William Massa

Wow! This was an awesome kickoff start to this series of books!

I have read this author before with one of his other series and I really liked the author's writing style, so when I saw that he had this series it intrigued me enough to grab all the books!

A little backstory:

Mark Talon is with the Delta Force and he decides to come home to be with his girlfriend (Michelle) as he is wanting to ask her to marry him. Michelle is a reporter with a newspaper and she is in the middle of a breaking show more story. Mark and Michelle don't get a chance to be together long as things turn sour real quick when Michelle is brutally murdered.

Mark then goes into vengeance mode as he wants to track down and kill the murderers. In steps Simon Casca, a billionaire that seems to know details of not only Mark's life but Michelle's life as well. Simon knows who might be behind the murder and there have been more murders as well that have been happening and he wants to see justice done. Mark finds out from Simon that the murders are somehow connected to a cult that deals in the occult and to take out the cult then Mark has to learn the dark arts as physical power will not work at all against the cultists.

Thoughts:

This was a cool story and when I first sat down to read it I was only planning on reading a couple of chapters, but that didn't happen as from the first few pages I was captured by the storyline and ended up reading about six chapters straight.

Lots of action abounds within these pages and through the whole book it was just one thing right after another! The visual aspects of the story itself just comes alive on the pages and I love the character Mark Talon as he is like The Punisher on steroids! This is one bad ass guy! You cannot knock down Mark Talon as he will just keep on coming till he gets what he wants!

This book kept my insomnia fueled as I just could not seem to put the book down. Giving this book five "action-packed" stars! I am going to be moving into the next book which is "Apocalypse Soldier" to see what adventure awaits Mark Talon next! show less

I grabbed a copy of this through Kindle Unlimited.

I read some reviews prior to downloading this book and I have to be honest, I don't think we read the same book. Predictable was something that was repeated in those reviews, but I didn't find it predictable... I found twist to be rather astounding and thrilling. Maybe it is because this is my first journey into 'cyberpunk', but my main issue, the reason this did not get five stars, was the pace of the book.

Everything happened so quickly, show more great action/adventure, but I do feel that it had more of Cole's back story been explored, and had there been more interaction between... opppsss... I don't want to spoil it for readers... Had the pace slowed down a bit and the ending been left a little more open... would have given this five stars.

Still, this was a great yarn and I highly recommend it! show less

Wow! This book took off right away and this story was a quicker romp as it was a short story!

A small backstory:

Mark Talon's new adventure takes him up against a black metal musician named the Ice God as the musician has been able to harness the power of the occult by using rune stones. When women start to go missing, Simon sends Mark to Norway to see if he can find out exactly what is going on because things are fishy as when the women disappear it is normally where the Ice God has been show more playing with his band.

What Mark finds when he gets to Norway is worse than he thought as the musician has also learned how to control mother nature as well and when things go bad for Mark they really go bad!

Does Mark find the missing women? Is the Ice God involved with the missing women? Is Mark able to stop the Ice God? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Thoughts:

Even though this was a short story it packed a wallop of a punch and once again the main character Mark Talon has to figure out how to stop a villain that uses occult magic!

Since I have been reading this series, I keep wanting to read the rest of the series to see what new adventures lie in wait for Mark Talon and what new villain the author has created next!

So far all the stories take off in the first chapter with something happening and then the next thing you know, Mark Talon is on his way somewhere to take care of the threat! The writing style for me is superb as everything just flows along with an easy read of everything that takes place within the story.

Fight scenes are smooth as silk and I get caught up in the action very easy to the point where I don't want to lay down the book as I want to keep reading to see what happens next and that is how it has been with all the books as I get caught up in the storyline! Giving this book five "action" ice crystals! show less

*I requested a copy of this audiobook from the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Mech malfunctions are at an all time high. Instead of focusing on the programmers, Commander Cole Marsalis is leading the soldiers who are dealing with the androids that feel they can do better than humans at their jobs or caring for children. Cole notices the little things when tracking and fighting these AIs. They could easily kill, but don't. Could they be holding show more back? Why? In order to hunt down the leader of the Underground Network helping AIs escape, what will it take to convince a man to go undercover as what he hates. A machine. Cole is shown that door, and given the chance to hunt down the mech that ruined his life.

Joe is back with the first book in the series. He narrated the prequel to the series as well. Joe voices the characters with different emotional feelings. He fits right in to Cole's personality. I could see, with the projection of Cole's 'voice', he walks with a strong presence and belief in him. It got to the point that I didn't realize Joe was narrating the story as I was caught in William's writing and needed to keep up with what was happening. That's a plus!

Androids are growing in free will and choices in them, but still slaves and property to the world. This is a new twist on slavery with mechanicals who are not to have a conscious mind of their own. There are those who are supporters of the AIs on the run, collaborators believing they are helping androids like slaves were freed years ago. But Cole and others don't see the AIs as having a conscious mind and humanity like slaves of the past. They are created to do as told.

Oh the technology that's used in this book. Nice. We did see glimpses of what was hinted at in Silicon Dawn. It's refined and used here, but in a different fashion. And I like it! Cole is about to become what he hates. And hates with good reason. But now he gets a chance to stop who, or what, had broken his heart when his family died.

William keeps the world as a whole in the picture as he tells the story. There are different views on Mechanicals in different areas of the world. Japan has signed a bill granting mechanicals rights like humans, causing escaping AIs to flee out of the country to Japan and other sympathizer areas. This keeps the picture at a full scale instead of narrowing in on only our people and one place. It leaves a feel that there is more to play with in future stories. And with the end of this book, it could end here but there could be more stories built and I'm hoping so.

You know Cole'll come around to feeling sympathetic for the AIs, he has to right? There is a twist to this. He does, but he doesn't. lol. You have to read the story to understand, it's easy to pick out as you go and such a cool ending. As we go through the story we see his reason for being the way he is and history, but also seeing a touch of feeling from an AI in the beginning. There is a balance drawn for us that we got to experience both. I like that William chose to start with us feeling for an android at the beginning then switching to the strong feelings Cole has toward them. It gives us a sympathy for them first. But we also see there is a part in Cole that questions what he's seeing - could there be more there?

I really like how William brings the world alive as Cole and others live in it. There is true interaction with the world and creation to the story and plot. We get a wide view of the way things are with and for the mechs.

I'm hoping for more stories in this world. I will be watching for them! show less