Michael C. Grumley

Fast paced science fiction thriller is the first in a new series dealing with cryo technology.

John Reiff, Army veteran, was a certain kind of hero. One who stopped a robbery and died while saving people from a sinking bus in an icy river. At least that's what everyone assumed had happened. John, however, wakes up in a laboratory being studied by doctors and scientists intent on proving that cryogenics, or cryonics, is not just a theory. But there is more to this story than simply bringing show more John back as an exercise of scientific inquiry and experimentation. For what purpose does John live? And who is pulling all the strings.

I like dystopian and futuristic science fiction, so this checked all my boxes. The explanations for the science were good and the characters were believable enough that everything seemed possible. There's lots of action and suspense as doctors and friends try to protect John from the evil villains. The descriptions of the dystopian society seemed all too real and the events to getting to that point were credible for our own future world. The only obvious irritation to me is that it ends on a cliffhanger and we have to wait to find out what happens next in a future installment. The fact that there is one on the way, however, gives me a general understanding of the conclusion.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The audio is narrated by the incomparable Scott Brick who brings such great dramatic flair to every story. Listening to him always enhances my enjoyment of a book. show less

The mystery and the different threads in the book were great and I did enjoy the characters. BUT there was a shoe-horned romance (!!), a few convenient, unexplained miracles, and a few confusing abuses of power too many for this to stay at 3 stars. The beginning starts out strong, but that ending was too much to swallow.

(Although this doesnt say im a verified purchase....i *DO* in fact own verified copies of these books bought one at a time instead of this boxset. At the time of purchase this boxset wasnt released yet.) You won't regret taking a chance on this unique and suspenseful series. Utterly filled to the brim with heart, suspense, mystery, and a few paranormalesque twists. The paranormal itself isn't center to this story. It revolves around a program that enables humans and dolphins to communicate. show more Been done, right? NOPE... By speak I don't mean the typical hand signals from the human and twirls as a reply. I mean a computer that literally deciphers words into dolphin clicks and vice versa. Where humans and dolphins literally have actual conversations!!! Thus opening up the world to even more than they ever imagined! As the series goes on we also see this technology used to converse with gorillas and primates. There's a HUGE amount of military intrigue, spies, hackers and lots of suspense. If you adore James Rollins, Steve Berry or Dan Brown then this is right up your alley. I thankfully discovered BREAKTHROUGH and was honestly hooked one paragraph in. I stopped reading and went right back to Amazon to order the others available at the time in said series. I did NOT regret that choice at all. Even with a limited book budget I knew this was a smart choice! This book is filled to the brim with characters with wit, heart, HONOR and yes as in any good story we also see characters devoid of any soul or heart out only for number one. You will fall in love with these characters and what they're end goal is. I'm also including my review for book 1 BREAKTHROUGH so you have a basic idea of how said series starts... I cannot wait for the next book in this genius series!!!
BREAKTHROUGH REVIEW: I will be honest... I didn't truly know quite what to expect with this book as I'd not read anything by this author before. Wow! I'm now THRILLED I got this amazing book. I was completely and utterly hooked within the first chapter. Imagine if you will, a dolphin aquarium... Same old same old right? WRONG!! Allison and her team of misfit scientists and a wonderful computer "white hat" hacker have done the impossible. Using a computer and a program specially designed, they used it to video and track their two in house dolphins extraordinaire... DIRK and SALLY 🐬🐬. Slowly this system has been tracking their clicks (sounds they make) in response to questions asked. The teams hope is this computer will help translate the dolohin language and make communication possible. With tons of data, Ali and her team know its possible...its just a matter of when. They're all workaholics, but after a very long day they force themselves to leave. Alison goes in early the next day to retrieve her notebook...about to leave, something catches her eye. EUREKA!! Three words are translated already! Calling the team in they are all very excited! Everything goes quickly from there. Fairly soon there are far more than three words! Considered a joke in her scientific community thanks to a past resesrch trial thst the Navy stole and delayed her getting back data for so long that nobody in her circles believed her...she has every right NOT to trust the Navy again. So imagine her shock and disdain when two Navy men come calling. John Clay and his friend Steve immediately know she seems to have an aversion to either the government, Navy, or both...they just dont know why. Yet they have a job to do. Their bosses want to borrow her beloved dolphins to retrieve a lost rover on the ocean floor. There is something down there, and they need to get it. Suffice to say that from here on out there is oodles of action, dolphin talking to humans, shocking discoveries, immense politics, political backstabbing, and immense worry for the safety of the planet. Who would think two dolphins could be the ones to possibly save the day? So take the ride...meet Dirk, Sally and an amazing cast of characters. I for one got to the last page and just knew i had to read more. Luckily there are a few more books in this series to get to read! If you're a fan of James Rollins or Steve Berry I think you'll fall in love with this series...ENJOY!!! 🐬💜🐬💜🐬 show less

Started out great but the series quickly takes a dark turn. Someone clearly doesn't like China. It screams "China bad! USA good!". There's a hacker in one of the books and if he doesn't find who he is looking for he is dead.... because that's what China does to people. So far they have also bombed a mountain, sunk a US ship, killed lots of people. On the other hand USA saves the day. The author also writes about everyday stuff that China does that is bad. Like being one of the biggest coal show more manufactures in the world. Sure, that isn't great, but somehow I don't think the author dislikes the biggest coal provider in the world (Australia) because, well because they aren't China (or Muslims).

Read a few chapters and you instantly know this is written by an American. Disgusting. show less