*Book source
~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Title ~ Twinkle
Author ~ SJ Parkinson
Publisher ~ SJ Parkinson
Published ~ 14 July 2014
Genre ~ Sci-Fi | Thriller
Pages ~ 572
My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble
Sir
Marcus Brandon is the richest man in the world. To coincide with the launch of
his newest venture, Global News International, he wants to do something
spectacular. So, paying out of his own pocket, he sends fireworks into space in
satellites and on July 4th he has them detonated every hour so that
each time zone can appreciate them. The show is beyond anything anyone has ever
seen. And will soon be the last they’ve ever seen as the next day people around
the world start going blind. The blindness is marching across the globe in the
order of who witnessed the fireworks display and those countries hours ahead of
the blindness try to figure out how the fireworks could have possibly caused
this phenomenon and how to stop it. As catastrophes and accidents worldwide pile
up, the US
All
I can say is, “Holy Shit!” I have really come to love post-apocalyptic and
dystopian stories because while the premise is basically the same (something
catastrophic happens and changes the world forever) the story that evolves after
has a bazillion different ways to play out. In this case, a dazzling fireworks
show has somehow, inexplicably, caused worldwide blindness. How the hell do
countries, governments and the populace in general deal with and recover from
that?! But is the blindness bad enough? Oh, no. There’s more. So much more
going on, but I’m not going to say what.
As
with any good post-apocalyptic tale, it centers around the build up and
aftermath and those few individuals who carry the fate of the world on their
shoulders. Told from multiple POVs, the story builds with each person. Some of
the people are dropped after their bit is told and thus the story narrows the
focus on the four people who have the most impact on what’s going on, but the
ending brings a few more people in to tell it from their POV. Never is it
confusing or head scratching. This tale is told with precision and focus.
Everyone contributes to the big picture. And what a picture it is. I could NOT
turn the pages fast enough. I had to find out what would happen next. The
tension was killing me! But, you know, in a good way. I absolutely love the
reasons why some of the people missed the fireworks and being upset that they
missed them only to realize they had dodged a massive bullet. No, not a
bullet…an RPG. Because…damn! The science behind the blindness requires a
suspension of belief, but hey, it’s sci-fi, so go with it. I did.
My
only complaint with this book is how it was edited. I have learned that the
Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) is the standard used by professional editors and
according to that lofty tome a United States Marine does NOT have to be
capitalized. Oh, really? Before I start ranting about that, let me first say
that the capitalization of Marine was not consistent in the book. Sometimes it
was capitalized and sometimes it was not. Pick one and use it. Don’t waffle.
Now,
for those who are not in the know, a United States Marine takes being called a
Marine extremely seriously. It is a title. It is earned. It is proudly
declared and displayed. And every Marine that I know or have ever met gets pissed when it is
not capitalized. It is an insult, a slap in the face and akin to spitting on
them. The only thing worse you could do is call a Marine a soldier, but that’s
another rant. I literally gritted my teeth each time I came across ‘marine’
instead of Marine (35 times to be exact). It pissed me off and knocked me out
of the story. As a wife and mother to Marines, I intend to write a letter of
complaint to the CMoS and tell them in no uncertain terms what I think of their
view of how Marine is to be written. This is by no means the first book where
I’ve come across this problem and I know it will not be the last, but I will do
my best to adapt and overcome that ridiculous editing rule even if I have to go
all the way to the Commandant himself, asking him to write a letter of
complaint to the CmoS! Because that’s what Marines and their families do.
All-in-all
this book is a fantastic fast-action thriller that will take you on a
tension-filled ride from beginning to end.
Thanks for taking part in the tour. I'm so glad you enjoyed 'Twinkle'. I get what your saying about Marine, surprisingly I didn't notice it. I get really annoyed when street names, cities, and states, names, etc., aren't capitalized. I guess I'm old school in that respect but it was how I was taught.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invite. I loved it! :) It's surprising how many books I read that don't capitalize Marine, but now that I know it's CMoS that's dictating it I will do my best to reverse that.
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