The Argus Deceit

by Chuck Grossart

From bestselling author Chuck Grossart comes a genre-bending psychological thriller that explores the limits of reality and the dizzying destruction of consciousness.

Brody Quail is a man without dreams...but he's beginning to live a nightmare. He exists in four different lives, in four simultaneous happy young boy, lovelorn teenager, damaged young man, and a pitiable middle-aged loner. He lives blissfully unaware of his divided nature until a series of increasingly surreal experiences shakes this already fragile equilibrium. Time begins to stop and start for him alone. Intimations of a recurring event haunt his thoughts, and a silent, shadowy presence watches and stalks him. As the barriers between his realities begin to flicker and blur, Brody's confusion and fear find sympathetic understanding in Constance Drake, whose own sense of reality seems to be fraying into terrifying incoherence. Threatened by madness and oblivion, Brody and Constance embark on a desperate search for answers. The truth may set them free - or utterly destroy them.

Genres: Science Fiction

Audible Audio

First published May 1, 2017

About the author

Chuck is an award-winning and Amazon #1 best-selling author in Action & Adventure, Genetic Engineering, Post-Apocalyptic & Dystopian sci fi, Military Thrillers, Conspiracy Thrillers, and Suspense fiction (US, UK, and Australian Kindle stores). He lives outside of Omaha, Nebraska, with his very patient & understanding wife, along with a giant German Shepherd named Duke, a giant Golden Pyredoodle named Holly Jo, and tons and tons of dog hair.

You can contact Chuck through his website (www.chuckgrossart.com), on Facebook (@ChuckGrossartAuthor), or on Twitter (@chuckgrossart).

His latest military sci fi novel, OF ENEMIES AND ALLIES (The Han Wars Book 5), was released on August 13, 2022. Look for the 6th and final book of The Han Wars, REQUIEM FOR THE WARRIOR, coming soon.

Awards & Accolades:
- 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award Finalist for Best Fiction Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction Novel
- 2017 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalist for Best Fiction Adult Horror/Science Fiction Novel
- 2016 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Winner for Best Science Fiction Novel
- 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Winner for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
- #1 US Kindle bestseller (THE GEMINI EFFECT)
- #1 Science Fiction author, US Kindle store
- #1 Science Fiction & Fantasy author, US Kindle store
- #1 Action & Adventure author, US Kindle store
- #2 Mystery, Thriller & Suspense author, US Kindle store
- #2 author, US Kindle store (all categories)

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, I'm the first to actually review this one. How exciting. Also why does someone take a nice proper name like Charles and turn it into something vaguely disgusting like Chuck? Anyway, the book was fun. My first experience with the author, random Netgalley selection. Purely popcorn sort of entertainment and the author seems to be aware of it. Lightning quick pace as in word count low for page count, almost 4 hours worth of reading. The concept is quite neat, but getting there took too long, even with the aforementioned brisk pacing. The disorienting WTFery of it all went on for much too long as the protagonists switched worlds, confusing themselves and their audience. And just when you start to get fed up, the explanations came and the aha moment arrived. Can't really discuss the ending without giving away the plot, but it really was the saving grace of the story, nice scifi angle, not terrifically original, but decently so, with the final uber cinematic twist, perfectly appropriate for a novel that reads very much like a movie. With tons of action and let's vaguely say terrestrial extraterrestrial shenanigans, this should please genre fans. Entertaining quick read. Thanks Netgalley.

[T.R. Horne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Argus Deceit by Chuck Grossart is Quantum Leap meets Stephen King-esque style of creepiness. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Grossart whose writing I've come to love. In the beginning of the story, we meet Brody Quail as a 52 year-old man who has gone through terrible unthinkable loss. The weird thing is...his life always ends at the same point. He never knows what happens before or after the day he's living. Shortly after, Brody Quail is a ten year old boy playing with his buddies with the unthinkable, yet inevitable is lurking around him and his little brother. After that day ends, you meet Brody Quail as a 26 year old, veteran that relives his lackluster life and hard outer appearance until he's met with three guys that want to rearrange his future. The last Brody Quail is sixteen and full of quiet admiration for a girl he likes, who actually may like him too. But that love is very short lived as he is thrust into the cycle all over again. That is, until he meets Constance "Connie" Drake...and things change forever (or do they?).

This story was very confusing in the beginning because the lives were so different. The years were all over the place so it wasn't any type of foundation for the reader to hold on to. In the end, that is all explained in a glorious fashion. When I say, you must read this book to the VERY end to get every bit of nugget...you'll be so curious as to the why, what and who...that you will zoom through the pages just to find out. You are not let down by the ending which is not quite one dimensional, but multi-layered.

Grossart writes with exploding action, heartfelt emotion and clever mystery. Even though in the beginning the stories repeat (to show the importance of how each day is the same for Brody Quail in each "life" he is in), you'll enjoy the subtle changes as things start to crack and fall apart while Brody starts to realize that he is in a loop.

This story is for folks that like sci-fi done with a bit of mystery and suspense. If you're tired of the same ole alien stories masquerading as sci-fi, then try Grossart for a refreshing sci-fi change.

Raging Book Reviews Recommended

*This ARC was sent by the author for an honest review. The novel releases MAY 9, 2017.


Full review on www.ragingbookreviews.wordpress.com

[deep]

PW Starred: Grossart’s accomplished nonlinear novel is equally entertaining and suspenseful. The tale follows Brody Quail, whose existence is extraordinarily fractured. Slices of his memory have been lost or altered, and portions of his life are on endless repeat. He soon learns there is something sinister behind these gaps in his consciousness. As a man lurking in the shadows begins to hunt him, Brody is guided through his mental hell by Constance, a woman who has been in the background of all of his memories. Grossart’s narrative keeps the reader guessing; he draws back layers of mystery tantalizingly slowly, leaving the reader to piece together the grand puzzle, with an immensely rewarding payoff. His precise attention to detail stabilizes the disjointed narrative. Recalling Rod Serling’s setups in The Twilight Zone, Grossart plays with time and memory in a highly inventive way. He combines thought-provoking questions about memory with nail-biting suspense, creating a unique novel that shows what can be achieved when one pushes the boundaries of speculative fiction. Agent: Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (May)

[Petra Wallenmeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free Kindle Ebook through a Goodreads giveaway and am now sharing my honest opinion.

I loved this book. I read it all in one sitting, from 10 PM to 1:30 AM. And yes, I had work the next day. I could not put it down. There was no good "pause spot" because the action and drama were constant.

I understand some people do not like the confusion and the lack of concrete answers you get from the book until very near the end, but I liked that aspect of the story! I liked having no real clue given to us as to what was going on and coming up with possible explanations myself (my first guess was...mostly right). However, enough clues are given that when the answers started coming, I felt like it all made sense.
I cared for each of the main characters, too, so it was not a book driven only by plot and action. The ending was unexpected, but in a good way. Not quite wrapped up completely neat and tidy, but satisfying and with enough wiggle room for some imagination.
My biggest problem would probably be with the world-building. The world the main characters lived in was built pretty well, but the world-building concerning the explanation for the whole book near the end) was definitely lacking in detail and substance. I'd personally enjoy a prequel novella or something just to get more insight of that angle of the story.

[Deborah Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Argus Deceit, by Chuck Grossart (47 North) reads like a long, repetitive episode of The Twilight Zone. In four different time periods, four differently-aged versions of the same character, Brody Quail. In one version, he is an embittered and suicidal middle-aged widower; in another, a teenager in the throes of his first serious crush; in yet another, a disabled and possibly alcoholic veteran; and finally a happy 10-year old with friends and an adoring younger brother. Each of these vignettes leads to tragedy that Brody attempts to avoid as the scene re-plays itself, and as these replays lead to even more complications, the time lines merge. It’s a nifty Twilight Zone-ish conceit that is unfortunately marred by excessive repetition (I skimmed long passages that remained the same from one go-round to the next) and an overly late rabbit-out-of-the-hat denouement. Too slight for its current length, the story would have made a more successful novella.

[V.R. Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story, told from the perspective of the same guy in four different lives. The characters and their situations are well-written, but every scene repeats multiple times, each ending a different way. The widower who feels guilty about being drunk while his wife was murdered keeps answering the door and getting bad news, although the scene changes some each time. The veteran who gets attacked on the street does the same, as does the little boy who tries to save his brother from being hit by a car, and the teenager who keeps getting in an accident driving his crush home. While these stories are interesting, reading the same thing over and over, with slight differences, does get a little tiresome. And you can't really skip any of the scenes because they are going to change slightly, so you just have to read them.
However, the end is interesting, and I liked how the author resolved the story in the end.

[Catherine Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this book up at the library and someone penciled on the front page: "Awful, don't waste your time." I read it anyway and now I think that person never finished the book. Beginning is pretty slow and you don't know what is going on for the majority of the book. However, if you do happen to make it to the end without being bored, the last few chapters tie it together and might just leave you in an existential crisis. This book would make an awesome Black Mirror episode.

I didn't like the book until I finished it. Personally, I would have introduced the other characters and their perspectives earlier...I don't want to be kept in the dark that long.

[Alberto · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t understand, I had read two other of his books and enjoyed them a lot. This one, I could not finish it, and that’s rare for me. I made it to about 51% of the book and then couldn’t take the repetitive narrative anymore. Sort of like a Steven King semi-fantasy but not done well. Perhaps those who endured to the end got rewarded by some revelation but me, no. Just couldn’t make it to the finish line.

[Bryan Fleege · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

Learning what was actually going on was a huge part of the enjoyment of reading this book. I normally am not a fan of mystery, but the combination of Sci-fi and mystery was very interesting for me. This is the third book I've read by Chuck Grossart, and I am looking forward to reading more.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, poor arrangement

This is actually a really good story. And it's not like I couldn't see what Grossart was trying for. It's just something that can be very difficult. But the execution of the storytelling often gets in the way of the story itself.

[Sayra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes a long time to get anywhere.

I was very bored for much of this and then in the last fifty pages strings were pulled together in a way that was quite satisfying. Think the first two hundred pages could have been shortened without loosing much.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a 3.5 for me really. The first parts of the book kept my attention perfectly; the ending was just too weird for my poor brain.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

review to come: 3.5 stars

[Moises · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, it was so confusing just kept me on my toes. AMAZING!!!!!!!

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting premise but it didn't stick the landing.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff, though the repetition at the beginning was a bit of a chore to get through.

[Dalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent airplane read. Took a bit too long to get going, but had a decent finale. The writing was adequate and the book overall was entertaining.

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just plain incredible!

[T.J. Burns]

I received a copy of this book from 47North via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[anie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry, but just could not finish it... read 50 pages and still nothing made sense... not for me I guess.

[KarnagesMistress]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is a Kindle book.

[Ann Theis]

PW