A plot with twists and hidden surprises

I gave this four out of five stars for the break neck pace of an action movie, the beautiful language of a beloved classic, and the vivid imagery I wish existed in more contemporary works of this genre.
What I liked:
1) The characters, each one was full of hidden surprises that were just as intriguing as the plot of the book. In the beginning most are sketched together and appear very typical to the crime-thriller genre, they evolve and transform which made them fresh and added depth to the novel.
2) The Futuristic world, in my opinion is one of the stand out features of the book. I like being taken to new places that are strange and different, and Vicino took me somewhere new with gusto. Nano technology that does everything from brushing teeth to fixing a broken leg, flying cars, hologram clothing, and air transport that works off of a real scientific theory.
3) The plot, there are a lot of moving parts in it. Some of the early scenario’s seemed to bump against my suspended disbelief, but somehow the protagonists impending death made it work. I like the role of time in the plot, and how as time wore out it became more important.

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I. Loved. This. Book.

Any additional comments?

I love science fiction but I was not prepared for how much I loved Time Heist. It's incredibly well-written in a Raymond Chancellor Philip Marlowe kind of way. One of my many, many favorite lines: "I didn't want her pity. I wanted answers but this conversation was leading nowhere but to the little town of Pissed Off with a population of me." (I know, right!!!) The characters, main and otherwise, were well-developed. You hated who you were supposed to hate and rooted for who you were supposed to root for. And that ending!! My heart is still racing. I did not, could not, see that ending coming. What a rush!

Even with the fantastic story and witty writing, the narrator knocked it out of the park. He was able to deliver the dialogue of many different characters, including females and sinister bad guys, with seemingly no effort. I think I want to marry him. I will look for more books by both the author and this narrator. Loved, loved, loved this book!!

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A Great New Series!

First off, Time Heist is a great novel. It is one of those novels you feel as though you watched instead of read. There are a great many intense action scenes that keep the book flowing from page to page and a story line with plot twists that will have you craving to know what happens next. The only issues I had with the novel (why I gave it 4 stars) are that I feel as though some things were used too often. Take for example the word 'nanites'. I didn't count how many times it was used, but if I make it a point in my review, it was probably somewhat exorbitant. Similes are used ferociously throughout the novel as well, making the scenes a little too drawn out at times. And, since I listened to the audiobook (because I'm a boss like that), I did enjoy listening to Adam Verner on long car rides, except for his chosen inflection for the antagonist. It was just a bit annoying at times, but did not detract from the book.

Overall, I look forward to the next installment by Vicino because he definitely has something here.

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A Must Read for fans of Urban Sci-Fi Cyberpunk!!!

Excellent Book! Highly Recommended! Can't Wait for the Sequel!

Set several hundred years in the future, mankind had a war and tried to annihilate themselves and failed. Out of this war comes a one world government known as Unity. It has been determined that the world can only safely sustain a human population of 7 billion without depleting all resources and destroying every living thing on the planet. To that end, each person is given a maximum lifespan of 70 years. When that time expires you simply die. At birth each person receives a counter on their arm that shows how much time they have left, assuming that they are not killed by some accident, murder or drug abuse (which makes their time go faster hence shortening the lifespan).

Tom has only a few hours left on his time clock which he plans to use sulking and drinking at the Peregrine, a bar in the Lowers where he has been living since retiring as a time cop several years before. However, when his old nemesis, Malcolm Wolfe, escapes from prison where he has been sentenced to life without parole for killing one million Intuits (Humans who can manipulate the time stream) he is thrust into one more mission to try and recapture him before he kills again.

Anthony Vicino has a potential bestseller on his hands with Time Heist, and Adam Lerner does a masterful job at narrating this Sci-Fi Suspense Drama. I highly recommend both the book and the audio book for fans of urban sci-fi and cyberpunk.

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filled to the brim with action

Time Heist by Anthony Vicino is the first in a series called the Firstborn Saga. Unity was created after the world was destroyed through weaponry hundreds of years ago. In an attempt to control the population so that the human race can continue to survive on its limited resources, the life tracker was invented. Displayed on a person’s arm, the life tracker counts down to the end everyone’s designated life time. Life time can be squandered through the use of drugs, won in wagers, or stolen from the stream. Tom Handel used to work for Time Vice, the law enforcement agency in charge of catching criminals who steal others life time. After the death of his wife and the imprisonment of her murderer, Tom becomes a drug addict and loses his position. Nine years later, as his remaining time is coming to an end, he becomes wrapped up in the politics of time and the control of peoples’ lives once again as he attempts to find the escaped Malcom.

This is a cyber-science fiction novel that is filled to the brim with action. It jumps from one thrilling life threatening scene to another quickly. While the life tracker concept is easy to pick up, the rest of the stream concept isn’t intuitive and is a bit confusing. Also, I found that the character development was primarily action driven and thus a little flat. The dialogue and actions of the main characters were somewhat predictable. The story is told in first person through the main character of Tom Handel. He is every bit the cynical washed up cop character who still wants to the right thing. He is highly reminiscent of a character from a detective noir novel. This vibe throughout the novel and the intense action are aspects the reader must like to enjoy this novel. The plot itself takes a few turns that were not predictable at all, which for me is what made this novel really interesting. These twists in the plot tie the action together with the political backdrop, which increases in importance as more and more information is revealed. The story comes to a clear end at the end of the novel, but the epilogue opens the door for the next novels in an extremely interesting way.

The narration by Adam Verner is good. He voices the characters well and the obviously evil characters are clearly distinguishable through their voicing. The production quality of the novel was good as well. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes cyber-science fiction novels with a lot of action.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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11 people found this helpful

Brilliant Nanotech Infused Sci-fi Mystery

What did you love best about Time Heist?

Anthony Vicino has created an incredible world set in a rather grim future, with some sensational technology. The world is a lot like a cross between 'Blade Runner' and 'In Time', with a bit of a 'Bogart' private detective novel thrown in for good measure.
Its beautifully brought together though, into a futuristic world with multiple segments for the rich and the poor, and various technology levels.
His descriptions are amazing!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think Mandel would have to be my favourite for no other reason than he kind of reminds me of a 'Decker' character from Blade Runner, in that Harrison Ford kind of get knocked down, get up and shoot them kind of way. Mandel is the main character of the book, and gets knocked down a lot, but just keeps going with a single minded determination. He has some great one liners as well (thus the Bogart reference)

What about Adam Verner’s performance did you like?

Adam Verner gives the book a wonderful feel, bringing it too life.
He gives Tom Mandel's Character the run down grimy on the edge sound he should have, but still gives 'Raines' the elegant sounds she should have. And he manages to make Wolfe, the serial killer, sound the right sort of evil that grates on your nerves. He is very clear and easy to understand, whilst still doing a great range of voices.
Its always great to hear someone give a great performance and do a wide variety of voices, especially female voices, and do it well, and Verner does a wonderful job, especially in the high crisis moments of the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was laughing my head off in several bits as there are several excellent bits of banter in the dialogue.
I was in the Police for 11yrs, things like this don't make me cry any more.

Any additional comments?

This is a brilliant story, with a mix of 'In Time', 'Blade Runner' and 1950s 'Bogart' Detective movies, all rolled into a nanotech infused technological mystery that is written in a fantastic world. Vicino has done a spectacular job of writing this, and it should not be missed.
And I think one of the best ways to enjoy it, is by listening to Adam Verner's performance, which was sensational.

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Even better on Audio

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. I love the world building and overall storytelling in this book. I wasn't a fan of the ending personally but I enjoyed it even more narrated.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tom the main character is pretty awesome. He's gritty and flawed which is refreshing in a book but he's no dummy so being on this journey with him wasn't a chore.

Which scene was your favorite?

The time bank scene. There is so much going on you have them trying to break into the bank and you have Tom dying for a fix. I think this was my favorite part to listen to, hands down.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes! The book takes a hard turn at about 80% ish (this is my second time around) and I wanted to throw my phone. It got a small time out not gonna lie. Much more dramatic when someone is reading it to you.

Any additional comments?

Anthony was kind enough to send me this audio book for review. I'm a newbie at audibles and I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

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A Futuristic Society and a Gift

Find his wife's killer. Stop a war. Save the world...Again. Former Time Vice Detective Tom Mandel lost his wife after failing to stop Malcolm Wolfe from pulling off the biggest time heist in Unity history. Nine years later, with less than a day remaining on his government allotted Life Tracker, Tom's ready to join her.

Adam Verner kills it as always. He is definitely a great pick when you have a futuristic or technothriller. He just has this way of becoming characters in such a believable way that it makes the story better. And, as always Verner's quality both voice and recording were perfect with no issues at all.

I seriously cannot be the only who draws severe parallels to the intro of the movie In Time (one of my favorites). The opening scene, the bar, the "fight", the "clock" on their arm -- seriously I had to look it up to see if some of the movie was based on this novel (it's not from what I could tell). I found myself having a hard time getting into it because it felt so unoriginal in the intro.

With that being said, after the intro, the book does start to differ itself from where I thought it would go based off of my parallels to In Time. Vicino can definitely write action, there is no doubt in my mind with that. Time Heist is definitely a "bang, bang, bang" novel with little-to-no time to breathe in between. The action is really the driving force, even more so than the actual characters within.

I think without having seen the movie and drawing so many parallels I would have absolutely loved this, but it was really difficult for me to pick up and start. Once I got through the almost copyright-worthy ripoffs I really did enjoy the story. Vicino has a wonderfully quick way of writing believable dialogue, action, and plot twists that leave the reader begging for more.

This has been one of the harder books I've had to review. Because I did really like it -- it was just difficult for me to differentiate some of the storyline from another story.

I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

Like this review and want to see more? Briansbookblog DOT com

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Excellent Sci-Fi/Mystery story.

Time Heist is an excellent example of how you can have a good old fashioned mystery story and high science fiction complementing each other. This is a story where both the mystery and the science fiction are necessary components to the plot and complement each other to build a suspenseful atmosphere where I was dying to know what happened next. Too many times, I have read sci-fi that was really a story where the author added the obligatory spaceship, an alien race or two, and said the year was 400 yrs in the future and, voila, we get the label of “Sci-fi”. That is definitely not the case here. I would compare Time Heist with the Altered Carbon series by Richard K Morgan or Leviathan Wakes by James Corey, two VERY good science fiction series.

The future envisioned by Mr Vicino in Time Heist is very well thought out and detailed. He definitely has a detailed vision of the future and did an outstanding job of building an atmospheric story. I found myself wanting to know the details of how society got to the very plausible situation that we find ourselves in as the story begins. This isn’t a knock on the plot or a comment on a lack of necessary details in the story, rather it is a complement to the author that I was fascinated by the world he had built and wanted to explore it further. Having said that, if the author had inserted the details I wanted, I would probably be saying he slowed the plot pacing unnecessarily with useless details… damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

The mystery part of the equation was also excellent. You have a flawed, fallen-from-grace, former detective who is given a second chance at revenge. You have a vengeful, intelligent, seemingly all-powerful villain who is easy to hate. You have conspiracies and puppeteers pulling unseen strings. I finished the story in one day, finding myself putting off other things (Life) so I could continue listening.

The performance by the narrator was excellent. I haven’t heard a narration by Adam Verner before but the man has talent! He particularly grabbed my interest from the first minute, portraying the hopelessness, despair, and world-weariness of the protagonist with a gravitas that was admirable. The audio production was flawless and, overall, the audio experience was a joy to listen to.

Bottom Line: Time Heist is an excellent choice to satisfy your science fiction itch. It really excelled in world-building and was intricate and detailed in its execution. This is the first of a series and you will be ‘jonesing’ for the next in the series (like me). The ending was well executed and sinks the hook deeply for anticipation of the second novel.

Story (plot) :5
Performance. :4
Production Quality. :4
Attention Holding. :5

I received a free copy of Time Heist in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

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In Time meets Steve Maqueen.

Would you listen to Time Heist again? Why?

One listen through was enough for now. If they make a sequel I would listen to it.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I dont know what I would change, but it felt like it was just one chase scene after another.

Have you listened to any of Adam Verner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I never listened to adam before but I enjoyed his narration.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

In Time meets Steve Maqueen.

Any additional comments?

I liked the world this book is set in and certian parts of the story, also the narration was great. Just too much running around, not enough story.

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