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The Memory Agent
Crime never changes. Punishment does.
In a time when prisons no longer contain inmates behind concrete and steel, the convicted serve their time while asleep, rehabilitating in virtual reality while blissfully unaware of their crimes.
Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at navigating these strange penal dream worlds and extracting those imprisoned there—for a price. Parker wants out of the game, but a powerful senator, desperate to save his son, convinces Parker to pull one last job. The clincher? An opportunity for Parker to find his wife, herself interned, lost somewhere in a treacherous, time-shifting Manhattan cyberscape.
As Parker and his team make their hallucinatory journey between worlds, memory and motive lose coherence and integrity, and the clock begins to run internal security detects the breaker, and sets out to remove him—permanently.
Unable to rely on his perceptions, unsure of the truth or even his very identity, will Parker break out…or be broken?
In a time when prisons no longer contain inmates behind concrete and steel, the convicted serve their time while asleep, rehabilitating in virtual reality while blissfully unaware of their crimes.
Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at navigating these strange penal dream worlds and extracting those imprisoned there—for a price. Parker wants out of the game, but a powerful senator, desperate to save his son, convinces Parker to pull one last job. The clincher? An opportunity for Parker to find his wife, herself interned, lost somewhere in a treacherous, time-shifting Manhattan cyberscape.
As Parker and his team make their hallucinatory journey between worlds, memory and motive lose coherence and integrity, and the clock begins to run internal security detects the breaker, and sets out to remove him—permanently.
Unable to rely on his perceptions, unsure of the truth or even his very identity, will Parker break out…or be broken?
334 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 18, 2017
105 people are currently reading
675 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 22, 2017
The Memory Agent is a fast paced, mind bending fascinating book set in the future. The story begins in "Egypt" on an archeological dig and travels to Manhattan but in reality is just a dream within a dream. Yes, it IS one of those books. But the writing and the concept is so incredibly unique that you will not want to put this book down until you are absolutely sure of the ending and then.... you are not sure of the ending! If you ever have seen or read The Matrix it is not unlike that.
This is the future where prisons are actually holding rooms for prisoners who are connected to virtual reality centers. They are kept in a state of "sleep" and fed a different reality, alternate memories and reality from that of their past crimes. However, their families can pay to break them out of prison and that is what our MC does for a living. He enters their alternate reality. Spooky, Freaky, Weird and Amazing. This really is a roller coaster, exciting read!
This is the future where prisons are actually holding rooms for prisoners who are connected to virtual reality centers. They are kept in a state of "sleep" and fed a different reality, alternate memories and reality from that of their past crimes. However, their families can pay to break them out of prison and that is what our MC does for a living. He enters their alternate reality. Spooky, Freaky, Weird and Amazing. This really is a roller coaster, exciting read!
August 8, 2017
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This story is a mind-bend where you trapped between a dream and reality.
The story begins in a dream within a dream. The place is Egypt in 1933. An archeological dig is led by Parker at the Valley of the Kings, south of Cairo. A sealed tomb is found in the depths of the earth. Ambushed by rebels, the team members are forced to take shelter inside the tomb only to find out it is a portal into the future. The new world is a future Manhattan and yet not a single soul around. A clue from the entrance of the tomb's door leads them to the statue of Columbus which reveals their destiny-panopticon. Throughout his journey, clues revealed to Parker hint at a distant memory of his life; memories that he is finding harder to grasp.
A virtual prison system created out of economic need where convicts are hooked up to machines in a deep artificial sleep is the setting and premise of this spell-binding novel. With the prisoner's mind erased, new memories are inserted to create a new virtual reality. The prisoners are unaware of their circumstances, but with shared consciousness, the convicts can interact with each other in the hopes of rehabilitation. But there is one way out of the darkness.
Parker, the main protagonist, is a prison breaker for hire, hacking into virtual realities where convicts serve their time, while asleep. To help other prisoners break out of their virtual reality, he kills them with silver bullets and instantly the prisoner awakens in the real world. Parker has been experiencing these other realities for ten years while his real memories are fading. He is fearful of losing his mind, especially of the memories with his wife. It becomes a race against the machine as he performs one last important job with an offer he can't refuse; the chance to be with his wife again.
The compelling story line is an original concept that dares to blend many genres together. And it's done with high precision. The structure of the narrative contains multiple realities and timelines and requires you to pay attention to subtle hints and details to fully enjoy its complexity. As a reader, I alway loved to be challenged, and I started to take notes about some of the references in the hopes of it being relevant later in the novel. A Japanese fable, a children's book, a red easter egg, dates (the 1880s, 1953, 1972, 1986), and a time not randomly chosen and placed.
The Memory Agent is a beautifully written book. Delany builds several virtual worlds each different without the overuse of words. In modern Manhattan, you feel the breeze in Central Park surrounded by the tall skyscrapers and apartments old and futuristic. In the 1880's the dark slums of New York emerge with the rickety buildings basking in sickness, poverty, and rot. Horse-drawn carts, the smell of bread, buildings of brick and wood. You feel the division of the rich from the poor, "The Gilded Age" is afoot in these slums.
His character sketches are so vivid you could see the person as if given their photograph. They are three-dimensional and with enough detail that you anticipate their reactions to various situations. Each of the characters had a backstory, habits, and quirks which made the story of virtuality a reality. Parker's longing for his wife, from 16 months ago is omnipotent in all his choices. When Parker gains access to Charlotte's mind and memories, you feel a depression so palpable. Even the non-human elements, such as the different mythological creatures are so realistic as to send a shiver down the spine.
The book often reads like a video game with clues that lead to a key to a door which leads to another reality. The only pitfall of the narrative was the feeling of the relentlessness of Parker's journey in all of the mazes. Perhaps this was on purpose to have your emotions align with the protagonist.
I loved every moment of this fun and suspenseful novel. It appealed to all my senses and compelled me to read until the end. I have never had an interest in historical fiction until I read The Memory Agent. Learning about fables, different eras in New York and international history has cultivated a curiosity that I will continue to feed. This book was entirely unexpected and astonishing.
Thank you, NetGalley and 47North for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This story is a mind-bend where you trapped between a dream and reality.
The story begins in a dream within a dream. The place is Egypt in 1933. An archeological dig is led by Parker at the Valley of the Kings, south of Cairo. A sealed tomb is found in the depths of the earth. Ambushed by rebels, the team members are forced to take shelter inside the tomb only to find out it is a portal into the future. The new world is a future Manhattan and yet not a single soul around. A clue from the entrance of the tomb's door leads them to the statue of Columbus which reveals their destiny-panopticon. Throughout his journey, clues revealed to Parker hint at a distant memory of his life; memories that he is finding harder to grasp.
A virtual prison system created out of economic need where convicts are hooked up to machines in a deep artificial sleep is the setting and premise of this spell-binding novel. With the prisoner's mind erased, new memories are inserted to create a new virtual reality. The prisoners are unaware of their circumstances, but with shared consciousness, the convicts can interact with each other in the hopes of rehabilitation. But there is one way out of the darkness.
Parker, the main protagonist, is a prison breaker for hire, hacking into virtual realities where convicts serve their time, while asleep. To help other prisoners break out of their virtual reality, he kills them with silver bullets and instantly the prisoner awakens in the real world. Parker has been experiencing these other realities for ten years while his real memories are fading. He is fearful of losing his mind, especially of the memories with his wife. It becomes a race against the machine as he performs one last important job with an offer he can't refuse; the chance to be with his wife again.
The compelling story line is an original concept that dares to blend many genres together. And it's done with high precision. The structure of the narrative contains multiple realities and timelines and requires you to pay attention to subtle hints and details to fully enjoy its complexity. As a reader, I alway loved to be challenged, and I started to take notes about some of the references in the hopes of it being relevant later in the novel. A Japanese fable, a children's book, a red easter egg, dates (the 1880s, 1953, 1972, 1986), and a time not randomly chosen and placed.
The Memory Agent is a beautifully written book. Delany builds several virtual worlds each different without the overuse of words. In modern Manhattan, you feel the breeze in Central Park surrounded by the tall skyscrapers and apartments old and futuristic. In the 1880's the dark slums of New York emerge with the rickety buildings basking in sickness, poverty, and rot. Horse-drawn carts, the smell of bread, buildings of brick and wood. You feel the division of the rich from the poor, "The Gilded Age" is afoot in these slums.
His character sketches are so vivid you could see the person as if given their photograph. They are three-dimensional and with enough detail that you anticipate their reactions to various situations. Each of the characters had a backstory, habits, and quirks which made the story of virtuality a reality. Parker's longing for his wife, from 16 months ago is omnipotent in all his choices. When Parker gains access to Charlotte's mind and memories, you feel a depression so palpable. Even the non-human elements, such as the different mythological creatures are so realistic as to send a shiver down the spine.
The book often reads like a video game with clues that lead to a key to a door which leads to another reality. The only pitfall of the narrative was the feeling of the relentlessness of Parker's journey in all of the mazes. Perhaps this was on purpose to have your emotions align with the protagonist.
I loved every moment of this fun and suspenseful novel. It appealed to all my senses and compelled me to read until the end. I have never had an interest in historical fiction until I read The Memory Agent. Learning about fables, different eras in New York and international history has cultivated a curiosity that I will continue to feed. This book was entirely unexpected and astonishing.
Thank you, NetGalley and 47North for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
July 19, 2017
"Memory is malleable. Memory can be distorted. Changed. Blended together."
Wow, so I must admit, I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. The synopsis doesn't really do this book justice. This is a sci-fi, horror, and psychological thriller all wrapped into one, and that, that is why I decided to go with 5 stars instead of 4. I can't say that everyone will agree with me, but hey, it worked for me! This novel is very much like The Matrix, but at the same time it has it's own originality. The entire time I kept reading this I felt like I could actually see myself playing this as a video game... and I LOVE VIDEO GAMES! At one point in the novel one of the characters actually says "So this whole place is basically one big, fucking video game" and I was screaming "Yes! My thoughts exactly!"; AND... now I really want to play it.
The story is told from only one point of view, and that is from Roger Parker, only in the first chapter (which is the first 33% of the book) you don't know who is really narrating. Roger Parker is not officially introduced until Chapter 2 when he/we learn the truth about who he really is. The first chapter focuses on Parker and his team exploring a tomb in Egypt in the year 1933 in which they discover an city underground that looks exactly like Manhattan, only far more advanced and completely deserted. Parker and his team become trapped in the tomb and this underground city in their escape from the Brotherhood of the Anubis leaving them no choice but to move forward in this unknown city. As Parker begins to explore he finds clues left within the city, one clue leads to the next and then to the next. We're just along for the ride, trying to make sense of all the clues right along with Parker and his team. While none of it really makes much sense at the time, the exploration was still intriguing and entertaining to me nonetheless.
As we near the end of the chapter we begin to discover what Parker and his team are really doing within this abandoned city of Manhattan. Parker is a professional prison breaker for a unique type of prison, "a prison of the mind" better known as the "Panopticon", a machine designed as a means to control and reform prisoners through a dream state. The Panopticon designers built an entire virtual world to serve as the prison. Each world was populated with prisoners, guards, and artificially intelligent beings who looked and acted human but in fact, served as observers and recorders. Before entering prison a person's memories are erased and new memories are inserted by the machine. "Their personal histories would be erased, placed in a memory storage facility and returned later as a download. Traumas that perhaps led individuals down the path of criminality would not be remembered. Instead, they could start anew. Not tied to a violent past." Parker learns that he leads a crew that specializes in prison breaks of the mind. In chapter 2, we get to learn exactly how a prison break works, and this, this is where the story begins to become more relatable to The Matrix.
As the story goes on, we learn that Parker is on a current mission to find and release Andrew Scott, the wealthy son of Senator Ted Scott. Parker discovers that Andrew Scott is being held in the newly designed supermax Panopticon facility, the largest in the world to date. It has a totally different security and you can't just hack into a drone. Parker is reluctant to take the job, it's too risky, but he receives information that his wife, imprisoned for killing a child while intoxicated in an automobile accident, is also in supermax. This is Parker's chance to find his wife and break her out. Parker decides to take the job, and he and his team set out to find a way to break into this new supermax prison, but it won't be easy.
This is a very well written fast paced read. I found it to be very entertaining, I especially enjoyed the comic relief at about 80% into the book. It was probably my favorite part of the book, I seriously laughed out loud. It was so unexpected. Very nicely done Mr. Delaney. The twist at the end was unexpected, though I did find the ending to be somewhat abrupt. I'm not sure how I expected it to end, but something did feel slightly off for me, but it was still satisfying.
I want to thank NetGalley, 47 North, and Matthew B.J. Delaney for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Wow, so I must admit, I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. The synopsis doesn't really do this book justice. This is a sci-fi, horror, and psychological thriller all wrapped into one, and that, that is why I decided to go with 5 stars instead of 4. I can't say that everyone will agree with me, but hey, it worked for me! This novel is very much like The Matrix, but at the same time it has it's own originality. The entire time I kept reading this I felt like I could actually see myself playing this as a video game... and I LOVE VIDEO GAMES! At one point in the novel one of the characters actually says "So this whole place is basically one big, fucking video game" and I was screaming "Yes! My thoughts exactly!"; AND... now I really want to play it.
The story is told from only one point of view, and that is from Roger Parker, only in the first chapter (which is the first 33% of the book) you don't know who is really narrating. Roger Parker is not officially introduced until Chapter 2 when he/we learn the truth about who he really is. The first chapter focuses on Parker and his team exploring a tomb in Egypt in the year 1933 in which they discover an city underground that looks exactly like Manhattan, only far more advanced and completely deserted. Parker and his team become trapped in the tomb and this underground city in their escape from the Brotherhood of the Anubis leaving them no choice but to move forward in this unknown city. As Parker begins to explore he finds clues left within the city, one clue leads to the next and then to the next. We're just along for the ride, trying to make sense of all the clues right along with Parker and his team. While none of it really makes much sense at the time, the exploration was still intriguing and entertaining to me nonetheless.
As we near the end of the chapter we begin to discover what Parker and his team are really doing within this abandoned city of Manhattan. Parker is a professional prison breaker for a unique type of prison, "a prison of the mind" better known as the "Panopticon", a machine designed as a means to control and reform prisoners through a dream state. The Panopticon designers built an entire virtual world to serve as the prison. Each world was populated with prisoners, guards, and artificially intelligent beings who looked and acted human but in fact, served as observers and recorders. Before entering prison a person's memories are erased and new memories are inserted by the machine. "Their personal histories would be erased, placed in a memory storage facility and returned later as a download. Traumas that perhaps led individuals down the path of criminality would not be remembered. Instead, they could start anew. Not tied to a violent past." Parker learns that he leads a crew that specializes in prison breaks of the mind. In chapter 2, we get to learn exactly how a prison break works, and this, this is where the story begins to become more relatable to The Matrix.
As the story goes on, we learn that Parker is on a current mission to find and release Andrew Scott, the wealthy son of Senator Ted Scott. Parker discovers that Andrew Scott is being held in the newly designed supermax Panopticon facility, the largest in the world to date. It has a totally different security and you can't just hack into a drone. Parker is reluctant to take the job, it's too risky, but he receives information that his wife, imprisoned for killing a child while intoxicated in an automobile accident, is also in supermax. This is Parker's chance to find his wife and break her out. Parker decides to take the job, and he and his team set out to find a way to break into this new supermax prison, but it won't be easy.
This is a very well written fast paced read. I found it to be very entertaining, I especially enjoyed the comic relief at about 80% into the book. It was probably my favorite part of the book, I seriously laughed out loud. It was so unexpected. Very nicely done Mr. Delaney. The twist at the end was unexpected, though I did find the ending to be somewhat abrupt. I'm not sure how I expected it to end, but something did feel slightly off for me, but it was still satisfying.
I want to thank NetGalley, 47 North, and Matthew B.J. Delaney for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
July 29, 2017
This was an entertaining read. There are some really neat ideas happening in this book, but I wasn't crazy about the execution of it. For starters, there are only 8 chapters. Which meant that the chapters felt very long. This is a personal preference of course, and may not bother other readers. Secondly, two of the chapters were about four times as long as the rest (my kindle measured the time to read as two hours vs thirty minutes for comparison sake). Finally, the story is told in alternating timelines. This normally doesn't bother me, but for this kind of read, which felt like a thriller/horror plot at times, I feel like it would have been better told from a singular timeline.
The main character, Parker, is a prison breaker. In this book, convicts have their mind wiped, are put to sleep, and inserted into a virtual reality where they serve out their time and hopefully learn to become more productive members of society in preparation for their release. So Parker breaks into these virtual realities, kills the prisoners with silver bullets, where they wake up in the real world. Parker wants out of the game, because he's tired of losing days of memory every time he does one of these prison breaks, but someone is making him an offer he can't refuse. Break out one last prisoner, who can give Parker the location of his wife, who is also in prison.
Pacing issues aside, Delaney's writing is great. The book traverses different settings and time periods and he evokes the feeling of them all very well. In one scene in particular, Parker is at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and he's watching the memories of some of his comrades play out. The feeling of the whole scene is chillingly spooky and eerie, like ghost stories whispered in the dark as kids. I absolutely loved these parts and I wish there had been more of them.
There are some parts of the book that don't make sense as you're reading them. Not that they are confusing in any way, just that somethings require a big suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. By the time the book ends though, everything is wrapped up neatly with a nice little bow and all the pieces fall into place. For that reason, I feel like this is a book I might enjoy a second read of. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have picked up on all kinds of cool little easter eggs and made it much more fun.
The only reason I didn't give this four stars, is that I never really felt like I connected with or cared about the characters. I know who Parker is, but I never really felt like I knew him. I'm big on character driven books so that was what held this back from being a four star read for me.
Thank you to 47North and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The main character, Parker, is a prison breaker. In this book, convicts have their mind wiped, are put to sleep, and inserted into a virtual reality where they serve out their time and hopefully learn to become more productive members of society in preparation for their release. So Parker breaks into these virtual realities, kills the prisoners with silver bullets, where they wake up in the real world. Parker wants out of the game, because he's tired of losing days of memory every time he does one of these prison breaks, but someone is making him an offer he can't refuse. Break out one last prisoner, who can give Parker the location of his wife, who is also in prison.
Pacing issues aside, Delaney's writing is great. The book traverses different settings and time periods and he evokes the feeling of them all very well. In one scene in particular, Parker is at the Hotel Pennsylvania, and he's watching the memories of some of his comrades play out. The feeling of the whole scene is chillingly spooky and eerie, like ghost stories whispered in the dark as kids. I absolutely loved these parts and I wish there had been more of them.
There are some parts of the book that don't make sense as you're reading them. Not that they are confusing in any way, just that somethings require a big suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. By the time the book ends though, everything is wrapped up neatly with a nice little bow and all the pieces fall into place. For that reason, I feel like this is a book I might enjoy a second read of. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have picked up on all kinds of cool little easter eggs and made it much more fun.
The only reason I didn't give this four stars, is that I never really felt like I connected with or cared about the characters. I know who Parker is, but I never really felt like I knew him. I'm big on character driven books so that was what held this back from being a four star read for me.
Thank you to 47North and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 27, 2017
Wow this plot is absolutely wonderful! That being said, it upstages its characters and leaves you wanting more from them. I didn’t feel like I got to know anyone, let alone our main character and merely felt he was just a simple narrator to this enchanting plot. But that is definitely not a detourant, as this book was beautifully suspenseful and entertaining. The wonderful picture Delaney paints of his world vastly makes up for the lack of character depth.
As mentioned, because it’s hard to really even get to know our main character Parker, the beginning was pretty confusing to me. It also starts an extreme flash back to 1933 Egypt (and we weren’t really clear why we were there) then jumps ahead to a technologically advanced time where they head into a virtual reality that then takes them to a digitally created 1950s. Stay with me here! It’s all very Matrix’ey at that point. The Egyptian dig site you start at in has A LOT thrown at you without any explanation and didn’t fit with what I was expecting this story to be at all which just left me in a weird place. While it did come together later-I truly felt like I was reading a different book at first.
But wow was this book a thriller. My heart was RACING through many scenes of the book and the way the puzzle pieces fit together had you digging for them in the story. It got my mind spinning in the best way possible. This book will bend the way you think. It is fantastically fast paced and wonderfully original. At the end of the day it was a great read.
As mentioned, because it’s hard to really even get to know our main character Parker, the beginning was pretty confusing to me. It also starts an extreme flash back to 1933 Egypt (and we weren’t really clear why we were there) then jumps ahead to a technologically advanced time where they head into a virtual reality that then takes them to a digitally created 1950s. Stay with me here! It’s all very Matrix’ey at that point. The Egyptian dig site you start at in has A LOT thrown at you without any explanation and didn’t fit with what I was expecting this story to be at all which just left me in a weird place. While it did come together later-I truly felt like I was reading a different book at first.
But wow was this book a thriller. My heart was RACING through many scenes of the book and the way the puzzle pieces fit together had you digging for them in the story. It got my mind spinning in the best way possible. This book will bend the way you think. It is fantastically fast paced and wonderfully original. At the end of the day it was a great read.
July 7, 2018
The memeory agent⭐️
I dont know how to explain this except for that things go wrong in multiple aras and memory, life and death is not what it seems.
Star reasoning
⭐️really liked the writing style. Drew me i to the world.
⭐️the story was unique. The idea of memory and death and life.
⭐️ the intensity grew so easily but then it was just a memory. Memory and what is real and what is false is really confusing but so interesting.
-2 It was complex and Im not entirely sure what the story was about. Since memory is different from real life we never really know whats real. True and false made the story interesting but also frustrating.
I dont know how to explain this except for that things go wrong in multiple aras and memory, life and death is not what it seems.
Star reasoning
⭐️really liked the writing style. Drew me i to the world.
⭐️the story was unique. The idea of memory and death and life.
⭐️ the intensity grew so easily but then it was just a memory. Memory and what is real and what is false is really confusing but so interesting.
-2 It was complex and Im not entirely sure what the story was about. Since memory is different from real life we never really know whats real. True and false made the story interesting but also frustrating.
July 21, 2017
Genius! Creative and original. I reserve a 5 star review for very select few books that were so good I would re-read them but this is one of them! This book was just what I've been hungry for and haven't read in awhile. I love sci-fi and mysteries and psychological suspense and post apocalyptic themes. Amazingly enough, this had it all! And the ideas were so creative and original. It's like the author really woke up the reading world. I was immediately drawn into the beginning of the book. The mystery and excitement of the dig and finding a deserted Manhattan underground was fantastic. I didn't even have time to be disappointed that it wasn't where the story was really going, before the storyline morphed into an even MORE interesting plot. When the beginning of a book is so instantly incredible, I've found that most books have a hard time living up to that kind of introduction and fall short halfway through. Not in this case! It just kept getting better; more intense. There were frightening parts but also funny parts. The characters felt so real to me and three dimensional. There's so much I loved about this book I will literally have to go back and read it again to get even more out of it since there is just so much to love.
*Some spoilers:
When Parker, Clayton and Blake are in the train tunnel and have to swim from one staircase to another. I felt the terror when Parker described having to swim without knowing if a remnant was going to grab him in the pitch black water not knowing what was right in front of him and people chasing him, hearing gun shots right behind him. That was incredibly suspenseful and so well described that I felt my own heart pounding. It was such a rush.
As terrifying as that was, I was equally amused and laughing hysterically when the team were all trapped in the 1970's dimension right after getting out of the elevator in the hotel. They were looking for Al. They were trapped with the revenants and thought they were going to die but then.......suddenly there was a synchronized dance scene to thriller with a bunch of dead monsters. It was so well done; genius. I could really picture it and I couldn't stop laughing about it.
Another thing, and I know this might be a strange thing to appreciate, but I really loved all the F- bombs strategically placed. They were perfectly placed in the most appropriate ways. Many authors use profanity in ways that seem either unnecessary or badly placed for more of a shock factor or maybe to try and up their characters cool factor. Not here. If it was me stuck in this reality, I would definitely be dropping F bombs in the same way for the same reasons and it made the characters seem more human to me. I appreciated that the author was not afraid to use it and in a very human and real way.
The attention to detail was impressive. Each scene was so descriptive but not overly descriptive or confusing. For someone building a world; more than one in this case because of all the different prison worlds; this was a huge feat to accomplish in my opinion. I've read quite a few post-apocolyptic novels and some aspects of this novel could be compared to those but this one had even better world building than some of the more popular YA novels in which only ONE world needed to be described. I found myself re-reading some of the descriptive parts just to appreciate it more.
I absolutely loved this book. It's made it to my top five favorite books of all time and that is extremely difficult to do in my world.
*Some spoilers:
When Parker, Clayton and Blake are in the train tunnel and have to swim from one staircase to another. I felt the terror when Parker described having to swim without knowing if a remnant was going to grab him in the pitch black water not knowing what was right in front of him and people chasing him, hearing gun shots right behind him. That was incredibly suspenseful and so well described that I felt my own heart pounding. It was such a rush.
As terrifying as that was, I was equally amused and laughing hysterically when the team were all trapped in the 1970's dimension right after getting out of the elevator in the hotel. They were looking for Al. They were trapped with the revenants and thought they were going to die but then.......suddenly there was a synchronized dance scene to thriller with a bunch of dead monsters. It was so well done; genius. I could really picture it and I couldn't stop laughing about it.
Another thing, and I know this might be a strange thing to appreciate, but I really loved all the F- bombs strategically placed. They were perfectly placed in the most appropriate ways. Many authors use profanity in ways that seem either unnecessary or badly placed for more of a shock factor or maybe to try and up their characters cool factor. Not here. If it was me stuck in this reality, I would definitely be dropping F bombs in the same way for the same reasons and it made the characters seem more human to me. I appreciated that the author was not afraid to use it and in a very human and real way.
The attention to detail was impressive. Each scene was so descriptive but not overly descriptive or confusing. For someone building a world; more than one in this case because of all the different prison worlds; this was a huge feat to accomplish in my opinion. I've read quite a few post-apocolyptic novels and some aspects of this novel could be compared to those but this one had even better world building than some of the more popular YA novels in which only ONE world needed to be described. I found myself re-reading some of the descriptive parts just to appreciate it more.
I absolutely loved this book. It's made it to my top five favorite books of all time and that is extremely difficult to do in my world.
January 14, 2019
I've been a big fan of Delaney's other books, so I had high hopes for this book. It certainly did not disappoint. Reminiscent of Inception crossed with a prison breakout, you get interesting characters, lots of plot twists, and suspense throughout. This author is fairly good at creating worlds filled with shadows and dread, and elements of horror that are not too gratuitous or grotesque. There was a fair bit of flipping around from one time frame/environment to another, but it is easy enough to follow along and stick with the characters.
July 20, 2017
WHAT. THE. FRICK.
This book is a total mind (insert bad word here)!!! And I LOVED every single moment of it. I even set aside Ruin & Rising to give this book my full attention after I realized I was hooked. Holy crap. I just finished it so forgive me while I gather my thoughts...
Ok, perhaps I can form a cohesive thought now and convey to you how out-freaking-standing this book is. I can't even imagine the work it took to bring this thing to life in an understandable manner. My first manner of business is to get a hard copy of this book in my hands STAT. Second manner of business is to check out anything else this man has ever written. Every. Single. Thing.
I had no idea going in what this book was about, which I'm glad about now. I think it added to the element of surprise. I see other people saying they weren't happy about being kept in the dark and confused through the first half of this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was sucked in by the unknowing and it kept me engaged, even after I figured things out. Ohhhh, oh but wait! Even when you think you've figured it out, rest assured you have NOT! I wasn't particularly excited by the first few chapters, anything set in Egypt basically, but that is a very, very small part of this book. I think I'm rambling here. Just go get the book. Now. Like right now. Do you have it yet? Why not?
I received an e-book copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are 100% my own. And yes, I really did buy my own copy afterward.
This book is a total mind (insert bad word here)!!! And I LOVED every single moment of it. I even set aside Ruin & Rising to give this book my full attention after I realized I was hooked. Holy crap. I just finished it so forgive me while I gather my thoughts...
Ok, perhaps I can form a cohesive thought now and convey to you how out-freaking-standing this book is. I can't even imagine the work it took to bring this thing to life in an understandable manner. My first manner of business is to get a hard copy of this book in my hands STAT. Second manner of business is to check out anything else this man has ever written. Every. Single. Thing.
I had no idea going in what this book was about, which I'm glad about now. I think it added to the element of surprise. I see other people saying they weren't happy about being kept in the dark and confused through the first half of this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was sucked in by the unknowing and it kept me engaged, even after I figured things out. Ohhhh, oh but wait! Even when you think you've figured it out, rest assured you have NOT! I wasn't particularly excited by the first few chapters, anything set in Egypt basically, but that is a very, very small part of this book. I think I'm rambling here. Just go get the book. Now. Like right now. Do you have it yet? Why not?
I received an e-book copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are 100% my own. And yes, I really did buy my own copy afterward.
September 22, 2017
My original The Memory Agent audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Being a fan of James Anderson Foster since I first listened to him in the Adrian’s Undead Diary series. And being, not really a fan, but one who thinks that dual narrations can be a treat to listen to. I am surprised that I have not listened to The Memory Agent sooner than now.
This is such an interesting yet not totally unique story. The concept of the mental prisons is absolutely fascinating to me. Especially since I have been recently bitten by the LitRPG bug. So I related to the technology in that way. Think of a giant MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Role Playing Game) where convicts are sent to live out their sentence as someone else in a new reality. Mind you this happens with no knowledge of it happening because the convicted has the pleasure of having their memory’s erased before “plunging in”.
Matthew B.J. Delaney chose to present this story in a way that seemed haphazard and confusing at the time of listening. After processing the story for a couple days I was convinced that Delaney was trying to present his story similarly to the way some Hollywood blockbuster movies are organized. Making me do the work of connecting the dots and drawing conclusions until more is revealed.
Not sure who made the call of the dual narration for this book, whoever it was, they made the right choice. The narrators switched everytime the timeline jumped or you could think of it as a different voice for the different realities. Making it very clear as to what storyline was happening at the moment.
I think this was my first time listening to James Patrick Cronin. He has a pleasant voice that adequately conveys the emotions needed at any given time. Cronin’s voice was very soothing, calm and collected. I would listen to him again without thinking twice.
This was on of James Anderson Foster’s best performances that I have heard. There was a confidence coming from him that I do not remember hearing in the past. You could hear the effort he was putting into his performance to make this a pleasurable listening experience.
My beef is with the production quality of Foster’s performance. Brilliance Audio clearly, for some unknown reason, had Foster processed with some kind of noise gate, this is a technique that essentially turns the mic on and off depending on the volume of sound coming into it. This resulted in a clipping off a couple milliseconds of almost every new paragraph voiced by Foster. Making “Parker” sound more like “Harker”. If something like this happens once or twice I probably wouldn’t have said anything. But, it started to become a little distracting.
Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.
Being a fan of James Anderson Foster since I first listened to him in the Adrian’s Undead Diary series. And being, not really a fan, but one who thinks that dual narrations can be a treat to listen to. I am surprised that I have not listened to The Memory Agent sooner than now.
This is such an interesting yet not totally unique story. The concept of the mental prisons is absolutely fascinating to me. Especially since I have been recently bitten by the LitRPG bug. So I related to the technology in that way. Think of a giant MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Role Playing Game) where convicts are sent to live out their sentence as someone else in a new reality. Mind you this happens with no knowledge of it happening because the convicted has the pleasure of having their memory’s erased before “plunging in”.
Matthew B.J. Delaney chose to present this story in a way that seemed haphazard and confusing at the time of listening. After processing the story for a couple days I was convinced that Delaney was trying to present his story similarly to the way some Hollywood blockbuster movies are organized. Making me do the work of connecting the dots and drawing conclusions until more is revealed.
Not sure who made the call of the dual narration for this book, whoever it was, they made the right choice. The narrators switched everytime the timeline jumped or you could think of it as a different voice for the different realities. Making it very clear as to what storyline was happening at the moment.
I think this was my first time listening to James Patrick Cronin. He has a pleasant voice that adequately conveys the emotions needed at any given time. Cronin’s voice was very soothing, calm and collected. I would listen to him again without thinking twice.
This was on of James Anderson Foster’s best performances that I have heard. There was a confidence coming from him that I do not remember hearing in the past. You could hear the effort he was putting into his performance to make this a pleasurable listening experience.
My beef is with the production quality of Foster’s performance. Brilliance Audio clearly, for some unknown reason, had Foster processed with some kind of noise gate, this is a technique that essentially turns the mic on and off depending on the volume of sound coming into it. This resulted in a clipping off a couple milliseconds of almost every new paragraph voiced by Foster. Making “Parker” sound more like “Harker”. If something like this happens once or twice I probably wouldn’t have said anything. But, it started to become a little distracting.
Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.
July 10, 2017
More of my book reviews can be found on my website: https://theartisanpenguin.com/
The first thing I thought to myself as I read the last sentence of this story was, "that was a good book". The Memory Agent is a fantastic roller-coaster ride of suspense and science fiction and I was entertained the entire time I was reading it, quickly turning pages to find out what happens.
Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at breaking minds out of the virtual reality rehabilitation prison where convicted criminals serve their time. This time Parker and his team head into a virtual reality set in 1950's Manhattan. With strange visions, mysterious identities and anti-virus programs chasing Parker and his team through this dream reality state, The Memory Agent will keep you guessing right till the very end.
I found the very beginning of The Memory Agent a little confusing as the story starts out in Egypt in 1933. A group of people are on an archaeological dig and they just discovered the impossible. As they investigate they are attached by the "Brotherhood of Anubis" and must seek the protection of the dig site.
To say I was confused with what was happening is an understatement. This was nothing like what the book-jacket described, and there a legitimate moment where I was seriously contemplated that maybe I received the wrong book. I figured that eventually the story would start to be more like the description on the book-jacket, and sure enough it was. Slowly the puzzle pieces start to come together and make some sort of mind-bending sense. There were also several suspenseful moments when a "monster" is chasing the characters and I still remember my heart beating away in my chest while reading these scenes.
I enjoyed reading this book, it was sort of like a combination of Inception meet The Matrix meets The Adjustment Bureau. I enjoyed all three of these movies immensely because of the mind-trippiness of them. The Memory Agent is right up there with it's mind-trippiness and I was easily entertained as I was reading it, finding it hard to put down at times. If you like mind-tripy books, you will definitely enjoy reading this story. The Memory Agent is available on Amazon July 18, 2017.
I received an free ARC of The Breakdown from 47North via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The first thing I thought to myself as I read the last sentence of this story was, "that was a good book". The Memory Agent is a fantastic roller-coaster ride of suspense and science fiction and I was entertained the entire time I was reading it, quickly turning pages to find out what happens.
Roger Parker is a professional prison breaker, skilled at breaking minds out of the virtual reality rehabilitation prison where convicted criminals serve their time. This time Parker and his team head into a virtual reality set in 1950's Manhattan. With strange visions, mysterious identities and anti-virus programs chasing Parker and his team through this dream reality state, The Memory Agent will keep you guessing right till the very end.
I found the very beginning of The Memory Agent a little confusing as the story starts out in Egypt in 1933. A group of people are on an archaeological dig and they just discovered the impossible. As they investigate they are attached by the "Brotherhood of Anubis" and must seek the protection of the dig site.
To say I was confused with what was happening is an understatement. This was nothing like what the book-jacket described, and there a legitimate moment where I was seriously contemplated that maybe I received the wrong book. I figured that eventually the story would start to be more like the description on the book-jacket, and sure enough it was. Slowly the puzzle pieces start to come together and make some sort of mind-bending sense. There were also several suspenseful moments when a "monster" is chasing the characters and I still remember my heart beating away in my chest while reading these scenes.
I enjoyed reading this book, it was sort of like a combination of Inception meet The Matrix meets The Adjustment Bureau. I enjoyed all three of these movies immensely because of the mind-trippiness of them. The Memory Agent is right up there with it's mind-trippiness and I was easily entertained as I was reading it, finding it hard to put down at times. If you like mind-tripy books, you will definitely enjoy reading this story. The Memory Agent is available on Amazon July 18, 2017.
I received an free ARC of The Breakdown from 47North via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 17, 2017
This book has an amazing plot. Because of the amazing-ness of the plot it sometimes overshadows the characters of the book. It took a while for me to realize that the name of the main character was Parker (This was before I reread the description.). I don’t even know what to say about his character because this book was so focused on the story that it didn’t really put so much light on the characters.
It felt like the characters were just used to narrate a very nice story about a discovery and not narrating their own story at all. However, the book has great first person point of view that you would also feel that the characters isn’t useless after all.
And yes, it has amazing first person point of view. It is that kind of writing that instantly connects you to the character. When I started reading it, it was hard to stop. I didn’t even notice that I was reading the too much describing parts of the book. It was that great. It has amazing narration and writing style. Some chapters were in first person POV and some are in third. My favorites were the first person though.
The story is about breaking someone in a prison, the prison being the mind of the prisoner –which is a very cool and amazing kind of prison system by the way. You see, their prisoners here are put into a Sleep machine and they are having shared dreams of different timelines of Manhattan. And Parker’s story started about him and his team of five people including him finding out an underground city of Manhattan in the year 1933.
They found a ghost town of Manhattan. No people, no sound, not even a movement. It was totally deserted. So they went out to explore a bit. And then Parker started getting phone calls from pay phones or telephones inside a diner or a hotel. And bes, every time those damn phones ring, it creeps the hell out of me. It was so creepy! Imagine you’re in a place with no people at all and then you started hearing ringing phones and when you listen to it, there’s actually someone talking. Like wtf.
The book is amazing. It has a very cool story and every chapter has a twist. It only has eight chapters but all of it has plot twists you won’t see coming, especially the plot twist on the last chapter. I swear you’re going to suck in a huge breath if you read that part. It will blow all your guesses about the plot twist of the book. Well, the author is kind of good at blindsiding the reader. Hehe.
The ending though, I have serious problem with it. The whole story is amazing, seriously awesome. However, I have a lot of mixed feelings towards the ending. First, why the hell would you end this kind of book that way? Seriously, why? Second, what happened after that last sentence? There was no proper conclusion nor closure as to what happened to Parker’s character after he tossed someone off the bridge. And third, really? That’s the ending? I was kind of not satisfied by it.
I actually kind of shouted no in the middle of a café-ish place me and my friends were hanging out in. I just shouted NO! and my friends was like, “What happened to you?” and I was like,"Hell no!"
While asking, why would this amazing book end like this! The book ended in the middle of the climax! I mean, it was building and building. It was intense! And then suddenly, I turn to the next page and the words, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, flashed.
I felt like I was hit in between the eye from the shock. Legit. I’m still kind of reeling myself from the intensity at the near-end part. I was amazed by the whole book. I was actually thinking of giving this a perfect star rating because it’s an awesome sci-fi fantasy book. But then that ending bitch slapped me in the face and this is my new rating. I’m not even considering changing it. The ending was abrupt and I wasn’t happy. :P
To wrap this up, this book is amazing bessies. Really it is. It has great concept and plot twists in every corner. If you are the kind of reader who loves sci-fi and a bit of action combined, this book is yours!
It felt like the characters were just used to narrate a very nice story about a discovery and not narrating their own story at all. However, the book has great first person point of view that you would also feel that the characters isn’t useless after all.
And yes, it has amazing first person point of view. It is that kind of writing that instantly connects you to the character. When I started reading it, it was hard to stop. I didn’t even notice that I was reading the too much describing parts of the book. It was that great. It has amazing narration and writing style. Some chapters were in first person POV and some are in third. My favorites were the first person though.
The story is about breaking someone in a prison, the prison being the mind of the prisoner –which is a very cool and amazing kind of prison system by the way. You see, their prisoners here are put into a Sleep machine and they are having shared dreams of different timelines of Manhattan. And Parker’s story started about him and his team of five people including him finding out an underground city of Manhattan in the year 1933.
They found a ghost town of Manhattan. No people, no sound, not even a movement. It was totally deserted. So they went out to explore a bit. And then Parker started getting phone calls from pay phones or telephones inside a diner or a hotel. And bes, every time those damn phones ring, it creeps the hell out of me. It was so creepy! Imagine you’re in a place with no people at all and then you started hearing ringing phones and when you listen to it, there’s actually someone talking. Like wtf.
The book is amazing. It has a very cool story and every chapter has a twist. It only has eight chapters but all of it has plot twists you won’t see coming, especially the plot twist on the last chapter. I swear you’re going to suck in a huge breath if you read that part. It will blow all your guesses about the plot twist of the book. Well, the author is kind of good at blindsiding the reader. Hehe.
The ending though, I have serious problem with it. The whole story is amazing, seriously awesome. However, I have a lot of mixed feelings towards the ending. First, why the hell would you end this kind of book that way? Seriously, why? Second, what happened after that last sentence? There was no proper conclusion nor closure as to what happened to Parker’s character after he tossed someone off the bridge. And third, really? That’s the ending? I was kind of not satisfied by it.
I actually kind of shouted no in the middle of a café-ish place me and my friends were hanging out in. I just shouted NO! and my friends was like, “What happened to you?” and I was like,"Hell no!"
While asking, why would this amazing book end like this! The book ended in the middle of the climax! I mean, it was building and building. It was intense! And then suddenly, I turn to the next page and the words, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, flashed.
I felt like I was hit in between the eye from the shock. Legit. I’m still kind of reeling myself from the intensity at the near-end part. I was amazed by the whole book. I was actually thinking of giving this a perfect star rating because it’s an awesome sci-fi fantasy book. But then that ending bitch slapped me in the face and this is my new rating. I’m not even considering changing it. The ending was abrupt and I wasn’t happy. :P
To wrap this up, this book is amazing bessies. Really it is. It has great concept and plot twists in every corner. If you are the kind of reader who loves sci-fi and a bit of action combined, this book is yours!
Read
February 16, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings
Rape
Murder
Rape
Murder
July 6, 2017
The farther into this I got, the more frustrated I was. I finally gave up near the halfway point and I'm not honestly sure I'll ever finish it. *SPOILERS AHEAD* From the first page, you're trying to figure out what's going on, and not just in small ways. It starts out in Cairo, 1933, with the main character, part of a group, and there are hints of time travel to 2017 from the Valley of the Kings. At this point, I was all in. The characters were talking about the Prohibition era just past, a big love for me. Then they get attacked by the "Brotherhood of Anubis" and had to break the seal on a tomb and take the subway into an underground city. What looked like Manhattan, except modern and unpopulated. Then the MC gets led around the city and given keys (this part is especially pointless). He stumbles into a bloody apartment, which has his own picture in it. Later, he concludes it "might" be his own place. Then he goes into a theater and meets a "projection" created from his "own memory," his orthodontist back when he was in 6th grade (no, I'm not making this up). Still with me? So the good doctor explains that the world he's in is really a virtual reality prison, his name is Parker, and he's a prison breaker. Panapticon runs a virtual script on prisoners' minds, serving sentences virtually, while the physical bodies are warehoused. But wealthy prisoners' families can pay to break them out. Then Parker is told that not everyone on his team may be trustworthy. And it. Just. Keeps. Going.
The Memory Agent reminded me of The Twilight Zone. Except I really liked Twilight Zone.
This is what I call a Kitchen Sink plot. As in, throw in everything but. The quality of the writing was good, and that's the only reason I give it 3 stars. Only because I couldn't give 2.5.
This is so offbeat you should definitely download a sample before buying.
*ARC via netgalley*
The Memory Agent reminded me of The Twilight Zone. Except I really liked Twilight Zone.
This is what I call a Kitchen Sink plot. As in, throw in everything but. The quality of the writing was good, and that's the only reason I give it 3 stars. Only because I couldn't give 2.5.
This is so offbeat you should definitely download a sample before buying.
*ARC via netgalley*
July 16, 2019
The Memory Agent wasn't a bad book, but it's safe to say that it wasn't for me. The idea was brilliant, but the story itself somehow so confusing. For most of the book I had to push myself to get through it.
It's also quite a bit triggering. Triggers feature
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through NetGalley in exchange to an honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Themed Bookstagram | Quick Update Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
It's also quite a bit triggering. Triggers feature
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook through NetGalley in exchange to an honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Themed Bookstagram | Quick Update Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
April 5, 2021
I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
August 11, 2017
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It's been a few hours since I finished this book, and I've slept on it. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it though. It's a high 3 that I'm rounding up to 4 stars. It wasn't bad, but I didn't especially enjoy it.
The Memory Agent is organized into eight chapters. Eight looooooong chapters. They alternate between first person perspective and third person, all told from the same MC's, Parker's, perspective. Chapter one took FOREVER to get through it felt like. I got the point right away but it just kept going and going. The author is really good a describing settings, but chapter one got me thinking that describing settings was the only thing he wanted to do. I got bored despite the mysterious and spooky clues that pop up at the end of the chapter.
Chapter two immediately got me interested in the story again. It's in third person because Parker is re-living a memory. It's fun. Chapter 3 returns to the original storyline, which gets a little more interesting as he continues to try to figure things out. Chapter four is another memory, then the original storyline, then memory, etc. through the end of the book.
I got REALLY into the story during chapter six. By then, the complexity of the whole thing and the world building between the different prison worlds Parker visits is really excellent.
I was less interested in chapter seven, which returns the reader to the main point of the story. When chapter eight began, I was hardly interested at all. We get a NEW prison world, new set up, and the continuation of a story that I didn't really care about. Parker's love for his wife wasn't explored well enough. And as the book came to a close (I was carefully watching that 94% done, 95% done, etc haha), I came to question more and more what the point of the story was because there hardly seemed enough time to finish it out, especially compared to how much extemporaneous detail the author includes throughout the story. Sure enough, a simple conversation with a talkative villain provides all the answers we need. A second conversation with him adds the final reveals and wraps up most of the loose ends of the story. Then Parker makes a decision and THE END.
After such a complicated story, the ending seemed very convenient, rushed, simple, and lacking. It needs more resolution, an answer of sorts as to what Parker does next, though it is pretty easy to guess what he plans to do next. The reveals didn't surprise me, unfortunately. I'm not sure how obvious they are in general; I feel like the author relies more on distraction than a tight-lipped approach when it comes to the two major reveals of the story.
The book was probably inspired by the movie Inception. Things would get all mind bendy, including the physical surroundings of the characters. In a few chapters, their settings fade and blur or disappear because they have no memory of visiting that location before or are following another person's memory and see only what that person noticed at the time.
So if you are interested in surreal landscapes and thrillers/mysteries about figuring out who the main character is, where they are, and what they're doing, this book might just be for you. It definitely had some really cool parts to it, but I wouldn't recommend it to a broad audience.
It's been a few hours since I finished this book, and I've slept on it. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it though. It's a high 3 that I'm rounding up to 4 stars. It wasn't bad, but I didn't especially enjoy it.
The Memory Agent is organized into eight chapters. Eight looooooong chapters. They alternate between first person perspective and third person, all told from the same MC's, Parker's, perspective. Chapter one took FOREVER to get through it felt like. I got the point right away but it just kept going and going. The author is really good a describing settings, but chapter one got me thinking that describing settings was the only thing he wanted to do. I got bored despite the mysterious and spooky clues that pop up at the end of the chapter.
Chapter two immediately got me interested in the story again. It's in third person because Parker is re-living a memory. It's fun. Chapter 3 returns to the original storyline, which gets a little more interesting as he continues to try to figure things out. Chapter four is another memory, then the original storyline, then memory, etc. through the end of the book.
I got REALLY into the story during chapter six. By then, the complexity of the whole thing and the world building between the different prison worlds Parker visits is really excellent.
I was less interested in chapter seven, which returns the reader to the main point of the story. When chapter eight began, I was hardly interested at all. We get a NEW prison world, new set up, and the continuation of a story that I didn't really care about. Parker's love for his wife wasn't explored well enough. And as the book came to a close (I was carefully watching that 94% done, 95% done, etc haha), I came to question more and more what the point of the story was because there hardly seemed enough time to finish it out, especially compared to how much extemporaneous detail the author includes throughout the story. Sure enough, a simple conversation with a talkative villain provides all the answers we need. A second conversation with him adds the final reveals and wraps up most of the loose ends of the story. Then Parker makes a decision and THE END.
After such a complicated story, the ending seemed very convenient, rushed, simple, and lacking. It needs more resolution, an answer of sorts as to what Parker does next, though it is pretty easy to guess what he plans to do next. The reveals didn't surprise me, unfortunately. I'm not sure how obvious they are in general; I feel like the author relies more on distraction than a tight-lipped approach when it comes to the two major reveals of the story.
The book was probably inspired by the movie Inception. Things would get all mind bendy, including the physical surroundings of the characters. In a few chapters, their settings fade and blur or disappear because they have no memory of visiting that location before or are following another person's memory and see only what that person noticed at the time.
So if you are interested in surreal landscapes and thrillers/mysteries about figuring out who the main character is, where they are, and what they're doing, this book might just be for you. It definitely had some really cool parts to it, but I wouldn't recommend it to a broad audience.
July 3, 2017
This book starts with the main characters exploring an ancient Egyptian tomb- although I wasn't sure why. Maybe I just missed something, but I wasn't sure what they were looking for. Despite being confused by this, it was nice to see a book set in Egypt, as this is a fairly uncommon setting in books.
I did enjoy this book, hence the four stars, however until around a third of the way through, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The characters seemed to be equally as clueless, therefore it was a good technique to use, however it did make the first third slightly boring.
From that point on, the book gets a lot better. The pace is faster, and I found I was more invested in the characters and the story now that I was starting to understand everything (not knowing anything about the characters at first did make it difficult to like them very much). I liked the style of writing. It was fairly simple, but every now and then there are gorgeous, memorable quotes such as this one:
Perhaps this tomb was just a hoax. And perhaps there was no mystery left on Earth. That the world we lived in was solid through and through. And there was nothing beyond. But if it wasn't a hoax, if what we had found was real, then maybe the world could be bent, like light through a prism and transformed in to an unimaginable brilliance.
Overall I did enjoy this book. My only complaint is the lack of information the readers get given at the beginning of the book, but since the characters also didn't understand what was happening, it doe make sense that the readers aren't told much.
Thank you, Netgalley, for providing me an e-ARC of this book. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
I did enjoy this book, hence the four stars, however until around a third of the way through, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The characters seemed to be equally as clueless, therefore it was a good technique to use, however it did make the first third slightly boring.
From that point on, the book gets a lot better. The pace is faster, and I found I was more invested in the characters and the story now that I was starting to understand everything (not knowing anything about the characters at first did make it difficult to like them very much). I liked the style of writing. It was fairly simple, but every now and then there are gorgeous, memorable quotes such as this one:
Perhaps this tomb was just a hoax. And perhaps there was no mystery left on Earth. That the world we lived in was solid through and through. And there was nothing beyond. But if it wasn't a hoax, if what we had found was real, then maybe the world could be bent, like light through a prism and transformed in to an unimaginable brilliance.
Overall I did enjoy this book. My only complaint is the lack of information the readers get given at the beginning of the book, but since the characters also didn't understand what was happening, it doe make sense that the readers aren't told much.
Thank you, Netgalley, for providing me an e-ARC of this book. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
February 9, 2018
The story begins in Cairo in the year 1933. Roger Parker thinks that he and his team are about to unearth an ancient Egyptian tomb but instead they find an underground city, New York City to be exact but not from 1933 but far into the future.
But there’s something lurking in the city, something that doesn’t want them there. Memories start to come back to Roger. He’s not an archaeologist but a prison breaker trapped inside a high tech prison, a prison of the mind, and he’s about to attempt the most dangerous mission of his life, to save his wife.
Wow there’s a lot crammed into this novel! Different eras in history, monsters, gun fights and at the beginning a little bit of Indiana Jones action in the desert. It also had a slightly creepy uneasy feeling to it at times, I genuinely never knew what was going to happen next.
The story has quite a lot of layers and the time line does go backwards and forwards as Roger discovers his memories, it is a little hard to keep up sometimes! I was very intrigued though, I had to know what happened at the end of the book.
But this is not a quick read, in fact at times it felt like a bit of a chore to get through. I think the author should have divided it up better, it’s only eight chapters but a couple of the chapter took me over an hour to read. I think it could have benefited from shorter sharper chapters. I also felt a little disconnected from the characters, like I never really got to know them properly or invested in them emotionally.
Overall I very intriguing novel but the slow pace of the story lets it down.
But there’s something lurking in the city, something that doesn’t want them there. Memories start to come back to Roger. He’s not an archaeologist but a prison breaker trapped inside a high tech prison, a prison of the mind, and he’s about to attempt the most dangerous mission of his life, to save his wife.
Wow there’s a lot crammed into this novel! Different eras in history, monsters, gun fights and at the beginning a little bit of Indiana Jones action in the desert. It also had a slightly creepy uneasy feeling to it at times, I genuinely never knew what was going to happen next.
The story has quite a lot of layers and the time line does go backwards and forwards as Roger discovers his memories, it is a little hard to keep up sometimes! I was very intrigued though, I had to know what happened at the end of the book.
But this is not a quick read, in fact at times it felt like a bit of a chore to get through. I think the author should have divided it up better, it’s only eight chapters but a couple of the chapter took me over an hour to read. I think it could have benefited from shorter sharper chapters. I also felt a little disconnected from the characters, like I never really got to know them properly or invested in them emotionally.
Overall I very intriguing novel but the slow pace of the story lets it down.
July 2, 2017
The Memory Agent has a lot in common with The Matrix. But don’t think that detracts from its allure or originality. In The Memory Agent, traditional prisons have been replaced with virtual worlds set in alternate time periods where memory-wiped prisoners are given new bodies and new lives. Parker and his team break prisoners free from their virtual prisons. Their most recent assignment is their most difficult yet - entry into a closed system, the maximum security prison set in 1950s Manhattan.
The novel is extremely complex, it's very basis entrancing. At the beginning you have a set of 1930s adventurers excavating a tomb in Egypt. Deep inside they discover a modern Manhattan empty of people but filled with echoes of memory. The entire city is a memory temple for Parker and his team. Before Parker can move forward with the assignment, he must recover his memories and discover his purpose.
The novel has a surreal, dreamlike feel that entrances the reader. Delaney does an excellent job revealing pieces of the past a bit at a time, the reader learning and reacting alongside Parker. There are a few inconsistencies, but dreams have their own mutable logic. It doesn't detract from the reader’s experience. The Memory Agent is a thrilling ride with a little bit of everything and more than a few twists. I highly recommend it to any lover of science fiction.
5 / 5
I received a copy of The Memory Agent from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-Crittermom
The novel is extremely complex, it's very basis entrancing. At the beginning you have a set of 1930s adventurers excavating a tomb in Egypt. Deep inside they discover a modern Manhattan empty of people but filled with echoes of memory. The entire city is a memory temple for Parker and his team. Before Parker can move forward with the assignment, he must recover his memories and discover his purpose.
The novel has a surreal, dreamlike feel that entrances the reader. Delaney does an excellent job revealing pieces of the past a bit at a time, the reader learning and reacting alongside Parker. There are a few inconsistencies, but dreams have their own mutable logic. It doesn't detract from the reader’s experience. The Memory Agent is a thrilling ride with a little bit of everything and more than a few twists. I highly recommend it to any lover of science fiction.
5 / 5
I received a copy of The Memory Agent from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-Crittermom
August 12, 2017
This book's storyline is better than The Matrix and Inception combined!
Mr. Delaney has created such an interesting picture of the world of the future that I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to be in one of these virtual prisons. It just all makes sense in terms of space, money, and everything else. Parker, the narrator, you can tell is a good guy and you like him. He may be unconsciously unreliable, but the reader knows he's a good person.
As far as the process of reading this one goes, I would say that it has that same feel as watching Inception for the first time, where you have to follow the steps of where the characters are going. If you're someone who only reads fluff and isn't willing to think while reading, this book is NOT for you. It was probably one of the best books I've read in this genre! I couldn't stop reading it and I'm going to check out the author's other works; I'm hoping this isn't the last we've seen by him.
(On a completely unrelated and random note, I looked up the author and, if it is the correct picture of him, he's a totally hottie [Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure he's completely straight and out of reach, but that doesn't mean I can't comment on his looks!]. Usually authors look like authors. I'm not trying to say anything by that, because I write as well; I just was like 'Whoa! I want to meet him!' despite how unrealistic that may be. Okay, that had nothing to do with the book, but I had to say it somewhere.)
READ THIS ONE! You won't be disappointed!
Mr. Delaney has created such an interesting picture of the world of the future that I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to be in one of these virtual prisons. It just all makes sense in terms of space, money, and everything else. Parker, the narrator, you can tell is a good guy and you like him. He may be unconsciously unreliable, but the reader knows he's a good person.
As far as the process of reading this one goes, I would say that it has that same feel as watching Inception for the first time, where you have to follow the steps of where the characters are going. If you're someone who only reads fluff and isn't willing to think while reading, this book is NOT for you. It was probably one of the best books I've read in this genre! I couldn't stop reading it and I'm going to check out the author's other works; I'm hoping this isn't the last we've seen by him.
(On a completely unrelated and random note, I looked up the author and, if it is the correct picture of him, he's a totally hottie [Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure he's completely straight and out of reach, but that doesn't mean I can't comment on his looks!]. Usually authors look like authors. I'm not trying to say anything by that, because I write as well; I just was like 'Whoa! I want to meet him!' despite how unrealistic that may be. Okay, that had nothing to do with the book, but I had to say it somewhere.)
READ THIS ONE! You won't be disappointed!
June 27, 2017
4.5 stars
An ambitious and exciting novel set in various versions of Manhattan (kind of!). I don't want to say too much about the plot as this is the kind of novel you should really go into with your eyes closed. Honestly, I even think the synopsis says too much which takes away some of the effect from the first part of the book.
The story is full of twists and turns and I did often find myself thinking that I had no idea what was going on but in the best possible way. As you read through the book more and more pieces of the puzzle start falling into place and you begin to understand exactly what is happening and why. The nature of the story is rather mind-bending in a similar way to the likes of Inception or The Adjustment Bureau. The best thing to do is just go with it and enjoy the ride! The the last few pages were particularly brilliant.
The novel itself is fairly genre bending with not only sci-fi, but elements of horror, mystery and adventure thrown in there.
The writing itself is nice, although not super special and for me, the characters could use work. I wanted to feel closer to the characters than I did and I wanted to see more development of them.
Overall, a really unique, enjoyable, mind-bending sci-fi thriller!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
An ambitious and exciting novel set in various versions of Manhattan (kind of!). I don't want to say too much about the plot as this is the kind of novel you should really go into with your eyes closed. Honestly, I even think the synopsis says too much which takes away some of the effect from the first part of the book.
The story is full of twists and turns and I did often find myself thinking that I had no idea what was going on but in the best possible way. As you read through the book more and more pieces of the puzzle start falling into place and you begin to understand exactly what is happening and why. The nature of the story is rather mind-bending in a similar way to the likes of Inception or The Adjustment Bureau. The best thing to do is just go with it and enjoy the ride! The the last few pages were particularly brilliant.
The novel itself is fairly genre bending with not only sci-fi, but elements of horror, mystery and adventure thrown in there.
The writing itself is nice, although not super special and for me, the characters could use work. I wanted to feel closer to the characters than I did and I wanted to see more development of them.
Overall, a really unique, enjoyable, mind-bending sci-fi thriller!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
August 15, 2017
I love books where everything comes together at the end, it requires a certain suspension of disbelief until everything starts to make sense. By the time I started this book, I had forgotten what the summary said which also helped me get into it since I was as surprised as the main character when he found out he was in a prison simulation. The worlds seemed so well planned out and felt real.
Almost everything that mildly confused me, was explained and meaningful in the end. And I definitely thought about the book for a few days after finishing it. It took me two days to gather my thoughts enough to even attempt to review it.
****Spoilers*****
The only things I still had questions about were if the team was inside a prison simulation themselves, then how did they release Blake and Chen from a prison simulation? Does each simulation have a prison inside it as well? How deep do they go? If they were the best prison break-out team because they were inside one themselves and the other members were aware of the fact that they were in a simulation, how come they never attempted to leave the simulation and escape themselves? Will Charlotte really be able to stay in that other Manhattan? I do enjoy all these what-ifs and thinking about them, so there is a high probability that I will re-read this book.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but my review is still my honest thoughts
Almost everything that mildly confused me, was explained and meaningful in the end. And I definitely thought about the book for a few days after finishing it. It took me two days to gather my thoughts enough to even attempt to review it.
****Spoilers*****
The only things I still had questions about were if the team was inside a prison simulation themselves, then how did they release Blake and Chen from a prison simulation? Does each simulation have a prison inside it as well? How deep do they go? If they were the best prison break-out team because they were inside one themselves and the other members were aware of the fact that they were in a simulation, how come they never attempted to leave the simulation and escape themselves? Will Charlotte really be able to stay in that other Manhattan? I do enjoy all these what-ifs and thinking about them, so there is a high probability that I will re-read this book.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but my review is still my honest thoughts
May 9, 2019
Panopticon is watching....
Wow, it's been 20 years since The Matrix came out. For those who saw it when it did, I imagine it will feel like a touchstone reference although the text is unique in concept and certainly not derivative. I was interested to learn at the end that the author really is a cop!
It's the kind of detailed writing style and multi-temporal plot that will have readers either love it or hate it. Personally, I loved it and thought it was wise that the plot predominantly takes place in Manhattan (i.e. there are temporal shifts rather than geo-spatial). When the book opens, the reader has an advantage over the character-narrator in that we know from the book blurb that the book is about a virtual reality matrix and one can safely surmise that the archaeological dig in Egypt (circa 1930s) is set within this matrix and then begin to guess about who is 'real', who is AI, and what the representations of system security are.
We learn more at the same time as the central character as memory and details are unlocked and information about his life and world (past and present) are revealed. Some readers may find it a slow burn as they explore different events and time settings; personally, I loved the writing style and enjoyed both the detailed layers of plot and the opportunity it provided the author to do nods to everything from Indiana Jones, to Mad Max, to Romero films. Well crafted and captivating.
Wow, it's been 20 years since The Matrix came out. For those who saw it when it did, I imagine it will feel like a touchstone reference although the text is unique in concept and certainly not derivative. I was interested to learn at the end that the author really is a cop!
It's the kind of detailed writing style and multi-temporal plot that will have readers either love it or hate it. Personally, I loved it and thought it was wise that the plot predominantly takes place in Manhattan (i.e. there are temporal shifts rather than geo-spatial). When the book opens, the reader has an advantage over the character-narrator in that we know from the book blurb that the book is about a virtual reality matrix and one can safely surmise that the archaeological dig in Egypt (circa 1930s) is set within this matrix and then begin to guess about who is 'real', who is AI, and what the representations of system security are.
We learn more at the same time as the central character as memory and details are unlocked and information about his life and world (past and present) are revealed. Some readers may find it a slow burn as they explore different events and time settings; personally, I loved the writing style and enjoyed both the detailed layers of plot and the opportunity it provided the author to do nods to everything from Indiana Jones, to Mad Max, to Romero films. Well crafted and captivating.
October 14, 2017
Thank you to Netgalley and 47North for allowing me to read this novel!
This story was a mind bender. It throws you for a loop every single time. This novel was a series of plot twists and constantly kept me on my toes. As soon as I thought that I had figured something out, I felt like a rug had been yanked out from underneath me and I was soon diving into a new portion of the story.
It starts out in "Egypt" where the main character is going on a dig. It soon turns out that there is a city underground and Roger Parker starts to explore. Wrapped up in memories of a past that he is trying to remember, he is sent on multiple missions throughout the novel, trying to find his way back to his wife.
I gave it three stars because although it was good, there were parts (towards the middle/middle end) that I just wasn't excited to read. It did drag a little bit but the ending was totally worth it.
The characters, besides Parker, weren't really fleshed out as much as I would have liked, although the ending does sort of justify that? I felt like because those other characters "don't like talking about how they got there" was sort of a cop out.
The idea behind the novel was very interesting to read and i did love the uniqueness of everything. I almost want to know if there will be a sequel? I would be interested in reading more about this.
This story was a mind bender. It throws you for a loop every single time. This novel was a series of plot twists and constantly kept me on my toes. As soon as I thought that I had figured something out, I felt like a rug had been yanked out from underneath me and I was soon diving into a new portion of the story.
It starts out in "Egypt" where the main character is going on a dig. It soon turns out that there is a city underground and Roger Parker starts to explore. Wrapped up in memories of a past that he is trying to remember, he is sent on multiple missions throughout the novel, trying to find his way back to his wife.
I gave it three stars because although it was good, there were parts (towards the middle/middle end) that I just wasn't excited to read. It did drag a little bit but the ending was totally worth it.
The characters, besides Parker, weren't really fleshed out as much as I would have liked, although the ending does sort of justify that? I felt like because those other characters "don't like talking about how they got there" was sort of a cop out.
The idea behind the novel was very interesting to read and i did love the uniqueness of everything. I almost want to know if there will be a sequel? I would be interested in reading more about this.
January 4, 2018
Like looking at a Monet up close, this book resembles a beautiful mess. Then once you finish it and take a step back, you can see all the brushstrokes and plot twists come together to weave a wonderful story. There are just so many layers of this story, that you are drawn further and further in. When I read the blurb and started the story I kept stopping and going back. The story being told and the story I was reading didn’t seem to match. I kept waiting for Delaney to give up and stick to formula but it kept getting away from any box I put it in.
The sheer amount of world building can be overwhelming at first but once I was able to fit myself in, I was pulled into another layer of the details. The characters were a bit hit or miss but I found myself so drawn to the story that I didn’t really care that much. The sheer futuristic concept of a reality prison and how to break people out is a refreshing concept and had just enough Twilight Zone feel to it to feel familiar and yet strangely different. If you enjoy being surprised (in a good way) by your books and you want a fun time, this is the book for you. My only suggestion would be to get rid of the book blurb and just go with “It’s really good...trust me.”
*This eBook was provided by NetGalley and 47North in exchange for honest feedback*
The sheer amount of world building can be overwhelming at first but once I was able to fit myself in, I was pulled into another layer of the details. The characters were a bit hit or miss but I found myself so drawn to the story that I didn’t really care that much. The sheer futuristic concept of a reality prison and how to break people out is a refreshing concept and had just enough Twilight Zone feel to it to feel familiar and yet strangely different. If you enjoy being surprised (in a good way) by your books and you want a fun time, this is the book for you. My only suggestion would be to get rid of the book blurb and just go with “It’s really good...trust me.”
*This eBook was provided by NetGalley and 47North in exchange for honest feedback*
January 2, 2025
Året er 1933. I Kongernes Dal i Egypten støder eventyreren og den opdagelsesrejsende Roger Parker sammen med sit team på et hidtil ukendt gravsted. Men da The Brotherhood of Anubis dukker op og belejrer området, er Parker og hans entourage nødsaget til at søge dybere ned i graven for at forskanse sig – og her støder de på en mystisk portal. Foran dem ligger pludselig et nutidigt og øde Manhattan fyldt med knejsende skyskrabere og en uigennemtrængelig mur, der forhindrer dem i at forlade øen.
The Memory Agent, der er et herligt sammenrend af Inception og The Matrix med en snært at Shutter Islands plottwist, er en “drøm i en drøm”-fortælling af den slags, hvor du aldrig helt er med før til allersidst. Delaney holder bevidst kortene tæt til kroppen og deler meget sjældent rundhåndet ud af ledetrådene. Det er specielt udtalt i bogens første halvdel, hvor jeg flere gange dobbelttjekkede bagsideteksten mod de godt og vel 75 sider, jeg selv havde læst.
Men The Memory Agent kræver bare lidt tålmodighed. Ikke fordi plottet snegler sig afsted eller figurerne er kedelige, men fordi du, som læser, er samme sted som Parker – agenten der drager ind i Panopticons topsikrede drømmefængsler for at bryde stenrige indsatte ud af deres tankeceller. Han kan nemlig ikke længere skelne virkeligheden fra drømmene.
Hvad der præcis foregår er umuligt at beskrive uden at ødelægge en stor del af bogens snørklede afsløringer og plotdrejninger. Nøjagtig som med Inception væver Delaney forskellige tidsaldre og øjebliksbilleder til et actionridt gennem flere forskellige tidsperioder af Manhattan, hvor Parker og hans team “overtager” andre indbyggeres kroppe for at kunne færdes blandt de indsatte og finde deres mål. Imens patruljerer stedets fængselsbetjente samme verden forklædt som helt almindelige borgere.
The Memory Agent bliver aldrig prætentiøs eller højintellektuel. Matthew B.J. Delaney, der leverede en lækker thriller med debuten Jinn i 2003, låner bare ideer og koncepter fra føromtalte film og lægger så en håndfuld af sine egne, mens han træder på speederen. Nogle gange går det lidt ud over figurskildringerne, der kan have en tendens til at være lidt endimensionelle og karikerede, men The Memory Agent er mest af alt en actionthriller og ikke en dybere granskning af, hvad hukommelse, drømme og minder er for en størrelse.
Jeg er lidt ærgerlig over, at Delaney havde brug for at lave et plottwist på de sidste 20 sider, da vi på det tidspunkt allerede er en del “drømmeindsættelser” inde med folk på forskellige niveauer, men han formår alligevel at samle sine tråde til en fin slutning. Absolut ikke 2024 dybeste bog, men en spændingsmættet drømmefortælling.
The Memory Agent, der er et herligt sammenrend af Inception og The Matrix med en snært at Shutter Islands plottwist, er en “drøm i en drøm”-fortælling af den slags, hvor du aldrig helt er med før til allersidst. Delaney holder bevidst kortene tæt til kroppen og deler meget sjældent rundhåndet ud af ledetrådene. Det er specielt udtalt i bogens første halvdel, hvor jeg flere gange dobbelttjekkede bagsideteksten mod de godt og vel 75 sider, jeg selv havde læst.
Men The Memory Agent kræver bare lidt tålmodighed. Ikke fordi plottet snegler sig afsted eller figurerne er kedelige, men fordi du, som læser, er samme sted som Parker – agenten der drager ind i Panopticons topsikrede drømmefængsler for at bryde stenrige indsatte ud af deres tankeceller. Han kan nemlig ikke længere skelne virkeligheden fra drømmene.
Hvad der præcis foregår er umuligt at beskrive uden at ødelægge en stor del af bogens snørklede afsløringer og plotdrejninger. Nøjagtig som med Inception væver Delaney forskellige tidsaldre og øjebliksbilleder til et actionridt gennem flere forskellige tidsperioder af Manhattan, hvor Parker og hans team “overtager” andre indbyggeres kroppe for at kunne færdes blandt de indsatte og finde deres mål. Imens patruljerer stedets fængselsbetjente samme verden forklædt som helt almindelige borgere.
The Memory Agent bliver aldrig prætentiøs eller højintellektuel. Matthew B.J. Delaney, der leverede en lækker thriller med debuten Jinn i 2003, låner bare ideer og koncepter fra føromtalte film og lægger så en håndfuld af sine egne, mens han træder på speederen. Nogle gange går det lidt ud over figurskildringerne, der kan have en tendens til at være lidt endimensionelle og karikerede, men The Memory Agent er mest af alt en actionthriller og ikke en dybere granskning af, hvad hukommelse, drømme og minder er for en størrelse.
Jeg er lidt ærgerlig over, at Delaney havde brug for at lave et plottwist på de sidste 20 sider, da vi på det tidspunkt allerede er en del “drømmeindsættelser” inde med folk på forskellige niveauer, men han formår alligevel at samle sine tråde til en fin slutning. Absolut ikke 2024 dybeste bog, men en spændingsmættet drømmefortælling.
July 20, 2017
The premise and ultimate reveal of The Memory Agent is nothing new. I saw it on Netgalley, and decided to give it a whirl. Inception, The Adjustment Bureau, and The Matrix come to mind as the protagonist slowly unravels the mystery of who he is and what his world is all about. The chapter structure of this book was crazypants, with the first chapter consisting of the first third of the book. That chapter has this surreal horror-chic that was a turn-off for me. I gritted my teeth, and slogged through that first chapter, and was glad that I did.
It was obvious that a lot of thought and planning went into the narrative structure of this story. Each clue, in retrospect, telegraphed the direction of the story and hinted at events to come. The author had to be quite ambitious to envision and create the world(s) that Roger Parker and his team inhabit.
The Memory Agent blends several genres, including horror, science fiction, historical fiction, and mystery. Fans of any of those genres could easily get into it and be satisfied when they finished reading. Although the story is immensely complex, sometimes requiring minor re-reads, everything is ultimately understood by the end of the book. The ending is woefully predictable, but that doesn’t detract from this four-star read.
It was obvious that a lot of thought and planning went into the narrative structure of this story. Each clue, in retrospect, telegraphed the direction of the story and hinted at events to come. The author had to be quite ambitious to envision and create the world(s) that Roger Parker and his team inhabit.
The Memory Agent blends several genres, including horror, science fiction, historical fiction, and mystery. Fans of any of those genres could easily get into it and be satisfied when they finished reading. Although the story is immensely complex, sometimes requiring minor re-reads, everything is ultimately understood by the end of the book. The ending is woefully predictable, but that doesn’t detract from this four-star read.
January 14, 2018
Surprisingly good for one of those books Amazon puts on sale for something like $0.99, and they're by an author you've never heard of, and you're kind of like 'do I take a chance on this, I mean, it's only a dollar, but it still could be so bad, like reading someone's tumblr or LJ fanfic bad, only I've paid for it'.
Except no! It was good! I won the Amazon super-sale lottery!
It's a sci-fi novel, I guess, if I classified it. The protagonists break people out of prison. Only since this is in the future, the prison isn't physical - well, there's still a physical part - the prisoners are put into a deep sleep and stacked up like cordwood. Then their minds are in prison, in a panopticon, it's called. Here, in their minds, they exist in a completely different reality where they don't know they're in prison, at least, most of them don't. It's New York City in different time periods, the 1800s, the early 1900s, etc. They learn how not to be deviants, allegedly, and when their time is up, they get woken up IRL, and leave the panopticon.
Only if someone from the outside wants them broken out, they hire the protagonists to break them out. That's the entire book. Obviously, plot twists galore, not going to spoil it.
Except no! It was good! I won the Amazon super-sale lottery!
It's a sci-fi novel, I guess, if I classified it. The protagonists break people out of prison. Only since this is in the future, the prison isn't physical - well, there's still a physical part - the prisoners are put into a deep sleep and stacked up like cordwood. Then their minds are in prison, in a panopticon, it's called. Here, in their minds, they exist in a completely different reality where they don't know they're in prison, at least, most of them don't. It's New York City in different time periods, the 1800s, the early 1900s, etc. They learn how not to be deviants, allegedly, and when their time is up, they get woken up IRL, and leave the panopticon.
Only if someone from the outside wants them broken out, they hire the protagonists to break them out. That's the entire book. Obviously, plot twists galore, not going to spoil it.
January 12, 2018
I would say this novel of the futuristic prison system is both in the terror and the horror genres! I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out what was happening-but then the characters had trouble figuring out what was going on also. I also had to stop reading every hour or so since it was scaring me to death!
It starts out innocuous enough--an archeologist with his team in Egypt. They find an Egyptian crypt which has not been disturbed--then ------they are forced to go deep into the crypt to escape the people who want to kill them. They ultimately arrive in a futuristic subway station? Well--when they finally somehow get to the surface they are in Manhattan--but it is somehow different from how any of them remember.
Roger Parker remembers that there is now a new kind of prison system--called Opticon--and that he is supposed to break out one of the prisoners. But how and where is he supposed to find him?
That's it folks--not giving any more away! I am still shivering and the ending is definitely not what you are going to expect.
The Memory Agent
It starts out innocuous enough--an archeologist with his team in Egypt. They find an Egyptian crypt which has not been disturbed--then ------they are forced to go deep into the crypt to escape the people who want to kill them. They ultimately arrive in a futuristic subway station? Well--when they finally somehow get to the surface they are in Manhattan--but it is somehow different from how any of them remember.
Roger Parker remembers that there is now a new kind of prison system--called Opticon--and that he is supposed to break out one of the prisoners. But how and where is he supposed to find him?
That's it folks--not giving any more away! I am still shivering and the ending is definitely not what you are going to expect.
The Memory Agent
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