Killer T by Robert Muchamore

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 377

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 6th of September 2018 

Our world is about to change in ways we can barely imagine. KILLER T is a novel about growing up in that world. 

Harry and Charlie are teenagers whose lives are shaped by a society that's shifting around them. He is a lonely Brit in his first term at a Las Vegas high school. She is an unlikely friend, who gets accused of mixing a batch of explosives that blew up a football player.

The two of them are drawn together at a time when gene editing technology is starting to explode. With a lab in the garage anyone can beat cancer, enhance their brain to pass exams, or tweak a few genes for that year-round tan and perfect beach body. But in the wrong hands, cheap gene editing is the most deadly weapon in history. Killer T is a synthetic virus with a ninety per-cent mortality rate, and the terrorists who created it want a billion dollars before they'll release a vaccine.

What I Have to Say 

It took me so, so long to get into this. For a start, it started years before the actual plot came together and had, I think, about four or five time skips? I lost count by the end of the book. It makes sense when you look at it as a whole and realise that it's showing the rise of gene editing, but most of the time while I was reading it, I was bored. It would have been better if it had at least been started after Charlie got out of prison, I think. 

I liked Charlie quite a bit, but I honestly completely hated Harry. He was fairly okay at the start, but as time went on he just became more and more of a prick. I hate how he treated Charlie so much when he didn't even tell her that he liked her. Charlie deserved so much better than him. 

The world was really interesting, especially after the epidemic, seeing the world slowly rebuilding itself and putting together more protections for the next epidemic. I have to say, I did like a lot how it ended and how Charlie ended up. 

I think it was worth reading, but I really, really wish it had been shorter. I think a lot of stuff could have been cut out while still showing a nice overall picture of the rise of gene editing and Charlie and Harry's life. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 432

Publisher: Simon Pulse 

Released: 7th of November 2017 

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself? 

What I Have to Say 

This was an interesting take on the whole concept of zombies and eating people. I loved the idea of gene hacking and the way that Suvada developed the idea of smart phones and apps to include things that actually change the way people look. The way that medicines had transformed and the problems that Cat faced because of her illness were so realistic and interesting. 

There were also so many twists and turns that this book took. Just when you thought you knew where things were going it zoomed off in another direction with a shocking turn of events. This is definitely a book where you can't trust anyone and even they can't trust themselves. There's so many secrets and lies that are hidden away. 

I can't wait for the next book to see what Suvada decides to do next. 

My thanks go to Simon Pulse and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Boy 23 by Jim Carrington

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Released: 19th of November 2015 

Boy 23 isn't in My Place any more. He can't see The Screen, he can't hear The Voice. Boy 23 is alone.

One dark night, Boy 23 is thrown in the back of the van and driven out of My Place - the only home he has ever known. He is abandoned in a forest with a rucksack containing the bare essentials for survival. Before the van drives away, a voice tells him he must run as far as he can. His life depends on it. Boy 23 has never known another human. Boy 23 has never even been outside. So who is he? Why do people want to kill him? And more to the point, who is the voice that wants to save him?

What I Have to Say 

I really enjoyed this book. There was such a lot of great mystery in it. From the start, we have no clue who Jesper is or who the Voice is and what their connection to Marsh Flu is. Jesper's voice really draws you in. He sounds perfect for the boy he is, having grown up in seclusion with no contact with another person, his only knowledge coming from videos. 

The replacement of words in Jesper's vocabulary didn't bother me. Though they weren't really needed, since why would he know some words and not others, but there weren't too many of them so it just fell naturally into the way he spoke. Comparing it with Sophie Someone, which I really hated because of the replacement of words, I think it is because Boy 23 just replaces a couple of words whereas Sophie Someone replaced so many. 

If you're looking for a good post apocalypse book, this is a really good one to pick. There's people who've taken advantage of the break down of the society and others who have tried to help. There's so many things that get revealed later in the book too. 

This was a really good read.