The Drafter, Book 1 of the Peri Reed Chronicles, by Kim Harrison
From the author's website:
Double-crossed by the person she loved and betrayed by the covert government organization that trained her, Peri Reed is a renegade on the run.
Her motto has always been only to kill those who kill her first. But when Peri discovers her name on a list of corrupt operatives, she realizes that her own life has been manipulated by the agency. With nothing but intuition to guide her, will she have to break her own rule to survive?
[I started writing this when I was 1/3 into the book. HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD. Do NOT continue reading if you haven't finished reading the book.]
I love time travel. I love that it gives us and the author "hope" or a chance to reboot (to a certain extent). I know that not everyone likes that, but I do. [I love DW.]
The Peri Reed Chronicles is set in 2030 alterverse Detroit. I would classify this as "light- accelerated-syfy" versus it being billed as suspense/thriller.
As I mentioned in my prequel posting: The world of Peri Reed deals with time travel. But not in a wibbly wobbly way. Drafters are a small group in society who have the ability to "draft" or move backwards in time. The amount of time they can travel back to depends on the drafter, but they are typically a small fragment. Each Drafter is assigned an Anchor. And as the name would suggest, grounds the Drafter back into the new reality.
Drafters and Anchors are monitored/sanctioned by a group called OPTI. The existence of drafters is kept secret by OPTI and a few other agencies that "use" their service. Then, there's the Alliance who plans to wipe out OPTI.
Now, let me say that there are loopholes in the story. BUT, I am looking forward to the rest of the book because:
[1] The prequel was written well.
[2] The first third of the book was highly engaging.
[3] It's written by Kim Harrison. I LOVE her books.
Going back to the storyline, and characters....
In the first third of the book, we meet "main characters" we've encountered in Sideswiped. You can read my notes from that link.
[Then, at this point I stopped writing. A week ago, I finished the book.]
Do you know how it feels when a bomb (of information) is dropped on you unexpectedly? Two minutes later, a bigger bomb is dropped and you burst into a million little pieces. Then, your little pieces start crawling towards eachother trying to be whole again and then another bomb is dropped. And, when you're finally less like Humpty Dumpty slowly finding your way out of that "bombed space," someone from behind decides to sweep kick you and you land head first.
Yes, the struggle is real. It didn't disappoint.
Ok, but...did I love the book? Hmmm. I enjoyed reading it and will most likely read it again. I'm also eagerly waiting for the next one to arrive.
As the story, rather stories, unfold, you find yourself unable to trust anyone. Anyone. This book has more twists, turns, and knots than my Aunt Rosy. You feel somewhat empathetic to the heroine, who is mostly in the dark about so many things. Her memories are distorted. Her anchors are cryptic. Her choices are expectedly reactionary and impulsive. Yet I couldn't sympathize. Because I knew and expected her to deal with situations the best way she can.
Somehow, the story reminds me of the TV series Blindspot. Concept-wise + the time traveling part. Overall, this is highly recommended.
I'm about to pick up my copy of Waylaid. But meantime, I am reading this.
