When infected by the brain of an extraterrestrial, Karen discovers, among other bizarre powers, the ability to read minds. As she tries to grasp her situation, a secret branch of the military, devoted to paranormal and supernatural phenomenon, starts their dogged pursuit. They will stop at nothing to catch her, dead or alive, because Karen is contagious with a virus they hope to control. A virus that, if spread, would end the world as we know it.
On the run, Karen meets Morgan, an ex-agent of the team that's on her tail, a vampire-turned-vampire hunter. Together, they struggle to stop the government from seizing the virus, a fate worse than contagion. A future of chaos, from which there is no return.
Not my cup of tea.
This book was adequately written, but not nearly as character driven as I'd prefer. Really, the whole thing read like a movie novelization more than a novel in its own right. It's written in 3rd person and switches between the two main characters, Karen and Morgan, but for all the time we spend with each, I never got a sense of their personalities, wants, dreams, etc. And then a new main is thrown in at the final third and we get an in-depth backstory (including dialog flashbacks) for him all of a sudden?
Karen was all over the place. First she's a damsel in distress, then she's a kickass spy, then she's an emotional wreck, then she's a vengeful god. I don't get growth from her so much as whiplash. There's even a point rather late in the story where she full on blacks out after reading a text message. And this is after she's gone through all this mental training and seen plenty of bloodshed.
Morgan was more fun to follow, if only because I like the exploration of reformed vampires. But, again, he's simultaneously trying to atone for the evil he's done while tearing potentially innocent scientists and guards limb from limb. But his character isn't the only thing suffering from severe whiplash, but his history as well. Throughout the story he keeps going on and on about how vampires are soulless evil beings who don't care about anything more than their next meal, but then suddenly he has an ex-girlfriend who stopped being evil because they fell in love, and then...lost their love?
Most vampires were incapable of love or even caring for one another, but when two damned souls met—in rare cases, it was said—the two could yield a bond between them that would last for eternity. That bond of unification, when broken, brought on a form of humanity for the damned involved.Yeah, that's not confusing at all.
Meanwhile, Karen's 'struggle' with inner evil is more toothless than a slug. She is constantly using and testing her mind reading/control powers on various passerby. At first, it's understandable because she has no control, but once she gets control she starts playing god with people's psyches. But when she comes off her power-high and realizes the horror of what she's done, it typically takes all of 2 paragraphs to determine she's really not evil and move along.
And therein lies my problem with the whole thing. There's never any real struggle. Sure, there's a couple torture scenes, and there's no shortage on pain for the characters, but when they want to do something they never have to try very hard. Everything is typically solved with a few words or a quick action scene that leaves no lasting damage. There never seems to be any sacrifice or growth for either of the characters, even when death is on the line.
So no, not a book I'll ever return to. The plot was interesting, but the writing and characters fell flat. And don't even get me started on that ending. Ugh.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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