*Book
source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Title ~ Zero Point
Series ~ The Unraveling Trilogy, #1
Author ~ Nafeez Ahmed
Publisher ~ Curiosity Quills
Published ~ 14 August 2014
Genre ~ Sci-Fi | Thriller
Pages ~ 348
My Rating ~ 4 bites
Army
veteran David Ariel left killing behind and is working on the police specialist
protection squad when Prime Minister Carson is assassinated on his shift. Ariel
thought things were bad when the Prime Minister’s car blew up, but as time goes
by things get stranger and stranger still. Each step he takes to uncover
whatever is going on only sucks him deeper into a web of covert operations the likes
of which have never seen the light of day. Battling unknown enemies and his own
PTSD, Ariel races against time to stop a catastrophic event that could set off
World War III.
Wow!
Be sure to strap in before starting this book because it surges out of the
starting gate in the first chapter and doesn’t let up until the end. Set in the
near future of 2015, this story is one exhilarating ride. It’s definitely a
thriller with fast action and a race against time theme. Then it’s sci-fi with
technology not yet seen today. It also covers the military with specialists,
military bases, weaponry and Ariel’s own connections. Finally it’s political
with different offices trying to do the best they can in an emergency situation
and not getting much done because of bureaucracy and red tape. One hand doesn’t
know what the other hand is doing. Plus, it doesn’t help that it appears every
level of government has been compromised by the enemy and they have no clue.
On
the whole I absolutely loved this book. I was on the edge of my seat and I
nearly couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as my eyes raced to see what was
next. Told from several POVs I really got a decent overall view of what was
going on, but the majority of the story is told from Ariel’s POV and he is a
fantastic hero. Far from perfect and doing the best he can in an impossible
situation, I love following him around as he figures shit out. The writing is
out of this world. In addition, I have absolutely no head for the sciences and
even the technical bullshit was fairly easy to follow though I wouldn’t trust
myself if I had to take a quiz on the subjects put forth.
My
three biggest complaints for this book are these: 1. the twists and turns were
nearly too twisty and turny. I got a headache trying to keep up. 2. The
situations Ariel kept walking into were getting to be a bit much. I just wanted
to give the guy a break even if it was just a little one. 3. The ending. One
word: cliffhanger. Yeah, I am not a fan of cliffhangers and I felt this
particular spot should have been in the next book and the ending dialed back a
bit to just after the event in Trafalgar
Square
All-in-all
I loved this book and will most definitely be watching for book 2.
About the Author
Nafeez Ahmed is a bestselling
author, investigative journalist, and international security academic. He
writes for The Guardian via his Earth Insight blog, reporting on the
geopolitics of interconnected environmental, energy and economic crises. The
author of five critically-acclaimed non-fiction works addressing humanity’s
biggest global challenges, Nafeez’s forthcoming book is a science fiction
thriller, ZERO POINT, due out 18th August 2014.
Nafeez has also written for the
Independent on Sunday, The Independent, The Scotsman, Sydney Morning Herald,
The Age, Huffington Post, New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, Le Monde
Diplomatique, among many others. He has been a talking head for BBC News 24,
BBC World News with George Alagiah, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Radio Four, BBC
World Today, BBC Asian Network, Channel 4, Sky News, C-SPAN Book TV, CNN, FOX
News, Bloomberg, PBS Foreign Exchange, Al-Jazeera English, Press TV, Islam
Channel and hundreds of other radio and TV shows in the USA, UK, and Europe.
Nafeez is also cited and reviewed
in the Sunday Times, Times Higher Educational Supplement, New York Times, The
Independent, Independent on Sunday, The Observer, Guardian, Big Issue Magazine,
Vanity Fair, among others.
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