including a female lead, mutant, and an "us versus them" vibe, there were just too many discrepancies, including the disease itself, to fully immerse myself into the story.
I was not able to finish this read. It just didn't grab me.
DNF
I received this read as an ARC from Netgalley
While this read had all the elements of a potentially fantastic UF read, including a female lead, mutant, and an "us versus them" vibe, there were just too many discrepancies, including the disease itself, to fully immerse myself into the story.
I was not able to finish this read. It just didn't grab me.
DNF
I received this read as an ARC from Netgalley
December 2, 2015
It's been some time since I've read an urban fantasy but I have to say, I am hooked on this series. Detective Cassandra Lee is total kickbutt but with a conscience to go with it. Although she has a reputation for being unlikable, I found myself liking her from the beginning. And Ras Omo, he's probably the coolest mutant I've ever met in a novel. I am anxiously eyeing the sequel hoping that we get more of him in it.
February 12, 2015
lost steam about halfway through, but I liked the concept, the holes in the tale were just too big for me to jump
February 12, 2015
originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2015...
I think last year I started reacing William C. Dietz' Legion series. I started with the prequel series that featured Andromeda McKee, who had to venture through a more than hostile territory. After reading the first book I was completely taken by the story and writing of William C. Dietz. Very powerful and strong characterization. Just recently I found out that he has started a completely new series, The Mutant Files, which takes place in our near future. 2038 to be exact. And this world has been changed. Changed quite a lot. This is the first book in the series, Deadeye.
The story of Deadeye focuses on female detective Cassandra Lee. Cassandra serves for the Los Angeles Police Department in the Special Investigative Section (or SIS). This unit takes on the special and hard cases. The beginning of the book really serves as a start up of the story. Cassandra meets up with her new partner Conti. Cassandra is used to draw her own plan but her new partner, wants to be on her goodside, a lot of man are after Cassandra as she is quite good looking. Anyway, there start isn't without any problems but slowly they change in what might become a good duo. However one day, they encounter a robbery with nine armed men, during a shoot out, Conti gets killed in the crossfire. Now this is somewhat of an important point for Cassandra's character as she does change her behavior, she comes on time to the briefings of the chief. After recuperating from her loss Cassandra gets assigned a new task a missing persons case. The daughter of a well known and respected Bishop is kidnapped and taken in to the Redzone (will get to that in a minute). Now Cassandra has to find a way to rescue this young girl. Once again she isn't at this task alone, Cassandra gets a new partner, but this time around not a normal human but a mutated one, Ras Omo. Being a mutant does offer an advantage in the Redzone and being a human offers only disadvantages. Cassandra is placed in a more than hostile environment and has to rely solely on her own skills to get out there alive. Will she be able to find the kidnapped girl or will she succumb to all the traps in the Redzone.
Next to this main storyline there are also some sort of sidetracks that are put up early and the main one revolves around the death of Cassandra's father. He also was a cop, a well known and respected at that. Unfortunately he was murdered by a killer who goes about the name Bonebreaker, his kills are far from pretty. The case is still ongoing but Bonebreaker is hard to find, he will most likely find you before you do him. Cassandra is determined to get to the bottom of it and find him, but in her quest she uncovers a truth and is confronted by some horrible things. It seems that the Bonebreaker is out to get her as well...
Above I mentioned the terms: Redzone and Mutants, they must also have not escaped you attention in the synopsis of the book as well as the mentioning of a bioengineered terrorism attack. This is the promise and premise of the story. An attack changed the world forever. A terrorist let loose a deadly airborne bacteria known as Bacillus nosilla. Many people died, but perhaps worse than dying was the fate of the survivors. They changed. They mutated. The mutations range from harmless to servere, think extra arms or horrible disfigurements. Since the bacterial is so virulent special area's were designated for mutants to live in, the so called Redzones, where normals have to venture in with protective gear, where otherwise they may contract the disease as well. So what you can understand from this above is that the world isn't pretty. In the wake of the recovery of B. nosilla, a rise came in crime and gangs and this is what Cassandra is facing, serving to do just in a very hostile place. This world building alone is really interesting but there are some bits where it doesn't make a 100% sense. B. nosilla is highly contagious, it's airborne and normal people have to wear nose filters and mouth guards so as not to get infected. When Cassandra meets up with her new partner Omo, it's starts of as a work relation but soon get to be more, and they have sex, well what it could make up of it there wasn't any protection at all, ok granted they didn't kiss, but other fluids were exchanged. How can you then not get infected? There are some contradictions in the world building than could have been polished a bit more in my opinion. The world building is cool and William C. Dietz creates a dangerous premise but... to bad not completely linear.
As for the characters I could clearly see some traits of Andromeda McKee in Cassandra. As I already metioned above, Cassandra changes along the story. I can imagine that in such a hostile environment you have to be able hard. Especially when you live in such an environment AND you are a female detective. It must be hard enough to be in in the normal world. Cassandra's character is strong, dominant and will do what ever it takes to complete her case. But she also thinks pretty highly over herself and that she can do everything according to her own rules. Like the introducing chapters with Conti and the Chief saying that Cassandra is always late for briefing. This confidence does boarder to overconfidence and I think that Cassandra has learned her lesson in this. After these events he character took a more reserved approach to her new task, also being placed in the Redzone a completely new environment it was good to see that she didn't do things blindly but in close collaboration with her more experienced partner. Next to Cassandra's point of view in there are also other characters that offer a perspective. Secondary characters that both had small and bigger role. In the beginning of the book, Cassandra's partner Conti offers a perspective and further on you have Omo and some of the criminals that are shown in more depth. I can clearly see the direction that William C. Dietz wanted to go into with these multiple persepctives and for the they worked really well. This is a nice way to broaden the storyline, showing what goes on in their minds and how they plan their next action. Even though some of the characters of lived relatively short it did help to broaden the story of Deadeye.
When you take everything together in Deadeye, the storyline, the world and the characters it produces a actionpacked and entertaining book. William C. Dietz turned his SF in space to an more Earthly story, the build up and the promise of the story are very cool. And I do have to say that his characterization is once again spot on with his main lead, Cassandra Lee. The world that William C. Dietz envisions has a very cool promise, a bacterial agent that decimated the planet and left suvivors who contracted the plague horrible mutated. But there are some minor squabbles though, as I said above. I do have to say that the ending of the book is really cool and such a cliffhanger can only get you excited for the sequel.
--------
The audiobook of Deadeye is narrated by Christina Delaine, I was surprised actually I didn't read who narrated the book so was thinking to hear a male voice. I think it was very suited to have a female narrator as the protagonist of the story is also female, this made it much easier to connect with the story. Christina Delaine did a very good job in showing the different perspectives, most of these were male and they sounded that way as well. As for the action packed and tense moments of the book, it felt like I was really there next to Cassandra.
I think last year I started reacing William C. Dietz' Legion series. I started with the prequel series that featured Andromeda McKee, who had to venture through a more than hostile territory. After reading the first book I was completely taken by the story and writing of William C. Dietz. Very powerful and strong characterization. Just recently I found out that he has started a completely new series, The Mutant Files, which takes place in our near future. 2038 to be exact. And this world has been changed. Changed quite a lot. This is the first book in the series, Deadeye.
The story of Deadeye focuses on female detective Cassandra Lee. Cassandra serves for the Los Angeles Police Department in the Special Investigative Section (or SIS). This unit takes on the special and hard cases. The beginning of the book really serves as a start up of the story. Cassandra meets up with her new partner Conti. Cassandra is used to draw her own plan but her new partner, wants to be on her goodside, a lot of man are after Cassandra as she is quite good looking. Anyway, there start isn't without any problems but slowly they change in what might become a good duo. However one day, they encounter a robbery with nine armed men, during a shoot out, Conti gets killed in the crossfire. Now this is somewhat of an important point for Cassandra's character as she does change her behavior, she comes on time to the briefings of the chief. After recuperating from her loss Cassandra gets assigned a new task a missing persons case. The daughter of a well known and respected Bishop is kidnapped and taken in to the Redzone (will get to that in a minute). Now Cassandra has to find a way to rescue this young girl. Once again she isn't at this task alone, Cassandra gets a new partner, but this time around not a normal human but a mutated one, Ras Omo. Being a mutant does offer an advantage in the Redzone and being a human offers only disadvantages. Cassandra is placed in a more than hostile environment and has to rely solely on her own skills to get out there alive. Will she be able to find the kidnapped girl or will she succumb to all the traps in the Redzone.
Next to this main storyline there are also some sort of sidetracks that are put up early and the main one revolves around the death of Cassandra's father. He also was a cop, a well known and respected at that. Unfortunately he was murdered by a killer who goes about the name Bonebreaker, his kills are far from pretty. The case is still ongoing but Bonebreaker is hard to find, he will most likely find you before you do him. Cassandra is determined to get to the bottom of it and find him, but in her quest she uncovers a truth and is confronted by some horrible things. It seems that the Bonebreaker is out to get her as well...
Above I mentioned the terms: Redzone and Mutants, they must also have not escaped you attention in the synopsis of the book as well as the mentioning of a bioengineered terrorism attack. This is the promise and premise of the story. An attack changed the world forever. A terrorist let loose a deadly airborne bacteria known as Bacillus nosilla. Many people died, but perhaps worse than dying was the fate of the survivors. They changed. They mutated. The mutations range from harmless to servere, think extra arms or horrible disfigurements. Since the bacterial is so virulent special area's were designated for mutants to live in, the so called Redzones, where normals have to venture in with protective gear, where otherwise they may contract the disease as well. So what you can understand from this above is that the world isn't pretty. In the wake of the recovery of B. nosilla, a rise came in crime and gangs and this is what Cassandra is facing, serving to do just in a very hostile place. This world building alone is really interesting but there are some bits where it doesn't make a 100% sense. B. nosilla is highly contagious, it's airborne and normal people have to wear nose filters and mouth guards so as not to get infected. When Cassandra meets up with her new partner Omo, it's starts of as a work relation but soon get to be more, and they have sex, well what it could make up of it there wasn't any protection at all, ok granted they didn't kiss, but other fluids were exchanged. How can you then not get infected? There are some contradictions in the world building than could have been polished a bit more in my opinion. The world building is cool and William C. Dietz creates a dangerous premise but... to bad not completely linear.
As for the characters I could clearly see some traits of Andromeda McKee in Cassandra. As I already metioned above, Cassandra changes along the story. I can imagine that in such a hostile environment you have to be able hard. Especially when you live in such an environment AND you are a female detective. It must be hard enough to be in in the normal world. Cassandra's character is strong, dominant and will do what ever it takes to complete her case. But she also thinks pretty highly over herself and that she can do everything according to her own rules. Like the introducing chapters with Conti and the Chief saying that Cassandra is always late for briefing. This confidence does boarder to overconfidence and I think that Cassandra has learned her lesson in this. After these events he character took a more reserved approach to her new task, also being placed in the Redzone a completely new environment it was good to see that she didn't do things blindly but in close collaboration with her more experienced partner. Next to Cassandra's point of view in there are also other characters that offer a perspective. Secondary characters that both had small and bigger role. In the beginning of the book, Cassandra's partner Conti offers a perspective and further on you have Omo and some of the criminals that are shown in more depth. I can clearly see the direction that William C. Dietz wanted to go into with these multiple persepctives and for the they worked really well. This is a nice way to broaden the storyline, showing what goes on in their minds and how they plan their next action. Even though some of the characters of lived relatively short it did help to broaden the story of Deadeye.
When you take everything together in Deadeye, the storyline, the world and the characters it produces a actionpacked and entertaining book. William C. Dietz turned his SF in space to an more Earthly story, the build up and the promise of the story are very cool. And I do have to say that his characterization is once again spot on with his main lead, Cassandra Lee. The world that William C. Dietz envisions has a very cool promise, a bacterial agent that decimated the planet and left suvivors who contracted the plague horrible mutated. But there are some minor squabbles though, as I said above. I do have to say that the ending of the book is really cool and such a cliffhanger can only get you excited for the sequel.
--------
The audiobook of Deadeye is narrated by Christina Delaine, I was surprised actually I didn't read who narrated the book so was thinking to hear a male voice. I think it was very suited to have a female narrator as the protagonist of the story is also female, this made it much easier to connect with the story. Christina Delaine did a very good job in showing the different perspectives, most of these were male and they sounded that way as well. As for the action packed and tense moments of the book, it felt like I was really there next to Cassandra.
March 10, 2019
Overall I really liked this story, I think it’s a great beginning of something bigger. There are some things -problem- that still stick out. The three bigs that stand out are: the title is Lee’s nickname, earned by her shooting skill. Though there are plenty of opportunities for this to be seen again and again, we only see it once. The second is that in the middle of a operation they discovered there was a leak, but it’s completely glosses over when the leak is identified. That was done in a such a way that the reader knows what’s happened but it’s not clear if the team does. But this is par for the book, some things are glosses over and others are detailed. It’s an awkward pacing, but doesn’t harm the book too much. The third thing would be the trackers- if she was being tracked By trackers in her clothes, who put the trackers on the car? And why? Or was it really just to intimidate Lee? The characters were the backbone of this story. While I thought she made some dumb decisions, I still really like Det. Lee. I also really liked Det. IMO, and was rooting for them both. Now though? I’m not convinced. I do want to check out the second book and hopes that it focuses more on the Bonebreaker.
April 10, 2019
2 AND 1/2 STARS
Besides the mutant angle, there was virtually NO sense that I was reading something nearly 50 years in the future. The guns were the same as in the present, technology was the same, vehicles were the same, even the clothing and interiors of location were the same. Dietz really dropped the ball here, because the world-building in this environment would have been amazing. Lee and Omo tracked their witnesses and crooks in mundane ways and things fell way too easily into their lap. Coincidence after coincidence occurs and our protagonists always seem to come out squeaky clean. Dietz even used the word "wild" to describe three different things on the same page. A good editor should have caught that. Even the romance felt forced with no real lead-up from Lee to even think she was interested. Here and there, the action scenes were decent, but pretty much everything should have been more exciting for the world that was described on the back of the book. I'm hesitant to read the next in the series, but I hear it gets much better. I guess I'll see.
Besides the mutant angle, there was virtually NO sense that I was reading something nearly 50 years in the future. The guns were the same as in the present, technology was the same, vehicles were the same, even the clothing and interiors of location were the same. Dietz really dropped the ball here, because the world-building in this environment would have been amazing. Lee and Omo tracked their witnesses and crooks in mundane ways and things fell way too easily into their lap. Coincidence after coincidence occurs and our protagonists always seem to come out squeaky clean. Dietz even used the word "wild" to describe three different things on the same page. A good editor should have caught that. Even the romance felt forced with no real lead-up from Lee to even think she was interested. Here and there, the action scenes were decent, but pretty much everything should have been more exciting for the world that was described on the back of the book. I'm hesitant to read the next in the series, but I hear it gets much better. I guess I'll see.
March 14, 2018
A predictable crime story in an interesting engaging world. The characters are enjoyable if a little shallow at times. I know that people enjoy writing about attractive women, and having every man fall in love with her, and other women wanting to be her. But in my opinion this makes the characters rather 2 dimensional. Though I understand that a major theme of the book focuses on the over importance put on appearance.
The lead up to the next book is great. Lots of potential for interesting and fast paced stories. And some nice possibility of deeper more emotional stories. I look forward to reading the next one.
The lead up to the next book is great. Lots of potential for interesting and fast paced stories. And some nice possibility of deeper more emotional stories. I look forward to reading the next one.
May 18, 2017
Gritty
I like good police procedurals and this fills the bill. A dark vision of a post bio warfare world set in America. Framed by the worst of bigotry run mad. Now set a good cop who is after a kidnapped girl all while being stalked by a serial killer.
Part of me wants to leave the lights on and run away and yet I am also looking forward to the next offering. Chilling, dark and addictive.
I like good police procedurals and this fills the bill. A dark vision of a post bio warfare world set in America. Framed by the worst of bigotry run mad. Now set a good cop who is after a kidnapped girl all while being stalked by a serial killer.
Part of me wants to leave the lights on and run away and yet I am also looking forward to the next offering. Chilling, dark and addictive.
February 13, 2018
Meh. The changes in perspective were irritating, especially the ones where the person’s perspective only shows up once and then disappears. The story was reasonably interesting, but the storytelling was weak.
The treatment of the bacterial infection also didn’t make sense. Airborne infections are very dangerous. Also, how can someone possibly be a carrier but it’s still okay to have sex with them? It’s not logical.
The treatment of the bacterial infection also didn’t make sense. Airborne infections are very dangerous. Also, how can someone possibly be a carrier but it’s still okay to have sex with them? It’s not logical.
April 27, 2018
WOW. Super Read
Fast, furious and fun. Powerful storytelling with excellent character development. This is a book I couldn’t put down. Looking forward to the next book in this amazing series.
Fast, furious and fun. Powerful storytelling with excellent character development. This is a book I couldn’t put down. Looking forward to the next book in this amazing series.
June 21, 2019
This book was horrible and inconsistent. Normals cant breath the same air as a mutant, cant eat unmasked next to a mutant cause the disease is airborne. Yet most perfectly safe to have swx with a mutant and swap bodily fluids as long as they dont kiss. That's was the biggest no for me in this book.
September 26, 2019
Good characters and excellent pace. Author tries to add a liitle bit of personal relationships/romnce into the story but it comes accross a bit stilted, though doesn't nstop the overall story from being enjoyable.
January 4, 2020
I've started this book a number of times but never got very far. However I must have been in the perfect mindset because I spend through it this time and loved it! Only reason it got 4 instead of 5 is because it did not grab me right away.
October 24, 2023
3 stars. Lots of issues but entertaining enough.
I can see why this book would get some mixed ratings. It has some really good potential but is dying a painful death of tell instead of show with a little Mary Sue sprinkled in for good measure. Liked the concept.
I can see why this book would get some mixed ratings. It has some really good potential but is dying a painful death of tell instead of show with a little Mary Sue sprinkled in for good measure. Liked the concept.
October 21, 2017
It would have been a more enjoyable read if the her partners weren't love-sick over her. That ruined it for me.
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