Scott Reardon

*I was provided a copy of the book via NetGalley; all opinions are my own.*

This was a true thriller - fast paced, atmospheric, and intense. It's not an upbeat book (not that thrillers usually are) but the tone of the story takes a pretty depressing, moralistic viewpoint. There's also a lot of violence, and a epically bad bag-guy of Stephen King's THE STAND proportions. Reardon writes in a pretty cinematic manner and this would easily transfer to the screen (not that I need to see body parts torn off. Did I mention it's violent?)

I confess, I was not in the mood for this type of book after the first few pages. And I told myself "I'm not really in the right frame of mind for this book" most of the way through, because despite that, I wanted to see how it ended. It was a total page turner, despite the violence (which I was not prepared for, but should have been). This is part of a series, but you definitely do not need to have read the first book to enjoy it.… (meer)

An apocalyptic thriller that replaces the viral zombies in Justin Cronin's The Passage with augmented humans, most of the criminal persuasion. In a quest to create super soldiers, a program succeeds in only a single healthy soldier while others die, most of suicide. In an effort to refine the process, tests are done on death row inmates. One of them, Kronin, seems to be a Hannibal Lechter-type. When the maximum security oil rig housing them is destroyed in a storm, these augmented criminals escape and total mayhem follows.

The damage done by this band of criminals is massive, and threatens the collapse of civilization. Tom, the one successful augmented soldier, is pressed into duty along with Karl, a CIA agent who discovers the shuttered program was still active in China. The criminals are driven toward achieving their goal of maximum destruction while the good guys are trying to stop them and save what's left. Parts of Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois go up in flames in the process.

This was an exciting story to read; fast paced although many atrocities were graphically described so be warned.… (meer)

I am a hopeless junkie when it comes to sci-fi/thrillers about augmented humans. I jump right on stories about undercover government operations that mistakenly believe that because they CAN scientifically create an augmented, stronger, more violent person that they SHOULD. I get sucked right into the story....and even find myself talking back to the book "Oh...now that's such a good idea'' or "I wouldn't go in there looking for the violent, superstrong, angry escapee if I were you....''

The Dark Continent is the first book I've read by Scott Reardon....and I will definitely be coming back for more. Not only did his story have me talking to the book....but it was a total binge read for me! Loved it! I could definitely see this book as a film....I would definitely watch it!

Although the concept of Project Prometheus has been done before in books and on film, Reardon creates a really gripping story. The Dark Continent is well-written and definitely an exciting read. I couldn't put it down! There is another book -- The Prometheus Man -- that is technically the first book in the series. But, the stories are independent of each other and do not need to be read in order.

I will be reading The Prometheus Man next, and I look forward to more from this author!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Aspen Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (meer)