The Unseen by Jake Lingwall
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Character flaws are things to be fixed, not justified or glossed over. That’s the biggest reason that I cannot give this second book in the Freelancer series anything higher than 2 stars.
The usual thing to do with a character is to have them start out flawed, then recognize that flaw (usually after it lands them in the crap) and then correct it. When you start with a Mary Sue with two big flaws that she (and maybe the author?) can’t see, then don’t fix it but carry it over to the next book… you get a repeat. The same problem Kari had before (easily manipulated) is still there. The other issue is that the ‘flaw’ that she sees in herself (getting people hurt because of her actions) is not the REAL problem, but it BECOMES one even while she extols her virtue for not having done the necessary thing to keep evil from continuing. On no less than five occasions I found myself saying… just kill the guy and damn the consequences… don’t play the game his way… but no, the pages just kept going. *sigh* The dummies on the television don’t listen to me either.
This rest of this review is a spoiler. I don’t have any more time to spend on a 2-star trying to keep it from being one. Read ahead at your own risk.
After escaping the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to work for the government) and almost being killed along with the boy she didn’t even know she liked (but apparently everyone else did?) in the first book, Kari the super-hacker, aka Freelancer, tries to settle down to a normal life of self-indulgence. Unfortunately, she manages to fall into the clutches of a power hungry manipulative egomaniac (who happens to want to overthrow the governments…both of them, as the U.S. is now in a second Civil War).
So, hopefully, you can see my problem here. She learned nothing from her first hellish, mind-scaring, life-trauma event and simply fell into the next one. For a person who is super-smart and can solve so many problems, she is beyond naive. It’s so bad that it completely ruined my suspension of disbelief. I knew who the bad guy was the instant he was introduced.
The whole YA silly teen/young-adult relationship thing just added a level of obnoxious to top the whole thing off.
And that’s why it gets two stars and no more of my time. I’m skipping book 3 because I fear it will be just more of the same.
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If you like intrigue, humor and a bit of speculative technological supposition, you should pick up a copy of my technothriller-comedy eConscience Beta from Amazon today!
Peacekeeper Incorporated’s breakthrough nanotechnology could bring repeat offense crime to an end, freeing society from the need for criminal incarcerations. But first, they have to finish testing it. With funding on the line, and time to prove out the project getting short, the lead scientist must find a way speed things up. That’s unfortunate for his guinea pig, and anyone who would stand in his way.
Can the goal of ending most crime justify committing one… even a few?
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Find out in eConscience Beta, where two lab techs and an uncouth petty criminal must outwit a brilliant but sociopathic scientist who’ll stop at nothing to establish his legacy as the man who ended crime.
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HORIZONS UNLIMITED
Matter conversion technology—Matt-Con—has broadened the scope of mankind’s existence. It has opened up the real possibility of viable colonies on other planets in our solar system, and even space itself. Anywhere matter can be captured or energy from the sun can be felt, the possibility of expanding human habitation exists.
In this volume:
Quicksilver
The space station Chariot of Helios—on its way to Mercury to become a power collection station for Earth’s growing need for energy to power matt-con tech—encounters a strange anomaly that threatens ship and crew.
Escaping Aurora
The sudden destruction of mankind’s first atmospheric terraforming platform leaves three unlucky exonauts struggling to survive in the skies of Venus aboard a cobbled-together airship. Meanwhile, the commander of the space station above battles obstacles that might keep her from rescuing her stranded husband and crew in time.
Words from the Wampuscat 