8th Round

by T.C. O'Reilly

The story is about a man named Jacob(Jakes) Patrick Wallace who is sent back in time over various lifetimes. He thus carries knowledge of a global plague called the Husk plague, that causes people to go crazy and bloodthirsty, that will spread throughout the earth and that leaves only him with the power and knowledge to try and stop it. Throughout the book he deals with various people in his life including a love interest named Julia Baldacci and his younger brother named Andy. This first book mainly sets the scene of the oncoming plague by giving glimpses of the future in 2017 etc but mainly plays out over a period starting from 1995 up to date. The ebola virus which ravaged west Africa during 2014 plays a central theme in the book and helps to set the pace of the oncoming plague. The antagonist in the story is for the first part mainly played by a man called Rudansky who forms part of a larger group of people which is mainly referred to as the Company. The Company helps to set the scene for a larger worldwide conspiracy which dates back as far as the early 1600’s. With the VOC as the main background of this conspiracy, hence the settings in Amsterdam. Jakes however also starts to develop certain abilities which helps him to be stronger, faster and even some psychic abilities which helps him throughout the book from time to time. Later in the book it becomes clearer that even the main antagonist Rudansky is merely a puppet for the bigger threat namely a man called Lord wittenheer who is the creator of the company and who has lived since the 1600’s. Later in the book it also becomes clear that this man also happens to be the father of our main character unbeknownst to the main character though which is off course only revealed to him at the very ending of the book. The book ends with Jakes still in 2014 facing off against his father in a dream that he had, setting the scene for the second book which bring us closer to the release of the actual virus and the effect it will have on civilization, with the virus taking a equal but secondary role to jake’s main battle with the company who is still trying to reclaim the world as their own.

Kindle Edition

First published July 20, 2015

Reviews

[Dawn Dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAUTION: Contains Minor Spoilers

All I can say is 'wow'. By the time I finished this book, my palms were sweating (I kid you not), and I am dying to dig into the second novel in this brilliant series. 8th Round is a book for the thrill seekers, suspense lovers, and quick-paced readers. It follows the story of a man named Jake, who travels back to our modern era in an attempt to prevent a zombie-like plague from breaking out in the future. The tale follows his time travel from 1995 to the present, where you, as the reader, are tossed amidst his roller coaster of a ride as he strives to prevent the worst- before he ends up in the future he's desperately trying to avoid.

This book is unique in so many aspects, but one of the parts I found most interesting was the fact that it incorporated the 2014 ebola outbreak in Africa to the story. I love that as I was reading the book I was linking all of the pieces of the story to the times I had lived in and experienced. It was really awesome to read a story about a time traveler- coming back to our time, to change the future. As a person sitting here in this time it was so surreal and sort of outer-bodily to read a book that so vividly portrayed my time- yet, in the book, my time is very close to a time of doom for mankind. It creates this sense of urgency and you begin to root for Jake, the main character, even more- because you want him to save the future before you get to it. It's amazing, really, and I've never read a time travel book like this before.

Speaking of Jake, he's a remarkably likable character. A male and a strong masculine character at that, but oddly likable even to a very docile, feminine girl like myself. I adored him, and my adoration for him kept me pushing through the story even more frivilously. I was turning from page to page as fast as I could. You know how some storylines just pick up and your eyes can't read as fast as you wish they could? That is exactly the way this story went for me. Within the first couple chapters I was hooked and it took everything in me to set this book down when I had chores to finish and work to do. I wanted to keep reading! Every spare moment I had I delved back in, and by the end I had to take a minute and catch my breath. Trust me- you will too. The cliffhangers in this book, the suspense, the action, the twists and turns and character development- it's all brilliantly done, brilliantly written, and I am eagerly awaiting my chance to delve into book number two in this amazing series.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t often read Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic adventure books, so it took me more than a few pages to settle in to The 8th Round by T.C. O’Reilly. In fact, I had to skim back several times to make sure I was following the time travel and characters correctly. By the time I was about one-third of the way through, I found my stride and was able to keep things straight. O’Reilly’s storyline is unique and many of his characters are relatable. The main character, Jacob Patrick Wallace (Jakes), is very well developed and kept me engaged in his plight. The regular movement between “rounds” of Jakes’ repeated life and the intermittent filling-in of the Company’s history requires the reader to really pay attention. I found Danielle to be an engaging and complex character as well. Her role as Jakes’ romantic interest adds a light-heartedness to an otherwise intense plot. Other characters such as Julia, Andy, Nathan and Rudansky play crucial roles and are fleshed-out relatively well. Overall, I found the story fascinating and the ending left me wondering whether we would see more of Jakes’ “rounds” in future works by this author.
Had The 8th Round undergone one more thorough round of editing to clean up grammatical, syntax and general flow challenges, and the e-book formatted properly for Kindle, I would be giving this book a higher rating. All-in-all, a good first effort by T.C. O’Reilly.