Book Review: Kill Code by Clive Fleury
Kill Code
Author: Clive Fleury
Published: December 5, 2018
137 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: March 20-27, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
When the Oceans Rise…The Truth Drowns
It’s the year 2031. Our future. Their present. A world decimated by climate catastrophe, where the sun’s heat is deadly and the ocean rises higher every day. A world ruled by the rich, powerful, and corrupt. A world where a good man can’t survive for long.
Hogan Duran was a good man once. He was a cop, forced to resign in disgrace when he couldn’t save his partner from a bullet. Now Hogan lives on the fraying edges of society, serving cruel masters and scavenging trash dumps just to survive.
But after four years of living in poverty, Hogan finally gets a chance to get back on his feet. He’s invited to join the National Security Council, the powerful paramilitary organization responsible for protecting the rich and powerful from the more unsavory elements of society. All he needs to do is pass their deadly entrance exam, and he’ll be rewarded with wealth and opportunity beyond his wildest dreams.
But this ex-cop’s path to redemption won’t be easy. The NSC are hiding something, and as Hogan descends deeper and deeper into their world, he starts to uncover the terrible truth of how the powerful in this new world maintain their power…and just how far they will go to protect their secrets.
In a world gone wrong, can one man actually make a difference, or will he die trying?
Jessica’s Review:
Kill Code is set 10 years in the future and the apocalyptic world is bleak: There is an 80% unemployment rate where one has to salvage items from the trash and take the lowest jobs possible in order to survive. Climate change has also ruined the world, as the sun can kill you.
Hogan Duran is our narrator and he tells us his story. He is a former cop who failed to save his partner from being shot and he lives with this daily. He struggles to live in this desolate world, but then faces a possible positive future: He is invited to become a part of the NSC (National Security Council), if he can make it through the most rigorous training he has ever gone through, and then his life will improve for the better.
Most of Kill Code takes place in the NSC training center and Duran meets other candidates (trainees) and we see how the candidates are fully tested from the physical, mental, logical, loyalty, and more. Men and women are treated and tested on the same level, but that does not mean that these strong women are any weaker than the men, which we see in Ruby, a candidate that Duran befriends that the reader grows to like. There are also the candidates that you quickly grow to hate.
Kill Code is a short novella at just under 140 pages and full of action. There is no rest for the weary in this novella. It is super-fast paced, and you can tell through his writing that the author, Clive Fleury does have a background in films and television. This novella is for adults, as there is usage of foul language and nudity throughout. I would say this novella could be for ages 15 and up, as it is nothing too extreme that has not been heard before. There are unexpected twists and Kill Code does have an ending, but the story is not over, and I look forward to the next in this series.
Many thanks to the publisher TCK Publishing for granting me a copy to read and review in my own time.
The Last by Hanna Jameson
Author: Hanna Jameson
To Be Published: April 9, 2019
288 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: March 19- April 2, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
For fans of high-concept thrillers such as Annihilation and The Girl with All the Gifts, this breathtaking dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war—along with twenty other survivors—who becomes obsessed with identifying a murderer in their midst after the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks.
Jessica’s Review:
The Last by Hanna Jameson is an apocalyptic novel from an American’s perspective (Jon) who is stuck in a huge hotel in the middle of nowhere in Switzerland after nuclear bombs fell and whole countries are gone. Jon keeps a daily journal or as he calls it “A Narrative Chronicle of the Initial Post-nuclear Months by Possibly the Last Living Historian”.
This is a character driven novel with a side of murder mystery. The Last is written in first person perspective, and I was pulled in from the first line. Jameson shows what could happen in the world whenever the bombs fall. Of course, there is panic and we keep up with the news until it is no more. Then we are in seclusion with 20 strangers and the mystery: a dead girl. Jon becomes determined at all costs to figure out who killed her.
Everything felt realistic with The Last: From the fear of the unknown, adjusting to a new world with strangers, to thoughts of ‘should we stay or leave?’ We get to experience a variety of situations that occur and the consequences of those decisions in this new world. The Last is like an episode of The Walking Dead but without zombies. There is a little action, but the story focuses on the people and their situation.
I really enjoyed The Last. The ending is ambiguous, so it could be the end of the story or it could continue if Jameson decides to write more.
The only negative for me was a big one, and why I rated it four stars: The mention of politics and characters blaming each other based on if they were American and if they voted for the president. The president’s name is not mentioned, but you know who he is based on what is said. I like my fiction to be free from politics (unless I happen to be reading a politically charged book) or it is necessary to the story, so these instances were not enjoyed. Let’s keep politics out of our fiction!
The Last is recommended. Special thanks to Atria Books for granting me an e-arc copy via NetGalley. I really enjoyed it!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US *Pre-order link. The Last will be available TOMORROW!*
Amazon UK *It has already been published in the UK*