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Children Of Paranoia (2011)

by Trevor Shane(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0525952373 (ISBN13: 9780525952374)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Dutton Adult

series

Children of Paranoia

review 1: Alright, well I'm finally writing a review. Potential Spoilers.To be fair, I think good reads needs to set up a 1-10 rating system, that way I could give this a 4/10, which sounds a lot less harsh than 2/5. Let it be noted I have great respect for anyone that writes and publishes a book. Sorry :(Maybe it had something to do with the first person narrative, which explains the way I felt over the Storm Front Dresden File book and Electric Church, or the fact its written as a journal. This was the first book I ever picked up without having heard or looked into it; I saw it on a shelf in B&N and I was interested. My enthusiasm about this book shifted every often chapter or so-- like there were pockets of greatness separated by gaps of sluggish "ehh"-iness. To be fair, The... more first chapter had me hooked. If you don't mind my way of thinking, the graphic detail of the first murder was appalling, but in a good way. It wasn't like a modern FPS game where kids often feel empowered by going on a killing spree, it made me feel unclean to have read such a thing, like I had been an accomplice in the act just by reading it. I think that's the way it should be. I loved the interactions that Joe had with Jared and Michael. While the buddy archetypes were in full effect (the serious one and the foolish one), they worked quite well and they sounded like real people. Once they got separated though and the rules of the war were explained, I found myself starting to care a bit less and less. I liked the interaction with the character later on with Dan. And the hit that it leads up to. When the older men have no idea what the fight is about though, shouldn't you be thinking to yourself, hmmm...I wasn't too fond of Maria at first, because of the constant mention of "you" in the previous chapters. As it unfolded and it became more of a chase and "how do we provide for our family" book, I started to like the two of them together. It started to seem more plausible at that point. Plausibility, that's probably what was missing from this, in my own opinion. I wanted to like this book but "the war", while somewhat viable, makes absolutely no sense. Why do they fight this war? Why does it continue? NO ONE KNOWS! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO KNOW!! AHHHH! I guess it makes sense when half of your family is killed, but at the class its mentioned that MOST of the class raises their hands when asked about whether they knew a family member murdered. What about the rest of the class? So.... I'm just going to run around killing people I've never met, over a cause that people with b%$#@-slap me for asking about? Do I have a choice? I guess not. Maybe I answered my own question. Either way, the war wears off its mysterious allure when there is too much of simply along the lines of "don't bother asking, because no one knows".There also seems to be an excruciating amount detail about things that don't really seem to matter all too much. Wish I had an example but I'm a bit lazy. I would have liked it better if the book had ended at page 347. I missed all the tell-tale signs that it was set up to be a trilogy. At this point, even with the book ending on the cliffhanger that it did, I'll be okay not picking up the next few books. Sorry Mr. Shane I would like to see Trevor Shane write something else outside of this universe though :D
review 2: I forgot to take this book out of my Arrived Holds shelf, but here's the verdict: I didn't like the main character, and couldn't get inside his head. From what I remember, all he said was "this was easy" "I've done this before" and it gets pretty redundant after that line's been used for the first time. The beginning never caught on with me either, it's just so superficial and it feels I've read a book like this (or watched a movie like this) before. So no deal for me. less

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