John A. Autero

Don’t You Love It When a Plot Comes Together?

There are books that end with threads still hanging. There are the ones that tie it all up, but you saw the finale coming after the first 20 pages. And then, there’s the ones that sneak up on you with a finish that makes you rethink the whole story. They’re fun. Hyper is one of them.

Hyper is a whodunit, set in the future and on a station in deep space. And with a limited cast of unusual characters (seven of them), guessing the killer is possible…even quite likely, as the body count continues to rise. But giving the killing spree context was the real twist for me, and when the author sprung it, I admit making that admiring nod. He got me. And when it happened, I saw several of the characters in a new light.

In general, the pace of the book is good, as the story moves from death to death at a nice clip. There are some deliberate flashbacks that seemed to interrupt the flow, but even those apparent diversions made sense by the end. The violence is intense and gruesome; the book is adult reading. Character development is adequate, although a bit stereotypic around people like the “thug from the south side of Chicago” (author synopsis). But the individuals are interesting and easily distinguished, allowing the story to flow readily.

With its future setting (the year 2061), the technology gave me some pause. It seemed to range from futuristic (space stations and cyborgs) to 2017-era manufacturing, communications, and computing systems. In some ways, it seemed like ‘steampunk,’ except that the technology inserted into the dystopian future is not Victorian-era steam gauges and engines, but the maze of pipes, tanks, and compressors of today’s manufacturing world.

Overall, for a somewhat grisly whodunit all tied up neatly with a thought-provoking climax, I recommend Hyper as a fun and fast read.… (mais)

The Scorpion is the story of a government cover-up and the efforts of three friends to reveal the truth about it to the public.

The book has good pacing and action. Right from the first chapter, the reader is placed into a suspenseful and rapidly evolving situation. Character development is good, as you get a solid feel for the traits and dispositions of each of the friends, both through the story and by way of anecdotes from their past. The latter form of familiarization, however, continued well into the novel and after a while, it seemed somewhat distracting to the main plot. Similarly, noting that the main figure drove with his hands at 10 and 2 to illustrate, I assume, his careful nature, became somewhat redundant by the end of the book. But overall, the characters seemed realistic and quite believable. And as is often a plus for me, the author dips his literary toe into some advanced technologies, including two that are primarily extensions of current research and a third that is more futuristic, substantially adding to my enjoyment of the yarn.

My primary concern about the book involved what seemed to be an internal disconnect in the plot. Specifically, the cover-up described in the book involved a project that had consumed ‘trillions of tax dollars,’ implying a long-term, manpower intensive project. It also involved technology that would be easily discoverable by the public at large. And yet, it was secret, attesting to the measures the government must have taken to keep it hidden during development and deployment. The friends, however, learned of the situation when computer equipment from that project was discarded and was being sold on eBay or dumped in public landfills…without being erased. It was this disparity between portraying the government as both extremely efficacious most of the time and as incompetent as the Keystone Cops in this specific case that troubled. I suppose it’s possible…but it would be unusual.

Finally, a word to the potentially interested reader. Depending on your political leanings, you may characterize the primary protagonist as a patriot, bringing governmental corruption to light, or an anarchist, undermining solid public policy. In the case of the cover-up in this specific story, the governmental corruption being revealed was clearly one of self-centered and morally bankrupt behavior. But in the main protagonist’s musings about what to do, much more controversial topics are mentioned, e.g., the government’s right to require people to wear seat belts. Depending on your leanings, you may or may not have difficulty getting behind the main character as a folk hero.
So, for readers who enjoy tales of governmental conspiracies, laced with high tech undertones, and the efforts of others to bring these excesses to light, you will find a good story in The Scorpion.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

An Action-Heavy Techno-Thriller from the World of Government Coverups

When a sadistic government agent from a top-secret group within the National Security Agency gets to define who’s a threat to the nation and who’s not, you have to expect a fair amount of bloodshed. And that’s what you get with The Scorpion: Metamorphosis of Smoke. Stephen Harris, Senior Director of the NSA is our villain, a man who never found a problem he couldn’t fix with some combination of torture and assassination. Opposing him are two characters from the first book in the series: Jack Arthur, retired NSA operative, and Bruce Herdino, his successor in exposing government coverups. Joining those two is a new character, Agent Monica Deverow. As you’ll find, she can take care of herself … and then some.

As I mentioned that this is the second in a series, I should note that this book is standalone. Part of Herdino’s motivation in this novel stems from his losses in the first book – friends who have gone missing, relatives who are under virtual house arrest. But author John Autero provides enough background from the previous story to understand what drives Herdino in this one. In fact, with the combination of his worries about friends and family, his loyalty to his new compatriots, and his desire to do what’s right, Herdino emerges as a relatively well-nuanced figure.

In addition to relentless action and good character development, this thriller offers a nice mix of possible, advanced capabilities and some more futuristic tech. Using maglev drives (electromagnetic catapults) to put payloads into earth orbit is an example of the former – something that has been considered but yet to be developed. At the other end of this spectrum are massive infrastructures built by alien races. But even the aforementioned magnetic drive is shrouded in some mystery. How else do you explain no public awareness of a structure that has to be hundreds of miles in length and that costs billions of dollars?

Overall, The Scorpion: Metamorphosis of Smoke gives the reader plenty of action and some well-developed characters, while the technical aspects of this thriller run from possibly near-future to imaginative fantasy. It’s a fun mix.… (mais)

This was a very interesting and intriguing idea. I don't normally read conspiracy theory stories, but this one had my attention right from the start. I liked the main characters and can remember a time when my friends and I acted very similarly. I would have liked to have known exactly what happened to Pete, Bart, and Russell. Although it was implied, they kind of quickly fell out of the story. I also found a couple parts of the story a little predictable (such as who the Avenger was and how he was going to handle the situation), but it wasn't enough to ruin the story for me, nor was it enough to get me to stop reading. In fact, I found myself reading this story long after I should have gone to bed.

The story was well crafted and the characters were believable.

My only complaint was that I felt the author was a bit repetitive (and is the reason I am giving it 4 stars). Such as, when the author was describing the turbines, he continually referred to the turbines (sometimes multiple times within the same sentence). The same happened with the landfill, character names, etc, and it continued throughout the story. Again, not enough to make me stop reading, but I think another edit could do wonders for the flow of the story.

I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good conspiracy theory.… (mais)