I liked the characters Ripper and Janet in the Rho Agenda trilogy, so I finally bit on this book (Once Dead). And I liked those two characters in this book too -- BUT introducing a non-human entity to (presumably) explain the Ripper’s extra-ordinary instincts, awareness and reactions seemed just short of crazy to me. (And that’s not a spoiler as the entity is introduced in the Prologue – and talked about in Amazon’s book description as well.)

As for the antagonist’s plan, the plan’s success depended upon such a long string of interrelated actions taking place successfully that the plot just seemed silly to me. (If a rogue foreign government were involved instead, the plot would be simpler - and the evildoing harder to prevent.)

Still, the story did zip along and I do like the Ripper and Janet characters (despite that 3rd party entity), and so, feeling generous, I give Once Dead 3 stars.

Borrowed this from Amazon. It was entertaining, but kind of dragged on towards the end.

Not my usual style of book, don't usually wager in for the spy action thriller, but still quite enjoyed it. The quick sharp chapters and spanning of lots of different characters was interesting, but a bit hard to follow at times. I occasionally lost track of who was who and what side they were on. Still, the somewhat supernatural element to it was interesting if a little unexplored. I finished feeling that I didn't know enough about that side of it, but didn't care enough to read more.

An enjoyable read but maybe not for me.

Fast paced and adrenaline-filled like its protagonist, this was an enjoyable read. Definitely going to head into the next one soon.

Free on kindle unlimited. The free books get rated on a curve. This is an action movie vibe in a book. Like a James Bond movie. It was fun.

I actually listened to the audio version of this and I am super happy I did. I think I would have gotten a bit bored towards the middle if I had read the book. At times it seemed it was slow going. Listening to it kept me on the edge of my seat!

It was okay. It reminded me of The Lives of Tao, but much more serious. It wasn't really my kind of book.

More development, as a prequel, to some characters in the Rho series. Action thriller. I enjoyed it.

5 Stars for Narration by MacLeod Andrews
3 Stars for Story

Mini-Review:

The intro is a bit haphazard but it has enough going on to make me curious. The story became less and less plausible as it continued. I only made it to the end because Andrews did a fantastic job narrating this story. I made a comment about the story coming off like it's confused. Yup. That opinion remained to the end of the book.

Alien altered human becomes superhuman. Ok. Except that human was rather exceptional before the alteration and he's like the Mr. Awesome Black Ops. Elements of the story are cool. The way they're put together were snores-ville bland.

Darn. I was hoping to find another good SF series to listen to via KU's Read & Listen. This is not going to be it for me.

5 Stars for Narration by MacLeod Andrews
3 Stars for Story

Mini-Review:

The intro is a bit haphazard but it has enough going on to make me curious. The story became less and less plausible as it continued. I only made it to the end because Andrews did a fantastic job narrating this story. I made a comment about the story coming off like it's confused. Yup. That opinion remained to the end of the book.

Alien altered human becomes superhuman. Ok. Except that human was rather exceptional before the alteration and he's like the Mr. Awesome Black Ops. Elements of the story are cool. The way they're put together were snores-ville bland.

Darn. I was hoping to find another good SF series to listen to via KU's Read & Listen. This is not going to be it for me.