NV Cefalo

A GameLit Thriller absolutely worth reading!

Revisado: 12-24-24

Loved it!

Awesome to have suspense/thriller in the GameLit genre. This emulates Sword Art Online, but focuses on the thriller aspect and takes it to a different level. Overall was impressed with the story, it really stands out as a great single-installment book within the genre. Not battered down with stat readings and in-game stuff and also a great balance with the IRL parts of the story. If a book 2 comes out, I will definitely be reading it. Would greatly recommend, especially if you are looking for something different within the GameLit genre.

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A cyber punk crine novel you MUST pick up!

Revisado: 01-23-23 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

5/5

The author had me hooked on the blurb alone. Excellent story that is fast-paced and I couldnt put this thing down! The narration was perfect and the plot was really well drawn out. Had me guessing a few different times and was happy with the ending. The ideas in this book are scary too, because they may become a reality someday! I loved the touch of crypto, mingled with modern politics, the digital world, and the noir police angle as well. It all melded together in a really compelling story. This one is right up there with Snow Crash in my opinion. I can't wait to see a second installment in this book's story!

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A sorta apocalyptic thriller that didnt disappoint

Revisado: 12-13-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

3.9/5

From the author blurb, I was expecting a post-apocalyptic/survival thriller. I think I got about half-way through expecting the post-apocalypse to occur and what I would expect to see. Instead, we are thrown into an urban suspense thriller, with a global event happening in the background. This story is technically a pre-apocalyptic thriller! While I was a bit 'meh' on this fact, the actual meat of the story was convincing.

A few of the events seems to be tall tales, but I enjoyed it all the way through. Lots of characters to like and baddies to not like just the same. I also love Vermont, and loved the scenery of Vermont back-country. All in all, I would still give this book a recommend, even with its *maybe* mis-categorization. I think you'll like it!

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A Post-Apocalyptic World You May Enjoy

Revisado: 07-30-21

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

3/5

I thought that the premise was OK. The world building was good, though I believe that some things were left out intentionally to have us readers try to guess what was going on. What I did not like was the end chapters and how that played out - I felt that it was rushed and I wanted to see more of the world that was briskly whisked away from us. Even if it was about to come to an end, I would have loved to know more about the why and when. There were hints about throughout the story, and even mentions of a specific character, but we unfortunately never see them. One thing I am left wondering is about the physiological nature of the main characters. No spoilers there, but I am sure it will be addressed later on in the other books.

While I did not like certain aspects or the ending of the book, I did enjoy the beginning, the journey, the characters, and the world they were in. I would still recommend this to anyone who likes to read post-apocalyptic stories.

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A YA Fantasy With Excellent World Building

Revisado: 07-30-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

3.9/5

This was a light-hearted story that took a quite sudden turn for the serious and fantastical. The book is young-adult oriented fantasy, but has plenty of adult themes and is written well enough for any adult to enjoy. The MC, supporting characters, protagonists, world-building, language, and magic system were well thought out and mesh together cohesively. I thought that Chow did an excellent job bringing together a world with a different culture with the mannerisms and "usuals" of two teenage boys thrown into this strange new world. My only complaint is that there was not enough back-story (some was definitely provided, but I felt I needed more) to warrant the amount of peril that was present. Hopefully we will get more of that in future installments of this world! i would definitely recommend this to others; kids and adults alike!

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Excellent Crime/Thriller Book Making You Guess Who

Revisado: 07-30-21

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

5/5

I made the mistake (once again) by reading the other Cole and Callahan stories before this one... although it really isnt a mistake at all - these stories really could stand out by themselves if read out of order. Even though past events are referenced in future books, it doesnt really harm anything by me reading them out of order.

Anyway, I loved this story! I don't really have anything bad to say about it.The premise had me on edge, and I was left on my seat trying to figure out the who dunnit.. which I definitely boast about being able to do early on in any given story. The way that Hale crafted this story was genius; even the title itself throws you for a loop! We see our protagonists in action for the first time together, getting things going as a private detective agency and everything that entails. We also see how their personal lives affect their jobs, and vice versa - which lends credibility to the story. At the end, I was a little stunned that I was incorrect about my assumptions; Hale, you got me good!!

I would recommend this title and the other books in the Cole and Callahan series to anyone looking for a good crime/thriller/detective book.

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This story is 100% all the rage - get it?? :)

Revisado: 07-30-21

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

4.5/5

Following up from how much I liked The Pain Colony, I was thrilled to dive right into this book. Right away, I could see that the author was going into a new direction - something linear into the sci-fi sphere that totally works for this. I don't want to give away any spoilers by explaining anything in this review, other than it explores some of the science in "The Colony," plus we get a peek behind the curtain if you will. With the addition of the perspective of a new addition to The Colony, we get a rounded out story that does not disappoint. I would highly recommend this book, and also very much recommend anyone go back and read The Pain Colony as well. Excellent work by Hunt.

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Dark Days GameLit for sure! Pick up this title now

Revisado: 07-30-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

4/5

This story was a little slow to get into, but if you get through the first few chapters, it picks up momentum and suddenly, you wont be putting the book down! This was another GameLit novel I spotted with different circumstances than the usual, and that's what let me to it. We find our MC thrown into a VR MMO, where all the players who have joined are unable to escape - and what's worse, when they die: they die in real life. There are twists and turns that I did not see coming. The story roped me in by the end so much that I need to have more; I need to know what happens next. For that, I would definitely recommend this in the LitRPG/GameLit recommendations.

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A Unique and Dark LitRPG/GameLit Story - Read It!

Revisado: 07-30-21

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

4/5

This was a real treat - a different kind of GameLIT/LitRPG set in a scenario and circumstances that is unlike other books in the same genre. I will admit that I was skeptical at first, but as I read on, I was delighted with this story. This book touches on the dark side to the virtual gaming world aspect: being stuck in VI, torture, and death. I thought that the author did an excellent job painting this dark side of the world with a brush that still made it enjoyable and not just straight gore. There are plenty of memorable characters, a gaming system unlike other LitRPGs, and a real world story that blends in nicely with the virtual one. I am curious to see what else happens in future installments, and would recommend this to others.

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A Gritty Horror Story You Should Read!

Revisado: 07-30-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

*This book was given to me by the author at my request, and I provided this voluntary, unbiased review.*

3.9/5

The synopsis of the book had me hooked right away... Then came to actually listening to the audiobook. I first want to start by separating the audible presentation separate from the story itself, because I believe that the performance hurt this..a lot. The pronunciations and inflections of every sentence absolutely bothered me. David Philip Reed has an excellent voice for horror, but I could just not get around *how* he spoke a good portion of this book.

Now to the meat of it - the story. I'll start with the negative to get that out of the way. There was a heck of a ton of telling and not showing. Sure, a common thing for writers out there, so not a big deal. Another big thing for me was the spoken out loud inner dialogue. I did not feel it spoke of how someone would truly say those things -- it sounded a bit scripted/robotic. It definitely threw me off a bit, but I ground through it anyway.

Now to the good - the story concept itself: AWESOME! There are definitely versions of this "type" of story out there in the ether, but I thought Rome absolutely hit a home run with this. It's dark, gritty, gruesome, and makes you cringe with horror! The execution was done really well, and I was very satisfied with the ending; mostly because I thought I had it figured out and BAM! Rome hit me with a nice shock that left me going "you got me good!"

At the end of day, I thought this was an excellent story that I believe could be a real winner with some editorial fixes. I would recommend reading this via kindle/paper rather than Audiobook, but that's just my two cents.

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