Jessica Meigs
Auteur van The Becoming
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- female
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- USA
- Korte biografie
- Jessica Meigs is the author of THE BECOMING, a post-apocalyptic thriller series that follows a group of people trying to survive a massive viral outbreak in the southeastern United States. After gaining notoriety for having written the series on a variety of BlackBerry devices, she self-published two novellas that now make up the first book of the series. In April 2011, she accepted a three-book deal with Permuted Press to publish a trilogy of novels. The first of the trilogy, entitled THE BECOMING, was released in November 2011 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible in paperback, eBook, and audiobook formats. It was also named one of Barnes & Noble's Best Zombie Fiction Releases of 2011 and Best Apocalyptic Fiction Releases of 2011.
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Riley is an agent for a shadowy government agency – and she’s very good at her job. Lethal, dangerous and with a very high success rate. Except her most recent failure led to the death of her partner – from then on Riley has decided she will work alone
So she’s less than happy when the agency pairs her up with Scott, just off leave. And he’s not entirely thrilled, especially since he’s also expected to investigate her over a spate of agent deaths
And then they learn that vampires are real, there’s a major conspiracy in the agency and they have to find a magical weapon…
There’s a lot about this book that interests me. We have two capable main characters who, eventually, grow to respect each other. They are equals despite some pushing and we have two very different ways of working of which neither
I think the best thing to sum up this book is it has enormous potential
I like the main characters and want to see more of them – their interactions, working together an with the greater world is excellent
I love the side characters, that each has the beginnings of their own stories and goals, I love that they act without the main characters being directly involved. I love that they have their own agendas and priorities and that that isn’t a bad thing
The beginnings we’ve seen of this world is rich and interesting with a huge potential – I think I’ve often seen the concept of a shadowy government agency hunting the supernatural, but never actually from that shadowy government agency’s actual point of view.
The writing is fast paced and contains a lot of really well written action, lots of excitement and a constant sense of movement and urgency to go with the panicked feel of the events.
My main quibble with this book is one I tend to have with a lot of first books in a series is that it was just a bit fast for me.
We have this ominously named agency but only a really vague idea of what it does, why, what its remit is or what powers it has. We had a lot of characters introduced but I didn’t feel super connected to all of them. There was the head of the agency, the assistant head, Riley’s handler, Scott’s handler Henry, his secretary Vanessa. Zachariah and Ashton head of the Unnaturals and a couple of agents there. I feel we plunged into the action of the story extremely quickly without getting a great feeling for these characters or the organisation they’re part of.
The same applies to the world as well. We have an introduction to vampires, different kinds of vampires, different supernaturals, the ongoing battle between the Unnaturals and the supernatural under their purview.
I would have liked to have seen business as usual for a while. I would have liked to see the transition to the Unnaturals before this storyline began. I would have liked to actually become invested and interested and involved in the world and the characters. Instead it felt a lot like “hey, here’s Scott, there’s Riley now RUNNNING, try to keep up!”
And I love Vanessa.
And I‘d like to see all this world and these characters because what’s introduced is good, it’s interesting. I WANT to see more. The nibbles we have are tasty and I want the entrée.
Read More… (meer)
So she’s less than happy when the agency pairs her up with Scott, just off leave. And he’s not entirely thrilled, especially since he’s also expected to investigate her over a spate of agent deaths
And then they learn that vampires are real, there’s a major conspiracy in the agency and they have to find a magical weapon…
There’s a lot about this book that interests me. We have two capable main characters who, eventually, grow to respect each other. They are equals despite some pushing and we have two very different ways of working of which neither
I think the best thing to sum up this book is it has enormous potential
I like the main characters and want to see more of them – their interactions, working together an with the greater world is excellent
I love the side characters, that each has the beginnings of their own stories and goals, I love that they act without the main characters being directly involved. I love that they have their own agendas and priorities and that that isn’t a bad thing
The beginnings we’ve seen of this world is rich and interesting with a huge potential – I think I’ve often seen the concept of a shadowy government agency hunting the supernatural, but never actually from that shadowy government agency’s actual point of view.
The writing is fast paced and contains a lot of really well written action, lots of excitement and a constant sense of movement and urgency to go with the panicked feel of the events.
My main quibble with this book is one I tend to have with a lot of first books in a series is that it was just a bit fast for me.
We have this ominously named agency but only a really vague idea of what it does, why, what its remit is or what powers it has. We had a lot of characters introduced but I didn’t feel super connected to all of them. There was the head of the agency, the assistant head, Riley’s handler, Scott’s handler Henry, his secretary Vanessa. Zachariah and Ashton head of the Unnaturals and a couple of agents there. I feel we plunged into the action of the story extremely quickly without getting a great feeling for these characters or the organisation they’re part of.
The same applies to the world as well. We have an introduction to vampires, different kinds of vampires, different supernaturals, the ongoing battle between the Unnaturals and the supernatural under their purview.
I would have liked to have seen business as usual for a while. I would have liked to see the transition to the Unnaturals before this storyline began. I would have liked to actually become invested and interested and involved in the world and the characters. Instead it felt a lot like “hey, here’s Scott, there’s Riley now RUNNNING, try to keep up!”
And I love Vanessa.
And I‘d like to see all this world and these characters because what’s introduced is good, it’s interesting. I WANT to see more. The nibbles we have are tasty and I want the entrée.
Read More… (meer)
His blue eyes glared out the window; her green eyes flickered with anger. Brent's dark eyes (or, sometimes, brown eyes) closed with exhaustion...
I have absolutely no idea why people's eye color is mentioned every time they do something with their eyes. Do his blue eyes see something different than they would if they were brown? I kept waiting for their eye colors to become significant (i.e., his blue eyes turned grey as the life ebbed out of him). But, alas, no...
I won't go into how every action included an adverb: they don't smile, they smile tightly. They don't run, they run haltingly. They don't speak, they speak softly. They don't open a door, they open a door hesitantly.
And there is a lapse of consistency - at the very start we are specifically told that these are "not zombies" - they just have a virus that makes them angry and violent. And yet, later in the story, these "not zombies" have an overwhelming need to eat human flesh. Well... far as I know, the urge to eat human flesh pretty much *is* the hallmark of zombiehood. Being angry and violent does not equate to munching on brains... sorry Ms. Meigs.
I hate to say it because it's few and far between when zombie books are written by women - but - you can tell this author has read a lot more of, shall we say, chick-lit urban fantasy than zombie fiction.
It's not *bad* - for a zombie book. (I have read some that were sooo bad I couldn't finish them, this one is finishable.) And it's refreshing to skip the bog-standard "oh there's a woman, let's rape her" that is rampant in zombieland... it's just that not much happens and the characters' eye colors are more fully developed than their personalities.
I'll probably read more by Meigs as I suspect she'll get better as she writes more in this genre, and learns to tone down her use of adverbs and eye-actions. There isn't any sex or gore and it's not particularly violent. I don't recall any swearing.… (meer)
I have absolutely no idea why people's eye color is mentioned every time they do something with their eyes. Do his blue eyes see something different than they would if they were brown? I kept waiting for their eye colors to become significant (i.e., his blue eyes turned grey as the life ebbed out of him). But, alas, no...
I won't go into how every action included an adverb: they don't smile, they smile tightly. They don't run, they run haltingly. They don't speak, they speak softly. They don't open a door, they open a door hesitantly.
And there is a lapse of consistency - at the very start we are specifically told that these are "not zombies" - they just have a virus that makes them angry and violent. And yet, later in the story, these "not zombies" have an overwhelming need to eat human flesh. Well... far as I know, the urge to eat human flesh pretty much *is* the hallmark of zombiehood. Being angry and violent does not equate to munching on brains... sorry Ms. Meigs.
I hate to say it because it's few and far between when zombie books are written by women - but - you can tell this author has read a lot more of, shall we say, chick-lit urban fantasy than zombie fiction.
It's not *bad* - for a zombie book. (I have read some that were sooo bad I couldn't finish them, this one is finishable.) And it's refreshing to skip the bog-standard "oh there's a woman, let's rape her" that is rampant in zombieland... it's just that not much happens and the characters' eye colors are more fully developed than their personalities.
I'll probably read more by Meigs as I suspect she'll get better as she writes more in this genre, and learns to tone down her use of adverbs and eye-actions. There isn't any sex or gore and it's not particularly violent. I don't recall any swearing.… (meer)
I love this series and where Ms. Meigs has went with it! Another fabulous female zombie genre author who is in the ranks of Rhiannon Frater and Dana Fredsti, two of my fave authors.
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS SERIES!!!
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS SERIES!!!
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
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- Werken
- 14
- Leden
- 165
- Populariteit
- #128,476
- Waardering
- 3.6
- Besprekingen
- 12
- ISBNs
- 20
- Talen
- 1
She expected many things to come chasing her - but demons were never among them. They are forced to appeal directly to the supernatural specialists in the Agency to survive… but Riley, and her unpredictable new powers, may be the real key to fend off the attackers - especially when one of their own is possessed by something far worse than a mere demon
There is a lot of action in this book. Our characters are all secret assassins for the government, with a specialty in the supernatural. They’re being pursued by a former mentor and general bad guy who has a penchant for using demons. There’s a lot of fighting, a lot of planning about fighting, a lot of running from crisis to crisis and planning for the next crisis.
The action is well done, the fight scenes exciting and flowing with lots of skill on display as well as a steady diet of tension and fear. There are definite stakes and, barring one element I’ll get into, a good sense of them as professional agents.
The plot never lets up and races through a lot of development quickly as these professionals do bounce back and hit the ground running
We also have an excellent prominent gay couple with Zachariah and Ashton, whose love for each other is never in doubt and matched equally by their capacity and skill. They’re not victims or weak or stereotyped or dead weight or ridiculous - they’re excellent together. Ashton, a long term agent and a complete human, also has been severely injured in his work for the agency and is disabled - that doesn’t make him weak, incapable or not a valued member of the team, but nor is woo-woo or plot contrivance used to erase his disability when it could be convenient
Sadly we have not developed any of the minor POC characters from the previous book into dominant roles - or roles at all - and this book is very white. Vanessa has made an appearance as another female character but her prominence is still not really developed even as her skill is acknowledged.
I do have some issues with the shape of the story because I ended up not enjoying it a great deal.
We have all this woo-woo thrown about but very little actual clarification or exploration. We have demons and angelic power… ok, what does that mean? Why? We have vampires… ok can we explore that? We have an ex-vampire, can we explore that? We have a legend about the Witnesses… ok, what does that mean? There’s a lot of stuff that just is because we jump from battle to crisis to crisis to battle.
This also affects the characterisation: like I love Ashton and Zachariah’s relationship and we open with some excellent moments examining Ashton’s injuries and Zachariah’s battle fatigue - but this is all quickly cast aside so we can focus on the drama with Ashton in a terrible situation and Zacharia being full of rage and angst
Read More… (meer)