Dieciséis Ocasos

Sixteen Sunsets Saga #1

by Mark Gardner, Tizzy (Translator)

Kristoff Boyadzhiev and his wife led a simple life, until he was suddenly diagnosed with end-stage terminal cancer and given two weeks to live. Struggling with the news and long-buried resentment against most of humanity, he runs afoul of a street thug with super powers and is killed- only to discover that he has a power of his own. Revived again and again by inadvertently taking the life and power of others around him when he dies, Kristoff is torn between the hope of dying a better man or using his new ability to uncover dark family secrets before the cancer kills him for the last time.

His power, and the trail of bodies left behind by his descent, draws the attention of a Seattle police detective investigating strange happenings all over the city. A covert government agency also seeks to round up Kristoff and others like him, with the hope of eliminating their powers. Kristoff wants to be the hero he promised his wife he would be, but before that he needs to know the whole truth about his past, no matter the cost. With so much in his way, that cost could be too high for him to die with honor; and with two weeks left he has no time to choose.

296 pages, Paperback

Published February 28, 2018

About the author

Mark Gardner is a US Navy veteran, author and broadcast professional living in Prescott, Arizona. His grandfather introduced him to the alternate history writings of Harry Turtledove at a young age. That started a life-long love affair with speculative fiction. in 2011, he began to write his own stories. His books are favorites among fans of Sin City, The Martian, The Punisher, and Firefly. His work is a fast paced, no-nonsense, thrill ride into many genres, including science fiction, superhero, dystopian, murder mystery, and historical fiction. His works are available in six languages.

Reviews

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2016/04/2...

Publisher: Article 94

Publishing Date: February 2016

ISBN:9781530442607

Genre: SciFi

Rating: 3.6/5

Publishers Description: Kristof led a simple life with a simple problem: Terminal cancer. The problem is, his life isn’t simple anymore. He’s just discovered he has superpowers, and only has sixteen sunsets left to live. So what will he do with his remaining time?

Review: There were a lot of good elements to this story. Kristof is a great character but his wife’s antics don’t make much sense. She’s worried sick about him one moment or holding his hand in concern then can’t wait to divorce him. She thinks he’s a gross pig then can’t wait to bang him on the couch. Conflicted? Nah, she just doesn’t read as conflicted as the real source of her angst is never revealed. Did he cheat on her? Does she love someone else? Does she want something different in life? Dunno, and you won’t either. Anne is one great character to follow. Her backstory was revealed in elegant simplicity and she captures the movement and builds a better character each time she is revealed. Stunning work. Most of the supporting cast are built very well and enhanced the overall appeal of the novel.

Initially the storyline is easy to follow but trends towards the confusing as logical story line progression is thrown out the door. In this case it works, as it adds a bit of the unknown to the story line which is appropriate to the characterization. The repetitive nature of the scenes which involve Peter is there to drive home a point and any alternative would not do it justice in describing obsessive behavior. The novel is rife with coincidences where you have to work real hard to suspend your disbelief. To be fair the story line is a bit compressed with fast paced movement so you have to get there in a hurry.

An entertaining read from a new and talented author that leaves room for successive novels.

[Paul Kilmartin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the work. The cover grabbed me.

Well, I haven't reviewed all that many titles yet, but this was extraordinary. It's standalone. In that I couldn't compare it too much. In fact, I came across it more by accident. But boy was I glad I did. Great story, drawings are incredible and a genre I am now very much interested in.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4

Time for another book review by one of the WriteOn members - Mark Gardner. He's been really helpful in giving advice, and when he asked me if I wanted to read his latest book, I readily said yes.

Sixteen Sunsets is about (I think) Kristof, who has cancer and only sixteen days to live (hence the sixteen sunsets), and Joaquin, a young criminal. Both of them aren't completely human - they both have super powers of their own. Joaquin has some sort of impervious skin, and Kristof... has his own special powers. The story starts when Kristof gets his dreadful diagnosis, and rapidly introduces a whole host of characters.

I think this book is going to be the start of a series. When it finished, I felt like the stakes were finally set. For most of the book, I was rather confused as to who was on what side, and what did each of the sides want? That was basically my main reason for continuing to read - I wanted everything to eventually make sense. Plus, the premise was interesting, and I liked the secret history that Anne revealed.

Oh yeah, Anne. Anne was the most interesting character to me (Sorry, Mark, I wasn't too fond of the two male leads). As the character with possibly the longest history, Anne's take on how things actually went down was what I enjoyed reading the most. I'm not too sure about what I think about her at the ending of the book (no spoilers, tough), but for most part, I found her fascinating, even though I never want to meet her, ever. She and the powerful little girl, Bree, scare me. By the way, Bree is another interesting character - she only really pops up at the end, but if I continue to read on, it'll be because of her.

By the way, this book contains fairly explicit descriptions of violence and lots of swearing. For the faint at heart, this might not be for you.

Overall, this was an interesting start to the series. I wish the book continued a little longer, because to me, the stakes only felt real at the end, but I suppose that's all part of Mark's plan. I guess now that we've got a sense of the characters, there's no choice but to read on and find out what happens.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. I did try my best to be impartial, but as I said in the start, I am kinda biased.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
The start of the story began very well but the further I got into the book the more muddled the story appeared.
It ended up leaving me confused and disappointed.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting concept, but there were too many disjointed ideas and separate stories in too short a space. Which might have been fine if I would have been able to read this book all in one sitting, but coming back to it wasn't easy. Which story is this again? Especially since some of them weren't so straightforward and you had to figure them out as you go. Which is fine - but when you've got several story lines and in more than one you're trying to figure out what's going on, it gets to be too much. I realize they mostly came together in the end, but still. Not easy to follow.

Thanks to NetGalley and Article94 for a copy in return for an honest review.

[Jessica Piro · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read this, but I do remember enjoying it. Especially since the characters don't use their superhero abilities like we expect (I'm mainly talking about one in particular but won't go into spoilers).
The storyline can get jumbled, but I think that's part of it and I'm guessing 'those parts' are explained in the following books.