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Lights Above Cass
Lucia a self-aware Quantum computer recovered from the Roswell crash was brought to a secret base. Time on Earth and the completion of her mission will soon collide. She awaits the final codes to return home.
While investigating alien abductions the CIA uncover some of America’s ugliest social injustices. Several women return some meet their fate other ways. Rose a minister’s daughter, Jacqueline a gay schoolteacher, Eve a deaf-mute farm girl, Molly a college student living on the edge and Rita an Army nurse are missing. To some this book may read as a parable, to others a premonition.
While investigating alien abductions the CIA uncover some of America’s ugliest social injustices. Several women return some meet their fate other ways. Rose a minister’s daughter, Jacqueline a gay schoolteacher, Eve a deaf-mute farm girl, Molly a college student living on the edge and Rita an Army nurse are missing. To some this book may read as a parable, to others a premonition.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2020
4 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 3, 2020
This is an amazing sci-fi thriller that I could not put down! I loved the characters and the story is amazingly compelling and well-written. I am hoping for. more by this author who is new to me.
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.
May 19, 2020
The author moves at fast pace when introducing lots of different characters, which can be abit disorienting. However I love the depth of learning each individual's story and background. Injustice is rectified. At times the plot slows down but after a few chapters it speed's up again...keeping the reader intrigued. I liked the happy ending.
January 29, 2020
Lights Above Cass by Marilyn Brokaw Hall
A Kryptic Review…
The book starts off with Corporal Brett Anderson spotting an anomaly on the radar at a top secret military base. An Unidentified Flying Object hovers over the base and drops three women off triggering a series of events. The military brass read in Special Agent in Charge Jesse Finch of the Central Intelligence Agency and his team of special investigators. Together they set off on a journey to uncover the secrets of these and other women who have all mysteriously disappeared from a town called Cass.
The team investigate the disappearance of Rose, Jacqueline, Eve, Molly, Annette, Lucy, Rita and other women. Their CIA agents discover shocking truths about the women and their disappearance and in so doing make personal discoveries as they do.
The book has an interesting story that takes you on quite an exquisite journey across time highlighting social injustices endured by the women and that disappeared and their families. Marilyn Brokaw Hall weaves an intricate web that excites the reader to untangle.
Though the book’s story is well crafted, I struggled to get through the book because it was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors that ripped me out of my suspended disbelief. The book has a great story poorly written. Some of the errors to note are as follows:
• There is poor punctuation which makes the story hard to read and follow at times
• Almost every page has a spelling mistake if not two or three
• The characterisation is poor. There is no notable difference or uniqueness in the characters. They are very one dimensional and flat
• The dialogue is horrible. The basic rules for structuring dialogue are not followed. It does not characterise, or drive the plot forward. The dialogue is often too lengthy with characters running off long-winded monologues. The dialogue also is used to fact/information drop or in certain instances used to repeat things the reader is already aware of
Something that irritated me while reading the book, was the consistent flashbacks that left me feeling whiplashed around time and space. The rule of thumbs is l”ess is more”. I would have rather wanted to read fewer flashbacks with time for me to get to know the cast better and to build on the mosaic of stories that culminates in a larger story but I wasn’t given the chance. The flashbacks end as soon as you get into them.
There are all sorts of inconsistency errors. Names of characters are incorrect, for example Antonia versus Antonia. Rita’s daughter, Zarita’s age changes incorrectly. First she is four years old and then she is three.
My final criticism is that at times the commentary on social injustice feels preachy rather than illuminating. Hall had an opportunity to give us space to look in the mirror and consider how we as humanity architect societies that breed social injustice. This opportunity was completely missed in the delivery.
Overall, the book was not a great read, but had all the ingredients to be something special. With better writing and far less errors it could have been something special.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
Happy reading, Kryptic Fans!
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A Kryptic Review…
The book starts off with Corporal Brett Anderson spotting an anomaly on the radar at a top secret military base. An Unidentified Flying Object hovers over the base and drops three women off triggering a series of events. The military brass read in Special Agent in Charge Jesse Finch of the Central Intelligence Agency and his team of special investigators. Together they set off on a journey to uncover the secrets of these and other women who have all mysteriously disappeared from a town called Cass.
The team investigate the disappearance of Rose, Jacqueline, Eve, Molly, Annette, Lucy, Rita and other women. Their CIA agents discover shocking truths about the women and their disappearance and in so doing make personal discoveries as they do.
The book has an interesting story that takes you on quite an exquisite journey across time highlighting social injustices endured by the women and that disappeared and their families. Marilyn Brokaw Hall weaves an intricate web that excites the reader to untangle.
Though the book’s story is well crafted, I struggled to get through the book because it was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors that ripped me out of my suspended disbelief. The book has a great story poorly written. Some of the errors to note are as follows:
• There is poor punctuation which makes the story hard to read and follow at times
• Almost every page has a spelling mistake if not two or three
• The characterisation is poor. There is no notable difference or uniqueness in the characters. They are very one dimensional and flat
• The dialogue is horrible. The basic rules for structuring dialogue are not followed. It does not characterise, or drive the plot forward. The dialogue is often too lengthy with characters running off long-winded monologues. The dialogue also is used to fact/information drop or in certain instances used to repeat things the reader is already aware of
Something that irritated me while reading the book, was the consistent flashbacks that left me feeling whiplashed around time and space. The rule of thumbs is l”ess is more”. I would have rather wanted to read fewer flashbacks with time for me to get to know the cast better and to build on the mosaic of stories that culminates in a larger story but I wasn’t given the chance. The flashbacks end as soon as you get into them.
There are all sorts of inconsistency errors. Names of characters are incorrect, for example Antonia versus Antonia. Rita’s daughter, Zarita’s age changes incorrectly. First she is four years old and then she is three.
My final criticism is that at times the commentary on social injustice feels preachy rather than illuminating. Hall had an opportunity to give us space to look in the mirror and consider how we as humanity architect societies that breed social injustice. This opportunity was completely missed in the delivery.
Overall, the book was not a great read, but had all the ingredients to be something special. With better writing and far less errors it could have been something special.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
Happy reading, Kryptic Fans!
Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Website
February 6, 2020
Lights Above Cass by Marilyn Brokaw Hall is a fascinating science fiction novel that is full of mystery, drama, and suspense. The blurb lures readers in with a scifi twist of a self-aware Quantum computer recovered from a crash, and then the book takes readers on a journey of questions, answers, secrets and revelations.
Lights Above Cass is the first book that I have read by Marilyn Brokaw Hall and initially I was eager to dive into this book to see where the author was going to take me. The author begins the book with a thrilling and page-turning array of lights out near a secret military base, and a high speed aircraft zooming all over the place. My curiosity is piqued and I’m eager to learn what happens next. Then the story takes a twist and leaves me wondering where exactly are things going.
Now, when I quickly learned that this story wasn’t shifting immediately to Lucia I was a bit disappointed at first. I was curious to see how she was recovered and how she played into all of this and how the author was going to work this in the story. But as the author instead gives me various characters who have disappeared one by one, my interest was quickly pulled back into the story. Each situation is different and unique and I loved how I got the impact on the lives of those who were left behind for all those years. My heart broke for the characters who had to report their loved ones missing, or simply, even worse, came home and they were gone with no explanation and forced to suffer for it.
The way that this story is pieced together is really well-done. There were some parts with certain characters that I wanted to delve deeper with into their stories, but the author moves along at the right pace to keep the reader engaged with what and who comes next to keep the story moving along. I like how injustices are uncovered and secrets revealed in the right places.
There isn’t much that I don’t like about this book. There are some places of where the storyline slows down a bit too much for my taste, but when it picks back up, which it does rather quickly, then it is truly fascinating and hard to put down. There are a few minor editorial errors (spellings missteps here and there) but nothing so drastic that it detracts from the story or interrupts the flow.
While this book isn’t totally scifi, but is blended in so that you get more of a mystery/thriller/suspense novel it is still a really well-done novel. I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the uniqueness of this author’s writing style and how they brought this storyline to life. If you like a science fiction novel with a nice dose of suspense and mystery then this book is a good choice to pick up. You won’t be disappointed.
Lights Above Cass is the first book that I have read by Marilyn Brokaw Hall and initially I was eager to dive into this book to see where the author was going to take me. The author begins the book with a thrilling and page-turning array of lights out near a secret military base, and a high speed aircraft zooming all over the place. My curiosity is piqued and I’m eager to learn what happens next. Then the story takes a twist and leaves me wondering where exactly are things going.
Now, when I quickly learned that this story wasn’t shifting immediately to Lucia I was a bit disappointed at first. I was curious to see how she was recovered and how she played into all of this and how the author was going to work this in the story. But as the author instead gives me various characters who have disappeared one by one, my interest was quickly pulled back into the story. Each situation is different and unique and I loved how I got the impact on the lives of those who were left behind for all those years. My heart broke for the characters who had to report their loved ones missing, or simply, even worse, came home and they were gone with no explanation and forced to suffer for it.
The way that this story is pieced together is really well-done. There were some parts with certain characters that I wanted to delve deeper with into their stories, but the author moves along at the right pace to keep the reader engaged with what and who comes next to keep the story moving along. I like how injustices are uncovered and secrets revealed in the right places.
There isn’t much that I don’t like about this book. There are some places of where the storyline slows down a bit too much for my taste, but when it picks back up, which it does rather quickly, then it is truly fascinating and hard to put down. There are a few minor editorial errors (spellings missteps here and there) but nothing so drastic that it detracts from the story or interrupts the flow.
While this book isn’t totally scifi, but is blended in so that you get more of a mystery/thriller/suspense novel it is still a really well-done novel. I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed the uniqueness of this author’s writing style and how they brought this storyline to life. If you like a science fiction novel with a nice dose of suspense and mystery then this book is a good choice to pick up. You won’t be disappointed.
February 2, 2020
An unidentified craft flew at enormous speed right toward their base. It was obviously not a military drone or spy plane – and the base was highly restricted. Corporal Brett Anderson watched as it made unbelievably sharp dives and figured it had to be using electromagnetic fields to turn on a dime or go straight up into an accelerated climb. He called Captain Jamal Bryant, the Aerospace Defense Command Intercept Director, who was irritated by a call that late at night, and suggested he should come to the base immediately and see this himself. The Captain hung up on him, so he didn’t know if he was coming or not, but he had followed protocol.
The Captain arrived and sent soldiers out to coordinates where the ship seemed to be landing. A “form” was left behind when it took off again. A blonde in her mid-twenties stood quietly like a statue and two others women were lying on the ground in her shadow. There are other missing women – could they have been abducted in the same way? What are they facing here?
This was not an easy book to read. It definitely needs editing. But it also has the reader wade through tons of information that doesn’t feel like it is really needed. Instead of enlightening the reader, it slows the story line down uncomfortably. The characters are not developed as fully as would be helpful to the reader in knowing, for example, that they could be trusted or were competent. As mentioned, it was difficult to plow through all of this information. Nevertheless, the story was interesting if the reader can follow the main action. Die-hard sci-fi buffs would probably enjoy this one.
The Captain arrived and sent soldiers out to coordinates where the ship seemed to be landing. A “form” was left behind when it took off again. A blonde in her mid-twenties stood quietly like a statue and two others women were lying on the ground in her shadow. There are other missing women – could they have been abducted in the same way? What are they facing here?
This was not an easy book to read. It definitely needs editing. But it also has the reader wade through tons of information that doesn’t feel like it is really needed. Instead of enlightening the reader, it slows the story line down uncomfortably. The characters are not developed as fully as would be helpful to the reader in knowing, for example, that they could be trusted or were competent. As mentioned, it was difficult to plow through all of this information. Nevertheless, the story was interesting if the reader can follow the main action. Die-hard sci-fi buffs would probably enjoy this one.
May 19, 2020
The author moves at fast pace regarding introducing lots of different characters, which can be abit disorienting. However I love the depth of learning each individual's story and background. Injustice is rectified. At times the plot slows down but after a few chapters it speed's up again...keeping the reader intrigued. I liked the happy ending.
May 20, 2020
This writing could have used a little better proofreading, but the content was diverse & satisfying. This could make a Science Fiction fan out of me, yet!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews