Dethroned: Act I

by Jim Kozak

An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.

It’s 2157, and the world already ended once. Humanity recovered. Now what?

The Earth Global Initiative formed to protect and insulate humanity from an epidemic annihilating the world’s population. After trying to combat the devastation wrought by the disease, they corralled the survivors inside their ‘New’ cities until a cure was found.

That was forty years ago, and the EGI’s new status quo has slowly sucked the spirit from our species. Skilled work is in high demand, but the education required carries such a high price that military service is the only avenue to stability for most.

Counter-Intelligence officer Seth Renquist owes his survival to the military, and has turned a blind eye to some of the worst humanity has to offer more times than he can remember. But maybe there are things out there that even he cannot ignore.

Everyone has their breaking point.

Just what would it take to turn his indifference into rage?

342 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2018

About the author

Jim Kozak is one of those people who’s always found the villains in stories more interesting than the heroes. They always have the coolest gear, secret bases, and are generally better written than the farm boy (or girl) who’s about to come ruin their day. That’s why he writes characters that could easily be the villain of someone else’s story – and some that actually are – because sometimes evil can only be beaten by another, arguably righteous, evil.

He currently resides in Glenview, IL. It’s a nice town attached to the Chicago sprawl that is quickly being infiltrated by a number of dastardly yoga studios and independent coffee shops. He secretly hopes that someone opens an artisan barbecue and burger joint nearby, because that would just be grand.

Reviews

[Cassie Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the year 2157, the world has fallen apart and has been put back together under the rule of the EGI, Earth Global Initiative. There are different classes of people, with their own districts, the low is very low and the high is very nice. There are some retaliation groups that form to break away from the unfair rule that has taken over, and that's where this story comes into play.

By the title, this book is setting up a very interesting world and events. Reading as an origin story or a backstory, the author is setting up more. Including very well thought out characters and character developments, where we follow and start cheering on characters that in other stories we could easily be rooting against. Giving a chance to read different chapters from different characters allowed the pacing to go very smooth and by time you reach the last half, it is impossible to put the book down because you are interested to see just what will happen next.

What brings this book to be better than others in the genre is that even though the characters are living in a different world with different times, the connection can still be made to our time.

There are some small grammatical errors that attributed to the loss of a star, but for the most part the book was well edited. I am looking forward to act 2 to see just where the story will take us next time.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, I find myself having chosen to read and review an author who is new to me. The author has done a wonderful job of bringing this post-apocalyptic world to life, and it’s the author’s world not a copy of someone else’s. The characters are very well developed in this book and I’m looking forward to seeing where they go and how they continue to develop in the next book in the series. It’s nice and refreshing to read some original ideas and if he continues with the same caliber, he promises to be a sought after author. A very well written book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[chell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well done story!
I got the book through a post from the author on reddit but would've happily paid for it.
Everything is there; action, mystery, politics, dark humour and a bit of a scifi-ish/endoftheworld background.
Interesting is the "what would society look like, a few hundred years after almost everyone has been wiped out and society started again". So also a bit philosophical.
The characters are interesting and very human. Well... most of them are very human, others total psychopaths.
I liked it a lot and am anxiously awaiting a sequel if that's in the cards.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It took me forever to read this book because nothing literally happens until 2/3 of the way through.
The first half is long single chapters with character backgrounds that all lead up to a final operation where they end up killing 200 people.
Just when I was fed up enough, they basically made zombies, and I'm just so overly done with zombies at this point.

The book has some comedy relief, but I also felt like it was trying too hard with that. I did really like the first chapter, but everything after that went downhill pretty quickly for me.

[Lila Ogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dethroned is a novel that will appeal to a wide range of sci-fi fans, as it crosses subgenres and keeps the reader engaged. While not quite cyberpunk, Dethroned has a cast of characters that wouldn’t be out of place in a Philip K. Dick novel. The story is action/adventure heavy, and moves quickly - it is also very well written. I hope it continues on!

Although I received an advanced review copy for free, this had no bearing on my opinion of the novel & I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Adena Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what it is but I just cannot get into this story. The writing is technically good. The storyline is interesting. The characters could use some fleshing out but they are not distractingly flat. The elements of a good story are there but the spark that makes the story a STORY is not there.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Received as a review copy, this is an honest review. This is an DNF read for unfortunately I was bored reading it; failed to capture my attention.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thrilling story that keeps your interest to the end.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Society Was Nearly Starting from Scratch Globally ... What Would It Look Like?

This debut novel starts with cleverly delivered backstory from the mouth of a would-be rabble rouser at what we would call a political rally, as he's trying to foment rebellion against the status quo.

It is Earth in 2157 after nearly all the population of the world was wiped out by a plague. Those who remain are confined to cities with a rigid social structure, controlled by Earth Global Initiative. Those of the dirt level are left to thievery to survive. Education is high cost--along with other finite resources--and nearly the only way in is through military service. The rabble rouser and his organization want to wrest control of the planet from EGI, and the group knows it needs key people if it is going to succeed where other groups have failed. We follow Seth Renquist, who works with the EGI, going undercover at military installations all over the globe to be sure they are being run according to all protocols. The plot has several inventive twists and turns, and the way it all comes together in the end is different--and a cut above--what is normally seen in dystopian science fiction.

I didn't feel I could give it full stars, as there was incorrect grammar and some bizarre formatting issues. At times, too, I thought the pacing was a bit sluggish, especially in the beginning where most of the backstory took place. At least it was more inventively done than most story opening information dumps, but it still felt like a bit much.

All in all, though, a valiant effort by a debut author. I will admit to curiosity about the Act II hinted at in the subtitle. I just hope he hires a better copyeditor!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.