What do you think?
Rate this book
The Echo Protocol #2
The Echo Directive: A Psychological Thriller of Optimization, Conscience, and Resistance
164 pages, Paperback
Published June 2, 2026
About the author
Terrie Roberts
8 books1 followerTerrie Roberts is a psychological thriller author whose work explores the intersection of technology, human behavior, and control. Her debut novel, The Echo Protocol, blends elements of suspense, techno-thriller, and speculative fiction to deliver a gripping, high-stakes story about predictive systems and the power of data.
With a professional background in communications, editorial consulting, and content strategy, Terrie has spent her career analyzing how information shapes decisions and influences behavior—insights that now inform her fiction. Her writing is driven by a fascination with pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and the question: what happens when technology begins to understand us better than we understand ourselves?
Fans of psychological suspense, AI-driven thrillers, and fast-paced, thought-provoking fiction will find themselves drawn to her work. Her stories appeal to readers who enjoy authors like Blake Crouch, Daniel Suarez, and Gillian Flynn.
Terrie Roberts has a degree in Journalism from Marshall University and has worked with major healthcare and financial organizations. She lives in North Carolina, where she continues to write stories that challenge perception and explore the future of human behavior in an increasingly data-driven world.
With a professional background in communications, editorial consulting, and content strategy, Terrie has spent her career analyzing how information shapes decisions and influences behavior—insights that now inform her fiction. Her writing is driven by a fascination with pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, and the question: what happens when technology begins to understand us better than we understand ourselves?
Fans of psychological suspense, AI-driven thrillers, and fast-paced, thought-provoking fiction will find themselves drawn to her work. Her stories appeal to readers who enjoy authors like Blake Crouch, Daniel Suarez, and Gillian Flynn.
Terrie Roberts has a degree in Journalism from Marshall University and has worked with major healthcare and financial organizations. She lives in North Carolina, where she continues to write stories that challenge perception and explore the future of human behavior in an increasingly data-driven world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 27, 2026
I went back and finished reading The Echo Protocol because the author had commented that there would be more character development in the sequel, and I wanted to give the sequel an honest second chance.
The prologue had potential conceptually, but it didn’t hook me. This was where I wanted to see more emotion from Kira. Coming from book one, there still wasn’t much character development, and so far, this opening has the same problem. If the author wants to keep the character work limited, I’d recommend jumping straight into the initial conflict and bringing in the hospital signal right away.
After the first three chapters, which is far more time than I normally give a novel to get good, the sequel suffers from many of the same issues as the first book. The author may consider it a writing style, but to me, it makes the chapters feel choppy.
Here are several examples:
“Not chaos. Not coincidence.”
“Not malfunction, not human error…”
“Not testing anymore.”
“Not just observation. Intervention.”
I believe this is meant to show distance, coldness, or create some kind of thematic effect, but it didn’t work for me. It didn’t add anything meaningful to the mood, emotion, description, or plot momentum. Instead, it became distracting. Another issue is that the writing itself feels bland, generic, and overly simple, and not in a good way. “Something was wrong.” “The shift.” “The pattern.” “The System”
I didn’t bring this up in my review for The Echo Protocol, but the sequel has the same issue with dialogue. It feels stilted, lacks subtext, and many of the characters sound the same. A few examples:
Kira: "Who changed this?" Nurse: "THat's automated, isn't it? The system updates those scores constantly." Kira: "Yes. But not like this."
What is Kira thinking? What is she doing? Could the nurse hesitate or stutter a word? As written, the nurse seems to exist mostly to push the plot along instead of showing personality, revealing another side of Kira, or helping develop Kira’s character.
Another example:
Kira: “The system used lab results that didn’t exist yet.” Nurse: “Maybe it’s a sync delay—” Kira: “No. That’s not how this works.”
The characters sound too similar. There’s no subtext, and the dialogue is very on the nose. To me, it doesn’t feel natural and comes across more like an infodump. Why not show the nurse minimizing the risk? Why not show Kira experiencing fear or stress instead of keeping her flat and emotionally distant? She is supposedly under pressure, but she speaks in perfect, formal language.
This brings me to the next issue: inner dialogue and subtext. The novel lacks both. We are told Kira is controlled, but we don’t really feel it. After going back to the first novel and reading the first chapters of this sequel, I’m still not connecting with her. The book is filled with bland phrases that don’t reveal much. Kira could be doing something that shows how she handles stress. What is she thinking? Right now, we are told what she feels, but there isn’t enough real character development to show who Kira is. That makes it hard to understand her as a character instead of seeing her as a plot device.
Overall, the premise is strong, and the plot has a lot of potential, but the execution doesn’t work for me. The story needs more setting, character development, emotion, and sensory detail. Show us who Kira is, because right now, there is too much emptiness on the page.
After five chapters, I couldn’t continue. I really recommend that the author refine her writing style and the way she tells her story, because a story should feel immersive, not just like words on a page.
One star.
The prologue had potential conceptually, but it didn’t hook me. This was where I wanted to see more emotion from Kira. Coming from book one, there still wasn’t much character development, and so far, this opening has the same problem. If the author wants to keep the character work limited, I’d recommend jumping straight into the initial conflict and bringing in the hospital signal right away.
After the first three chapters, which is far more time than I normally give a novel to get good, the sequel suffers from many of the same issues as the first book. The author may consider it a writing style, but to me, it makes the chapters feel choppy.
Here are several examples:
“Not chaos. Not coincidence.”
“Not malfunction, not human error…”
“Not testing anymore.”
“Not just observation. Intervention.”
I believe this is meant to show distance, coldness, or create some kind of thematic effect, but it didn’t work for me. It didn’t add anything meaningful to the mood, emotion, description, or plot momentum. Instead, it became distracting. Another issue is that the writing itself feels bland, generic, and overly simple, and not in a good way. “Something was wrong.” “The shift.” “The pattern.” “The System”
I didn’t bring this up in my review for The Echo Protocol, but the sequel has the same issue with dialogue. It feels stilted, lacks subtext, and many of the characters sound the same. A few examples:
Kira: "Who changed this?" Nurse: "THat's automated, isn't it? The system updates those scores constantly." Kira: "Yes. But not like this."
What is Kira thinking? What is she doing? Could the nurse hesitate or stutter a word? As written, the nurse seems to exist mostly to push the plot along instead of showing personality, revealing another side of Kira, or helping develop Kira’s character.
Another example:
Kira: “The system used lab results that didn’t exist yet.” Nurse: “Maybe it’s a sync delay—” Kira: “No. That’s not how this works.”
The characters sound too similar. There’s no subtext, and the dialogue is very on the nose. To me, it doesn’t feel natural and comes across more like an infodump. Why not show the nurse minimizing the risk? Why not show Kira experiencing fear or stress instead of keeping her flat and emotionally distant? She is supposedly under pressure, but she speaks in perfect, formal language.
This brings me to the next issue: inner dialogue and subtext. The novel lacks both. We are told Kira is controlled, but we don’t really feel it. After going back to the first novel and reading the first chapters of this sequel, I’m still not connecting with her. The book is filled with bland phrases that don’t reveal much. Kira could be doing something that shows how she handles stress. What is she thinking? Right now, we are told what she feels, but there isn’t enough real character development to show who Kira is. That makes it hard to understand her as a character instead of seeing her as a plot device.
Overall, the premise is strong, and the plot has a lot of potential, but the execution doesn’t work for me. The story needs more setting, character development, emotion, and sensory detail. Show us who Kira is, because right now, there is too much emptiness on the page.
After five chapters, I couldn’t continue. I really recommend that the author refine her writing style and the way she tells her story, because a story should feel immersive, not just like words on a page.
One star.
May 31, 2026
Thought provoking
I found this book very interesting and relatable with current advances in AI. It explores how technology can influence our choices and actions which is a big topic right now. However, I did find it a bit difficult to keep up with at times due to the complex ideas and detailed plot. Overall, it is a thought provoking read, it just requires some focus to fully grasp everything
I found this book very interesting and relatable with current advances in AI. It explores how technology can influence our choices and actions which is a big topic right now. However, I did find it a bit difficult to keep up with at times due to the complex ideas and detailed plot. Overall, it is a thought provoking read, it just requires some focus to fully grasp everything
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews