Mindjacker trilogy

Get Mindjacked! Review and Special Sale!

Hi there! I’d love to share a review for a newly-published set stories from Susan Kay Quinn’s Mindjack universe. As you know, I devour books. Really. And, still, there are often times when I don’t have a large chunk of time to dig into a hearty novel. In those cases a novella or short story will tide me over. I especially love novellas that give me insight to books I’ve loved, so I was really glad to get a copy of the MINDJACK STORIES, which is a collection of novellas, short stories, vignettes and behind-the-scenes glimpses from Chicago New Metro in the near, and disturbed, future.

Mindjack Short Story CollectionMy Review:

This collection of short stories, vignettes and novellas in the Mindjack universe is a perfect companion for readers of the Mindjack series. For those who have read the trilogy (OPEN MINDS, CLOSED HEARTS, FREE SOULS) it is great to get insight from other characters in this world.

The book opens with the bittersweet MIND GAMES featuring Kira’s childhood friend Raf, who is desperately in love with Kira but cannot express his feelings for her, due to her inability to read minds. His kind of love, that for a “zero” which Kira is, is considered wrong and unhealthy, and is turned against him to pressure him into being someone he is not. It’s definitely melancholy!

There are some great flash fiction and world building elements added here, with excellent insight from the author regarding the world she has detailed. I naturally enjoyed THE HANDLER, because I pretty much love Julian. Watching him build his army of Jackers from the beginning is a thrill. I’ve always wondered about quiet, reticent Sasha, and his mind-overwriting power. It was a fearsome thing to consider, and his aversion to his own gift is acutely rendered in THE SCRIBE. In KEEPER, Kira’s obsessed with being on the strike force for the next JFA mission: attacking Kestrel’s stronghold and rescuing trapped jackers from experiments and torture. Julian won’t let her go knowing that Kira’s secondary objective is to kill Kestrel–and it’s clear Julian doesn’t want Kira in harm’s way. So, Kira develops her new talent in secret, hoping to make herself invaluable as a strike force member. And, in THE LOCKSMITH we get another game-changing jacker who has really difficult decisions to make.

All these kids are unique, but wonderfully written, and their moral compass is definitely pointing due North. I enjoyed these little bites of Mindjack, and wonder if we’ll get to read a post-Kestrel Mindjack book any day… *crosses fingers*

Interested? You can find MINDJACK STORIES on Goodreads and Amazon.

mindjackHonestly, these stories are best enjoyed after (and between) reading of the MINDJACK trilogy. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books in this series, and luckily enough, this three-book set is on SALE. A crazy sale, actually, because it’s $.99 this week on Amazon, Barnes & Noble iTunes, Google Play and Kobo. Ms. Quinn musta lost her mind.

Or, perhaps the mindjacking kitty got ahold of her…

MJ-KittenAnywho, it’s a great series, totally appropriate to teen readers, as well.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Serial issue–THE DEBT COLLECTOR

I’m a reader. And, when I say that I mean it. Not in the ordinary way of people who read, really. See, when I get interested in a story I will read all night, all day, forget to eat, barely make it to the bathroom in time, until I hit the end pages. (I am AWARE that this is problematic…therapy is expensive!)

I can’t begin a new story before bed because I will read until the lines blur and I doze (book-in-hand) for a few hours then wake and read until I have to shower for work.

Which is why I thought I would hate a serial.

A serial is not simply a novel broken into bite-sized chunks, it is a recurrent character story with new adventures that all build to a coordinated climax.

Think:  24, in book form.

And for those who can’t stand cliffhangers (ME!!!) I couldn’t fathom how I would be able to survive the 3 month roll-out of all the episodes in The Debt Collector.

But I know Susan Kaye Quinn’s work. It’s solid.  She’s a critique partner and friend. Her Mindjacker Trilogy is Hunger Games quality political-suspense-sci-fi-action-thriller with less bloodshed. If she was writing a serial I knew it was something I didn’t want to miss despite my obsessive reader nature.

I wasn’t let down.

Quinn calls The Debt Collector future-noir—which, simply put, means that it feels like a gritty noir feature, but it’s timescape is future. It’s ingenious!

dc-1The Debt Collector occurs in a future L.A. where pollution and corruption are a daily menace (okay so not very different from now). Still, in this brave new world, everyone’s life’s value is constantly calculated, assessed between the amount of money you could potentially earn versus that which the person might owe. That balance is never breached—if you near the point of equilibrium your lingering life energy is drawn out by a debt collector and transferred to another person more worthy. (Kinda makes me glad my credit card debt isn’t higher, amiright?)

Lirium is a young debt collector. He’s not so keen on the job–honestly, who wants to be a grim reaper? He deals with his depression in the natural way—booze and women—until the night his hired sex worker, Elena, convinces him to give the hit of life energy he generally bestows on his partners to her ailing sister, a child suffering an incurable disease. This turn of events leads Lirium down a path he never envisioned.  Unwittingly drawn into the Kolek mafia, Lirium becomes a hit man of the highest order—taking life hits from the dregs of society and selling it to mafia patrons—along with fellow debt collectors Olivia and Valac. Along the way Lirium learns that kids are being illegally transferred out, and he’s compelled to determine the mastermind.

And, did I mention there’s romance? Not the main feature, but still present and pertinent.

Omigod.

I was dying waiting for each episode to go live. Following along with the release dates was like the anticipation of a new The Walking Dead episode—especially when the best characters got killed just after I fell in love with them!

As for The Debt Collector, each episode provides a satisfying arc and an excellent resolution while still propelling the overall storyline toward it’s finale.

Interested? You can get the complete 9 episode first season on Amazon.

Don’t forget to come back and tell me what you thought of it!