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Live Soldier #1
Live Soldier
I wasn't always a marine with a government camera in my eye...
Before they hacked my head, stole my daughter and sent me to war, I sold drugs to plastic celebrities in the clouds. Not the most honest of professions, I know. But this world is broken, and although my city presents a glittering face to the ruins, surviving here is dirty work.
Far below the movie sets, the gene editing labs and the body mod studios, another city exists. A place of flooded streets and tainted air. You wouldn’t want to live there - none of us do. So can you blame me for burning my morals in return for a glimpse of the sun? Sure, it was far from perfect, but nothing is these days.
Then I made a mistake. Crashed the wrong party, sold a good time to bad people, implicated myself in a terrorist attack on an A-list star. And the violence didn’t end there. Now the poor have been accused of massacring the rich, and to atone for our supposed sins, we are being trained for battle.
The task ahead of us sounds insane. Infiltrate the island stronghold of the planet’s most advanced post-human scientist. Learn its weaknesses, and lead an army to conquer it.
Insane? Scratch that, it sounds like suicide.
Except for one thing. That scientist is known as the Designer, and I was one of his first creations…
Before they hacked my head, stole my daughter and sent me to war, I sold drugs to plastic celebrities in the clouds. Not the most honest of professions, I know. But this world is broken, and although my city presents a glittering face to the ruins, surviving here is dirty work.
Far below the movie sets, the gene editing labs and the body mod studios, another city exists. A place of flooded streets and tainted air. You wouldn’t want to live there - none of us do. So can you blame me for burning my morals in return for a glimpse of the sun? Sure, it was far from perfect, but nothing is these days.
Then I made a mistake. Crashed the wrong party, sold a good time to bad people, implicated myself in a terrorist attack on an A-list star. And the violence didn’t end there. Now the poor have been accused of massacring the rich, and to atone for our supposed sins, we are being trained for battle.
The task ahead of us sounds insane. Infiltrate the island stronghold of the planet’s most advanced post-human scientist. Learn its weaknesses, and lead an army to conquer it.
Insane? Scratch that, it sounds like suicide.
Except for one thing. That scientist is known as the Designer, and I was one of his first creations…
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2018
185 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 28, 2019
This post-apocalyptic, dystopian society shows the worst of mankind. Lazyness, cruelty and self-absorption. It's off-putting in a tangible way. A reminder of how bad we can be if we're not constantly on guard with ourselves and each other.
It's a vividly imaginative story. There's a lot to take in so you can't sit back and coast through it. There are many twists and reveals that snap your attention back to the action.
There is nothing quiet or introspective about this story. It is in your face action, crime and suspense.
Review ARC graciously provided by BookSirens
It's a vividly imaginative story. There's a lot to take in so you can't sit back and coast through it. There are many twists and reveals that snap your attention back to the action.
There is nothing quiet or introspective about this story. It is in your face action, crime and suspense.
Review ARC graciously provided by BookSirens
April 18, 2019
Set in a dystopian world, Live Soldier was a very dynamic and engaging read.
Pros:
-The world is detailed and complex.
-The main character has a rich/deep past and the author does a good job of detailing it.
-The book is well edited, and you can read it without getting bogged down by grammar or punctuation issues.
Cons:
-While the world is engaging, I felt like the author tries to do too much sometimes (background explanations, past events, etc).
-The story itself seems like it could have been two or three books very easily. The setting and circumstances of the MC change quickly and sometimes jarringly.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book for others who are a fan of the genre. The middle bogs down just a bit, but quickly corrects itself into a worthwhile story. I look forward to future installments from this author.
Pros:
-The world is detailed and complex.
-The main character has a rich/deep past and the author does a good job of detailing it.
-The book is well edited, and you can read it without getting bogged down by grammar or punctuation issues.
Cons:
-While the world is engaging, I felt like the author tries to do too much sometimes (background explanations, past events, etc).
-The story itself seems like it could have been two or three books very easily. The setting and circumstances of the MC change quickly and sometimes jarringly.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book for others who are a fan of the genre. The middle bogs down just a bit, but quickly corrects itself into a worthwhile story. I look forward to future installments from this author.
June 7, 2019
This is a fast-paced, well-written book that kept me guessing to the end. I found the story compelling early on in the book and I just could not put it down. Incredible story!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 13, 2020
2 1/2 stars which I'll round up to 3 stars by the grace of one magnanimously given final pixel. Though 'Live Soldier' (a spoiler of a title if there ever was one) is not what I'd call a good book (how do you do italics here?) per se, it is if nothing else quite imaginative and in some bizarre, can't-look-away-from-the-train-wreck kind of way entertaining.
While we're beating a dead metaphor, I think if it had JUST been a train wreck, that would have been easier to swallow. But the way this book is structured, it seems Clay wants to not only have the choochoo go boom but also have a plane crash into it, then have both roll off a cliff together into the ocean and then let the mutated sharks go to town before its all swept away by a tornado. You know, so we can go from there to Chapter 2. There is simply too much done far too quickly in this book and it gets to be actually annoying that we don't stop and focus more on what appear to be really key elements to this world that has been created. Add to that that at some point Clay decided to start breaking the 4th wall during all this and.... put it this way: Deadpool it ain't!
However, to put in a kind word or two, in the end the saving grace of this book is that the world that is created is at its core very interesting. It's just that there are perhaps at least 3 full-length tales - if not books then certainly novellas - in all of this that are squished and pressed into the moderate length we're faced with to help describe this dystopian future. Frankly, it just gets way out of control and in desperate need of a harsh ARC cohort or a decent editor with a pen hooked to a tank of red ink. Seriously, when the main character is not PHYSICALLY described until well into the story and - at least in my mind's eye - complelety changes character as such, well...
I'd also add that the character development is all over the place. Whereas I found some of the main players intriquing, most of all our 'anti-hero' Anex and then perhaps Peace/Peas/Pees after that (our nod to the superhero genre as she's obviously the Batman part of the equation), I wouldn't even be able to begin to even name a fraction of the characters that are in the same squad as these two and wouldn't even be able to find same unless I searched for their death scenes. The creation of a 'hive-mind' (ha! you'll see what I did there if you read it) and a completely out of place X-rated scene do little to improve things in the slightest. If you try to chart this, you'd be better served just doodling some lines on a napkin and passing that off as your summary. Sure, there are surprises along the way with some of the folks but they can't cover up the 'randomosity' of people that show up even as the book is reaching it's final few pages. Oh and speaking of random things: where were the damn Jamaican wolves supposed to be? Really, on an island of full of hungry and extremely violent people? I don't see it.
Despite all this - and I've got another couple of dozen criticsms I could toss in here - I do intend to read the 2nd book. So if anything were achieved in this Michael Bay-esque mess of a story, well, that can't be too bad, right? We'll see.
While we're beating a dead metaphor, I think if it had JUST been a train wreck, that would have been easier to swallow. But the way this book is structured, it seems Clay wants to not only have the choochoo go boom but also have a plane crash into it, then have both roll off a cliff together into the ocean and then let the mutated sharks go to town before its all swept away by a tornado. You know, so we can go from there to Chapter 2. There is simply too much done far too quickly in this book and it gets to be actually annoying that we don't stop and focus more on what appear to be really key elements to this world that has been created. Add to that that at some point Clay decided to start breaking the 4th wall during all this and.... put it this way: Deadpool it ain't!
However, to put in a kind word or two, in the end the saving grace of this book is that the world that is created is at its core very interesting. It's just that there are perhaps at least 3 full-length tales - if not books then certainly novellas - in all of this that are squished and pressed into the moderate length we're faced with to help describe this dystopian future. Frankly, it just gets way out of control and in desperate need of a harsh ARC cohort or a decent editor with a pen hooked to a tank of red ink. Seriously, when the main character is not PHYSICALLY described until well into the story and - at least in my mind's eye - complelety changes character as such, well...
I'd also add that the character development is all over the place. Whereas I found some of the main players intriquing, most of all our 'anti-hero' Anex and then perhaps Peace/Peas/Pees after that (our nod to the superhero genre as she's obviously the Batman part of the equation), I wouldn't even be able to begin to even name a fraction of the characters that are in the same squad as these two and wouldn't even be able to find same unless I searched for their death scenes. The creation of a 'hive-mind' (ha! you'll see what I did there if you read it) and a completely out of place X-rated scene do little to improve things in the slightest. If you try to chart this, you'd be better served just doodling some lines on a napkin and passing that off as your summary. Sure, there are surprises along the way with some of the folks but they can't cover up the 'randomosity' of people that show up even as the book is reaching it's final few pages. Oh and speaking of random things: where were the damn Jamaican wolves supposed to be? Really, on an island of full of hungry and extremely violent people? I don't see it.
Despite all this - and I've got another couple of dozen criticsms I could toss in here - I do intend to read the 2nd book. So if anything were achieved in this Michael Bay-esque mess of a story, well, that can't be too bad, right? We'll see.
September 11, 2019
This story gives the origin story of the main character, Anex. I found the beginning a little hard and confusing to get through but once you get past the start, the story does grip you.
I believe part of the problem with the beginning is it is hard to grasp the world at first as the world building is a little unclear but once you grasp it, it sucks you in. I enjoyed the way that the characters were presented, as the characters that Anex meets during the course of the story, we learn more about them as he does. The story is told in the perspective of Anex, so that is true of the plot as well. I believe that really helps the reader and explains more because it puts the reader in his mind.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this book that it really keeps you guessing and when you think you have it figured, something else comes up and changes it.
I would recommend trying this book out, once you get past the beginning and put some time into learning the world, it will definitely be worth your while.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I believe part of the problem with the beginning is it is hard to grasp the world at first as the world building is a little unclear but once you grasp it, it sucks you in. I enjoyed the way that the characters were presented, as the characters that Anex meets during the course of the story, we learn more about them as he does. The story is told in the perspective of Anex, so that is true of the plot as well. I believe that really helps the reader and explains more because it puts the reader in his mind.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this book that it really keeps you guessing and when you think you have it figured, something else comes up and changes it.
I would recommend trying this book out, once you get past the beginning and put some time into learning the world, it will definitely be worth your while.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 14, 2019
In this post-apocalyptic world, the author has done an awesome job of bringing a dark world full of dark characters to my kindle! Some things never change and there is an even greater divide between the ones who have everything and the ones who don’t. This means those who don’t get used and abused at will by those who have everything including the power and control. There’s lots of action and drama to go along with the murder mystery. No good story would be complete if at least one of the less fortunate, used and abused souls didn’t have a secret that would have been beneficial to the powerful people who want to control him! This is a delightful read and it’s time this dark world came out in to the light so everyone can enjoy it! I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 11, 2020
A dysotopic sociowar
This book starts out where your thinking it's about just fallen dysotopic society and it's many cyberpunk dregs...and then the pace changes to that of survival and the exploration of the mc annex and a mishmash of various misfits...it is well worth a read and I'm trying to figure out how to check out volume 2 water at but don't have the scratch...but someday I hope to read more
This book starts out where your thinking it's about just fallen dysotopic society and it's many cyberpunk dregs...and then the pace changes to that of survival and the exploration of the mc annex and a mishmash of various misfits...it is well worth a read and I'm trying to figure out how to check out volume 2 water at but don't have the scratch...but someday I hope to read more
March 26, 2019
Post apocalyptic story. I personally do not like them. I do not know what happened, the story does not tell me. Striving to survive. Not a bad story. But the story is well written. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.
April 13, 2019
When is your next book?
Starts confusing, but quickly starts explaining. Then it's an action packed rollercoaster ride up into the clouds and above before it's satisfactory and exhausted conclusion. A follow-up is screamed for. LoL I'm seriously impressed!
Starts confusing, but quickly starts explaining. Then it's an action packed rollercoaster ride up into the clouds and above before it's satisfactory and exhausted conclusion. A follow-up is screamed for. LoL I'm seriously impressed!
April 26, 2019
Couldn't get into it.
Tried my best to get into the book but I just couldn't. I made it through 25 percent of the book but it was nothing like I expected. The sonposis of the book just doesn't seem to match. Afraid I'm calling it quits and moving on to the next book.
Tried my best to get into the book but I just couldn't. I made it through 25 percent of the book but it was nothing like I expected. The sonposis of the book just doesn't seem to match. Afraid I'm calling it quits and moving on to the next book.
December 14, 2019
Great reading
An awesome respite from the zombies and shifters! I needed a break and this book delivers on multiple levels. It has action, intrigue, sex and more. So what's not to like?
An awesome respite from the zombies and shifters! I needed a break and this book delivers on multiple levels. It has action, intrigue, sex and more. So what's not to like?
March 19, 2020
Innovative, fast paced with plenty of twists
Started reading this one evening and next I knew, it was 1:00 am! Interesting characters and well-written dialog underpin a rollicking romp through a fascinating new world. Can’t wait to get the next in this series!
Started reading this one evening and next I knew, it was 1:00 am! Interesting characters and well-written dialog underpin a rollicking romp through a fascinating new world. Can’t wait to get the next in this series!
October 18, 2019
Not good
Did not enjoy this book at all. Too weird and wacky even for me, and I have read some weird and wacky stori8in my time.
Did not enjoy this book at all. Too weird and wacky even for me, and I have read some weird and wacky stori8in my time.
October 21, 2019
Waltzing with the absurd
Starts off like a bad acid trip but does occasionally improve. Could do with some serious editing. Only saved - somewhat - by a novel plot
Starts off like a bad acid trip but does occasionally improve. Could do with some serious editing. Only saved - somewhat - by a novel plot
November 3, 2019
Enjoyed very much
This story flowed dry well and it never got boring . I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a fast paced action story.
This story flowed dry well and it never got boring . I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a fast paced action story.
March 30, 2023
Excellent 👍
July 11, 2019
This book was an absolute gem , I really enjoyed it the whole way through. I should have seen the twist with the camera coming, but I was so caught up in everything that was happening, I had totally forgotten that that was going to happen, so it surprised me !
I loved this book the whole way through, it just kept on giving giving givingi. I loved the fact that the main character wasn't just a gary Stu either, he has his fault (many), but you root for him, and I'm keen to see where he goes from here in the next book
I loved this book the whole way through, it just kept on giving giving givingi. I loved the fact that the main character wasn't just a gary Stu either, he has his fault (many), but you root for him, and I'm keen to see where he goes from here in the next book
Read
April 16, 2019Live Soldier is an exciting take on a cyber-punk style future. The action focuses on Anex, a member of the Underworld who, when we are introduced to him, is a drug dealer, dealing in a designer drug. His motivation is to continue to improve his future prospects and move upwards (literally and figuratively) in the world. the initial scene does enough world building to whet our appetites for getting to know this version of a dysfunctional future. Technology reigns here, it separates the haves from the have nots and is everywhere. Social media has taken over. A drug deal goes south and the adventure begins and it's non-stop until the end.
This story was enjoyable on several counts. The world itself is one that you feel compelled to explore. As the story unfolds you can see it but you want to see more. You want to stop the narrative for a moment and look around, take a look at see what everyone else is up to. This more than anything else will drive interest in any sequels, I'd particularly like to see a collections of shorts set in this world. The plot is very fast paced with enough interesting twists to make it interesting to a jaded reader like myself. Anex as the protagonist is a compelling lead; flawed, broken, morally ambiguous at times but charming and likable. His co-stars are an interesting mix of people psychologically damaged by their culture, environment, their circumstances. I felt like there was more that could have been explored in the mental makeup of the cast but then again, that isn't the type of story that was being told. All told, this was a very pleasing adventure and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This story was enjoyable on several counts. The world itself is one that you feel compelled to explore. As the story unfolds you can see it but you want to see more. You want to stop the narrative for a moment and look around, take a look at see what everyone else is up to. This more than anything else will drive interest in any sequels, I'd particularly like to see a collections of shorts set in this world. The plot is very fast paced with enough interesting twists to make it interesting to a jaded reader like myself. Anex as the protagonist is a compelling lead; flawed, broken, morally ambiguous at times but charming and likable. His co-stars are an interesting mix of people psychologically damaged by their culture, environment, their circumstances. I felt like there was more that could have been explored in the mental makeup of the cast but then again, that isn't the type of story that was being told. All told, this was a very pleasing adventure and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews