Let me start by saying I'm not much of a science fiction reader. However, I actually enjoyed this book. I didn't realize it was the third in its series. Even though it can definitely be read as a standalone, if you do not know the characters, it may start out slow for you as it did for me. It doesn't take long to really feel like you know Maria and Tomas as they go on their journey to make it back to their team and stop the Soviets from creating a device to control behaviors. If you like science fiction, I suggest you give this one a read.