Gray Apocalypse by James Murdoch
Publisher: Demand, 2009
Genre: Science fiction
Sub-genre: Alien encounter
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood
Cover art? Simple. Striking. Appropriate for the book with the proper genre shorthand. Bonus points for the pretty monochromatic look. But did we really need three different fonts on the cover? We're going for shiny metallic space-age, I get that, but if the title and author name were in the same font, it would actually tie the cover together more neatly than we have here. Just sayin'.
Gray Apocalypse is, well, an apocalyptic story. With aliens. And lots of explosions. Seriously, do you need to know more than that?
For more than fifty years, aliens and humans have been working together in a secret facility, each taking advantage of the other for scientific experiments. The humans are determine to learn how to manage the advanced alien technology, and the aliens involve themselves in genetic experiments.
Now that the aliens have finished their experiments and have created a race of half-breeds, they have no further use for the humans. In fact, they'd like to clear the planet to make more room for their half-breeds, and are guiding an asteroid to collide with earth, destroying the human race. Only a handful of people know what's going on, most of whom have been tortured and silenced.
Michael Kendon is the last survivor, the only man who knows about the end of the world and the secret weapon with which he can stop it. Raised as an assassin, born with supernatural abilities, and determined to use both skill sets to keep himself and his world alive, he has only three days. Of course, the aliens know about him and are determined to stop him before he can do any more damage... the race is on.
Most of the narrative follows Kendon as he and the grown daughter of the scientist who invented the secret weapon try to find where it's been hidden before time runs out. Occasionally, the perspective shifts to Tepler, the astronomer in Puerto Rico who first discovers the nearing asteroid and figures out the ramifications of its trajectory. The two parts of the story mesh well, ramping up the suspense and giving giving both the insider and outsider's point of view.
Kendon himself is an interesting creature, an assassin who kills repeatedly in cold blood but feels guilt over it and would really rather use his psychic abilities to heal people. For him, stopping the aliens and the asteroid is as much about redeeming himself as it is about protecting human life on earth. Raised in a secret, sterile environment to be a killer, Kendon is always a little removed from his surroundings, which makes perfect sense given the character but also means I had a hard time believing in the love interest between him and Laura, the scientist's daughter. It felt to me more like he figured she was the only woman he knew, therefore it must be love. Tepler's love interest was more satisfying, although at times I wondered why we had two going on.
Kendon does expand his psychic repertoire, growing more powerful and learning new tricks as he goes along. In my mind the progression felt natural, like each new "trick" was just one step beyond what he'd done before, but some readers might feel this is yet another case of the protagonist adding new abilities at every turn like they were charms on a bracelet.
The exposition is cleverly handled, bringing readers into the world and the logic ruling it with subtle guidance before building on the situation. From there, the action builds into a plot I kept thinking felt an awful lot like an action movie. You know the kind: man on the run, gunfights, explosions, lots of thinking out loud and expositional dialogue, and a pretty chick sidekick who doesn't really do a lot but the hero seems to like her a lot, likely because she has a great rack. Which is to say the book is a lot of fun, there's plenty going on and the ride is enjoyable brain candy even if it doesn't break any new ground.
Gray Apocalypse is currently available in hardcover
.
Genre: Science fiction
Sub-genre: Alien encounter
Rating: 3 1/2 pints of blood
Cover art? Simple. Striking. Appropriate for the book with the proper genre shorthand. Bonus points for the pretty monochromatic look. But did we really need three different fonts on the cover? We're going for shiny metallic space-age, I get that, but if the title and author name were in the same font, it would actually tie the cover together more neatly than we have here. Just sayin'.
Gray Apocalypse is, well, an apocalyptic story. With aliens. And lots of explosions. Seriously, do you need to know more than that?
For more than fifty years, aliens and humans have been working together in a secret facility, each taking advantage of the other for scientific experiments. The humans are determine to learn how to manage the advanced alien technology, and the aliens involve themselves in genetic experiments.
Now that the aliens have finished their experiments and have created a race of half-breeds, they have no further use for the humans. In fact, they'd like to clear the planet to make more room for their half-breeds, and are guiding an asteroid to collide with earth, destroying the human race. Only a handful of people know what's going on, most of whom have been tortured and silenced.
Michael Kendon is the last survivor, the only man who knows about the end of the world and the secret weapon with which he can stop it. Raised as an assassin, born with supernatural abilities, and determined to use both skill sets to keep himself and his world alive, he has only three days. Of course, the aliens know about him and are determined to stop him before he can do any more damage... the race is on.
Most of the narrative follows Kendon as he and the grown daughter of the scientist who invented the secret weapon try to find where it's been hidden before time runs out. Occasionally, the perspective shifts to Tepler, the astronomer in Puerto Rico who first discovers the nearing asteroid and figures out the ramifications of its trajectory. The two parts of the story mesh well, ramping up the suspense and giving giving both the insider and outsider's point of view.
Kendon himself is an interesting creature, an assassin who kills repeatedly in cold blood but feels guilt over it and would really rather use his psychic abilities to heal people. For him, stopping the aliens and the asteroid is as much about redeeming himself as it is about protecting human life on earth. Raised in a secret, sterile environment to be a killer, Kendon is always a little removed from his surroundings, which makes perfect sense given the character but also means I had a hard time believing in the love interest between him and Laura, the scientist's daughter. It felt to me more like he figured she was the only woman he knew, therefore it must be love. Tepler's love interest was more satisfying, although at times I wondered why we had two going on.
Kendon does expand his psychic repertoire, growing more powerful and learning new tricks as he goes along. In my mind the progression felt natural, like each new "trick" was just one step beyond what he'd done before, but some readers might feel this is yet another case of the protagonist adding new abilities at every turn like they were charms on a bracelet.
The exposition is cleverly handled, bringing readers into the world and the logic ruling it with subtle guidance before building on the situation. From there, the action builds into a plot I kept thinking felt an awful lot like an action movie. You know the kind: man on the run, gunfights, explosions, lots of thinking out loud and expositional dialogue, and a pretty chick sidekick who doesn't really do a lot but the hero seems to like her a lot, likely because she has a great rack. Which is to say the book is a lot of fun, there's plenty going on and the ride is enjoyable brain candy even if it doesn't break any new ground.
Gray Apocalypse is currently available in hardcover
.