Author: C.A. Gray
Narrator: Melissa Williams
Length: 8 hours and 45 minutes
Publisher: Wanderlust Publishing
Released: Mar. 27, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Rebecca Cordeaux knows exactly what her future will hold: she will marry Andy, her crush of the last five years. Once Andy is ready to settle down, she's sure he will discover that she is his soulmate. After several small parts on stage, Rebecca knows she can become a renowned actress. Her writing also shows promise as a future author. Robots perform most human jobs that can be automated, leaving many free to pursue their personal creative interests. But Rebecca's mother Karen fears the new world of robots, and insists her brilliant daughter join a university research team, studying the hazards of a complete robotic economy. Rebecca's father Quentin was obsessed with the subject to a degree that even her mother considered absurd, prior to his untimely death. So long as she can reserve enough of her time to pursue her true passions on the side, Rebecca half-heartedly agrees to join the research team, if only to please her widowed mother. There she joins a post-doc named Liam, whose conspiracy theories rival even those of her late father. Liam is convinced that world Republic leader William Halpert's worldwide challenge for researchers to develop synthetic creativity will lead not to the promised utopia, in which every kind of human suffering has been eradicated, but rather to an apocalypse. Rebecca, whose best friend is her own companion bot Madeline, writes Liam off as a bot-hating conspiracy theorist, just like her father was...until she learns that her father's death might not have been due to mere happenstance. With Liam's help, Rebecca learns of an underground organization known as The Renegades, where Quentin Cordeaux was considered a legend. While Liam attempts to stop Halpert's challenge if he can, Rebecca tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to her father. Did he and many of his contemporaries die for something they knew? Who is the mysterious informant who calls himself John Doe, and only seems to want to drive her out of harm’s way? And if Halpert’s challenge is answered, will it usher in a brave new chapter in humanity’s history… or were Quentin Cordeaux’s dire predictions right all along?
By day, C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD) with a primary care practice in Tucson, AZ, and she writes medical books under her real name (Dr. Lauren Deville). She lives with her husband, with whom she maintains a facetiously contentious movie review blog, and travels as often as they can get away. When not writing or seeing patients, she does yoga, drinks red wine while eating dark chocolate, and consumes audiobooks like there’s no tomorrow!
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Melissa lives with her family, including two dogs and a cat, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado.
After having a corporate job for most of her life, and as a self-proclaimed introvert, she decided to leave corporate America to work from home. Voice overs had always tugged at her heart as something she would like to explore, so she attended some classes and landed with a company that taught her how to break in to the industry.
Loving to read, she explored the fast growing world of audiobooks and fell in love with it. She has ten audiobooks under her belt and is currently working on the 11th. Understanding that she should always be learning how to improve her skills, she is currently working with Sean Pratt.
When not talking to herself in a padded room, she can be found walking her dog, singing or fishing the Arkansas River.
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I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by C.A. Gray. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
3.5 Stars
This was the most science-y sci-fi novel I've ever listened to or read. I thought I was getting a fast-paced action about robots and a government conspiracy theory...which I did. But oh the science. When it comes to science, I'm a lot like Penny from The Big Bang Theory.
There were a few parts of the book where the author just dumps a lot of scientific terminology and theories on you. I had a hard time keeping up. I got to the point where I just listened and trusted the author to explain whatever part I was listening to in simpler terms later on in the novel.
Science aside, the plot did keep my attention enough for me to finish the book. The beginning was a little slow, but about 25% in, the plot picked up. I kind of zoned out when Becca would obsess over Andy. She had this extremely wealthy, good looking, smart guy who is interested in here right in front of her face and yet she insists on mooning over a skinny college student who doesn't really show any interest in her life at all. It was frustrating.
The narrator did well too. She didn't do as many different voices to differentiate between the characters, and there were a couple (maybe 2 or 3 in a 7+ hour book) of times where I had to rewind 30 seconds to listen to the part again to figure out who was talking, but usually when that happened, I wasn't giving the book 100% of my attention. So take that as you will. The narrator didn't put me off or make me not want to listen to the book. Her voice was smooth and easy to listen to. Sometimes when listening to an audiobook, I can hear the narrator swallow or make a random mouth noise, but that wasn't the case with this narrator. She also enunciated words well and didn't rush.
I must give credit to the author. There was a part of the story that I did not see coming and it definitely made me write down book 2 on my Books to Watch Out For list. The ending was a bit abrupt and I was left with several questions. Another reason book 2 is on that list. I kind of saw the cliffhanger coming but it definitely was a good addition to the story, in my opinion. There was zero romance in this book. Yes there were obvious hints that Liam was interested in Becca, but otherwise, nada. It was kind of refreshing actually. If you enjoy movies like Eagle Eye and iRobot, then I recommend you give Uncanny Valley a go.
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