Cat Connor

ERASERBYTE is the 7th in the "byte" series from NZ author Cat Connor. The characters are all part of a crack team of special agents, operating out of Washington D.C., led by Ellie Conway. Conway is a classic all-action hero, capable of absorbing massive amounts of physical punishment (including injuries in a helicopter accident), and just keep on keeping on. There's romance, and the extra twist of visions, and a psychic in-head connection with the new man in her life.

Having managed to come show more to this series originally with DATABYTE (which I think is the 6th overall), I will admit it left me more confused than anything else. This is a cast of characters, and a scenario, that take some getting to know. Given that it's a series that's big on action, it's pleasing that there is a strong concentration along the way on characters, and in particular, how the team work together. Which means it's likely that this is a series that you're really going to have to read in order to fully appreciate. It was marked how much better the experience was with ERASERBYTE than it had been with the earlier book for this reader.

Having said that, you are also going to have to be okay with the whole paranormal visions and the speaking inside each other's head connection between the two love interests. It's possible to work around it if, like this reader, you're hard to please with that type of approach, but it is prevalent and might feel slightly out of place given the rest of the high-action, high-threat aspects of the stories.

There's also something slightly unexpected about these characters who joke, rib and tease each other mercilessly, and are closely bonded enough to be capable of light-hearted banter in the middle of extreme circumstances. Their informality appeals to a Southern Hemisphere dweller, whilst also making you wonder a bit about the more buttoned down, formal and very controlled agents of much American storytelling from a similar environment.

Having now read two books in the series it's definitely making much more sense, and allows for some of the "what the" moments to flow more easily. One for fans of high-threat action, who would appreciate a strong female central character, don't mind a hefty dose of romance and that spot of paranormal into the bargain.

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This review comes with what is now the standard warning, this really is a series that needs to be read in order. There's a lot going on with Special Agent Ellie Iverson and it always feels like the backstory helps enormously when keeping everything that is happening sorted out.

In short, SAC Iverson works for a special unit within the FBI - known as Delta teams. There are multiple Delta teams out there, and Iverson is now in charge of three of them, but still working in the field with Delta A show more - a group of officers that she knows and has cared about for a long time now. Whilst juggling twin toddlers, and a growing psycho-prophetic ability.

In CRYTOBYTE (book 11 of the series), they are approached by a police officer in Missouri looking for help with two, up until now, unrelated missing family cases, where these entire families have just vanished, after a series of cryptic text messages.

This whole series is high action, event driven thriller fiction, with a strong female lead, albeit with that slight paranormal element that may or may not work for some readers. They are set in increasingly different case types, spread throughout America, and in the most recent books, there is the complication of family responsibilities as well. The strongest part of the series is undoubtedly the interactions between all the characters - which has always felt more "New Zealand / Australian" humoured than American to this reader, but it works, and is frequently laugh out loud funny. Things can get a bit ropey plot wise at points, but the point of this series has always felt like the action, the dare doing's and those character interactions.

Definitely one for anybody looking for high-octane thrillers with some paranormal elements, and a kick arse, do everything central female central character.

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The jacket on this gives you a good idea of what to expect...however what it can't do is tell you how addictively good it is!! I thoroughly enjoyed this humorously captivating story, from start to finish. Ellie Conway, the bold as brass, butt kicking main character starts the story in her own unique way. I have no doubts as to why she's a Sagittarius (yep, I'm one too!). Her smart-arse comments and choice words are splattered throughout the book, making her character very refreshing and show more lively, and Mac is just as good and knows how to have fun.

Killerbyte is chillingly suspenseful with a very convincing storyline...at points I didn't know whether to hide behind the sofa or close my eyes...but I couldn't stop reading. The characters' lives are turned upside down as the killing spree escalates...this book is packed with action, and full on with unexpected and shocking twists to the plot. I also enjoyed mention of some retro shows, such as A Team and Starsky and Hutch. I thought the end a very good one, leaving the reader on a high note.

If, like me, you enjoy suspense, FBI thrillers and shows such as CSI or Dexter, then you really can't miss this book (or ebook). Killerbyte is the beginning the Ellie Conway series. There is also Terrorbyte and Exacerbyte, due out March 2011. Can't wait!!!! show less

Written by New Zealand based author Cat Connor, PSYCHOBYTE is book 8 in the Byte series based around FBI Agent Ellie Conway. Reading this series has always been a mixed experience for this reader - sometimes I find myself really enjoying them, sometimes I'm just not getting it at all.

The whole series is what you'd possibly call "thriller lite" which seems a bit odd because the subject matter is often big picture, threatening stuff. But then there's the whole psycho-prophetic talent thing show more that is one of Conway's biggest investigation tools, and there's the breezy style of the series. For something set in the FBI I just can't get the dialogue, the attitudes and the character interactions to work as solidly as you might expect. Set them in New Zealand or Australian forces and I'd not have a problem - perhaps I've watched a bit of American TV where everything in the secret services, FBI / CIA is always so tightly American, so in need of some lighting rigs, that I just can't associate the lighter breezy nature with the setting.

Having said that as pure entertainment there are aspects of the "byte" series that work really well - the team interactions, particularly for an Australian, are fun, and the woo woo which is very to the front surprisingly easy to swallow sometimes. The plot in PSYCHOBYTE isn't the strongest in the series however, and you are going to be stretching the disbelief muscle pretty tight in places. It is also probably a series that you have to read from the beginning. Who is who in the character set is a bit of a challenge if you step in part way. Certainly having now been fortunate enough to read a couple of them the feeling of slight confusion isn't as strong as it was in the first book.

Definitely one for fans of a bit of woo woo, romance, and happily cheesy melodrama in an over the top plot.

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