Alexia ReedBesprekingen

I really liked the premise of this. The government created a virus that unlocked psychic potential in humans, then kept them locked up in the Centre testing their abilities, until they were fully trained as weapons.

I enjoy books with psychic elements. That aspect of the book was interesting and well done, though I do wish more detail had been given to explain the abilities of the agents.

Aside from that, I was kind of disappointed in the way the story developed. It started out really strong but the threads seemed to unravel as the novel wore on. The killer was easy to identify and the romance wasn't very well developed.

Having said that, I'm intrigued enough to want the next book. If the writing tightens up just a bit, this will be an excellent series.

Really 3.75 Stars


Well, this was unexpected. I didn’t expect this novel to be quite so dark or quite so engaging. The premise is anything but simple and sometimes made for a somewhat confusing story. The Government has made a virus to unlock psychic powers and created a league of super soldiers. All housed in the centre, they were property, not humans. I didn’t like the world that this story was set in. The morals were suspect, people were disposed of if their powers didn’t fit and everyone was supposed to fit into this mould created by the Government. It was definitely dystopian fiction so I suppose I wasn’t supposed to like the world, that it was supposed to be flawed. I did, however love the thought of these psychic x-men.

The first chapter was confusing as hell because we start the book in the middle of the action. I knew nothing about the world, but I did adjust quite quickly. There were odd times in the book when I got confused again, about where we were in terms of the chain of events of the story, but as a whole, I could follow the direction it was going. The premise was so novel, and so fascinating, that I could forgive some plot glitches. The suspense plot was interesting and I only figured out who the serial killer was when he actually was caught!

I really liked the character of JC. Yes, for a long period of time, the man was complicit in some pretty horrific things, but he woke up and decided that the time had come for drastic measures. Yeah, they were pretty stupid drastic measures, but it was his strength of conviction that made him do it. His morals were sound and he knew what he was doing was wrong, so decided that it could no longer continue. The way he looked out for Amy was lovely ...I really liked his protective and slightly alpha nature  He could have done with a management skills course though because he was terrible as the leader of the psychic x-men when he didn’t immediately get his own way...stroppy and sulky are not the best leadership qualities!

Amy was a difficult character to like. She was naive and really didn’t seem to have a rounded character. I understood her reactions to certain situations; I just have issues relating to characters such as her. I wasn’t sure that she worked as an individual character, but she worked well as a pair with JC. The chemistry between them was very well described but I couldn’t get it out of my head that it was only because they had been physically linked that they fit so well. It was an interesting twist; were they only attracted to each other because of a bond created through necessity rather than choice? And if that was the case, did it really matter why if they truly cared about each other?

Overall, this was a good start to an interesting series. I’ll read the next ones on the strength of this one, even if there were bits that I couldn’t quite mesh with. I’d really like to see more from some of JC colleagues, even the ones that had the powers that weren’t so nice.

Originally posted at Romance Around the CornerHave I mentioned that I have a thing for the X-Men? Well, I do. So when I read that this book was about children with extraordinary abilities locked away in a government facility and being turned into super soldiers, I couldn’t wait to read it. The basic premise goes like this: the government has created a secret facility to experiment with genetics and children, in order to create killing machines. Each kid has a different set of abilities and they are ruthlessly trained and tested. If they fail they are destroyed, if they succeed they are assigned to a team. Our hero, J.C., used to be one of those kids and now is head of a team and one of the scientists. When the book begins, he’s running away after trying to destroy the lab because he opposes the experiments. While he’s at it a voice in his head helps him scape, however, he gets caught, brought in to questioning and ultimately subjected to a mind wiping. Fortunately for him, the voice belongs to someone who can help him.Amy has spent her life locked in a lab. She’s a powerful telepath who can’t survive outside, but because she’s so powerful, instead of killing her, the government wants to learn from her. And by learn I mean torture her in order to see what she’s capable of. She is the voice inside of J.C.’s head. When she realizes that he’s been caught, she helps him retain his memory. In turn, he helps her get out of the lab. However, being imprisoned is the least of her problems, since she’s linked to a serial killer that’s targeting members of the team and has marked her as her next victim. That’s how Amy and J.C. team up to find the killer and hopefully also battle the facility. Actually, they don’t fight the facility at all, that was my original assumption when I started the book but I was wrong, maybe this will be addressed in the next book (?). The book started very strong. The concept was original, the story interesting and the characters likeable. I couldn’t put it down and even though it loses some steam halfway through and I had some issues with it, I’m glad I read it. In a genre saturated by vampires, angels and shifters, I can’t even begin to tell you how refreshing it is to find a PNR that has none. The best part of the story is the setting. I think the idea of the government doing secret experiments to create super soldiers is interesting, and I like that it’s not a good place to be at. They are not a happy family working together to save the world. It’s not clear what their purpose is, but heroism is not it. Most of the characters are ambiguous and have done bad things, the hero is part of the people doing experiments and even though he rebels against it, he has done his share of wrongs. The execution, though, needs some work. Lots of loopholes, the main story is not about the experiment but about catching a killer, so think of it as a Romantic Suspense set against a Paranormal background. Nothing wrong with that, but by not focusing on one aspect alone the story suffers. The mystery/suspense part was poorly done. The killer is obvious, we’re supposed to believe is someone else, but even the clueless reader can guess that the main suspect is just a distraction. The romance was lacking, there’s no chemistry and I never quite got why they fell in love, I’m not even sure they really did. In turn, all of these things make the worldbuilding weak, something a story like this one can’t afford.Amy was a character that needed some extra work, she felt incomplete, or rough around the edges. She can’t touch people, she’s been living in isolation her entire life, she’s been tortured and tested relentlessly, yet she has no real problem adapting to freedom and she came across as way to put together and sane for someone who’s been through so much. I thought her character was inconsistent because at first she is damaged, but she gets over it almost magically. There’s almost no time dedicated to her struggle and recovery. Then there’s the fact that she basically moves in with J.C. and no one sees anything wrong about it.I also had issues with J.C. He’s supposed to be this jaded soldier tormented by what he’s done, and again, at first he went in the right direction but that part of his character was also abandoned in the middle of the story to make room for the murder mystery.I think the story needed more pages to improve the character development. The idea is really good and some of the secondary characters were intriguing enough to make me want to read their story. I can see a lot of potential here, Ms. Reed has a great voice and she has created an original and compelling world. Hunting the Shadows has several flaws but I enjoyed it enough to look forward to the next installment. If you’re a fan of Paranormal Romance I think you will like this one, especially if you feel like taking a vacation away from too many werewolves.Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Posted on Romancing the Book's blog
Reviewed by Ashleigh
Review Copy Provided by the Author

Warning… there are mild spoilers ahead.

While I wanted to like this story, not only because this a new genre for me but because the blurb made it sound so interesting. I found that the entire first 65 pages that I muddled my way through was so convoluted that I by then I couldn’t understand who was a good guy or bad guy. Time seemed to be irrelevant, and often things happened that just plain didn’t make sense to me. One minute J.C. is being charged with murder and treason, and the next he is a free man back in charge of his men looking for a killer. The addition of Amy, and her abilities, really made me want to read this if for nothing else to see how the author tied in the psychic angle, but again I was disappointed. It seemed that JC and Amy could communicate to each other, along with she could implant memories in his mind somehow rewriting what he remembers, but yet he has no idea who she is or why she is in his facility under his direction.

More than once I had to reread sections to see if I missed something and each reread just confused me even more. I hope that others can find enjoyment in her writing, because the writing itself was good – and a great job on editing the section I got through – but the irrelevant time and just general fluidity to the entire story line (not in a good way) made me give this book a seedling (1 star) rating. This won’t stop me from reading other works in the future from Alexia Reed, just this one was not at all like the blurb made it sound.

3 STARS
I had guessed the killer right. Thier was some sex scenes in it.
The goverment was testing on children trying to get super agents. If they did not think
you could be useful they killed you.
J.C is a doctor and agent he is tired of his part of all that was going on. J.C. put explosives in his lab
to destroy it. He got some of the doctors to get the children out before. The explosions did not go as
he planned. The four doctors who were going to get the children out were murdered and found in JC
lab. Also his friend that he was close to was found murdered and found down in the tunnels.
While JC was in a cell waiting to see what they were going to do with him he heard a voice in his head.
He thought he was going crazy.
Amy was raised in the center in the pysch ward she has never had freedom to go outside. She overloads
and hears so many voices and gets siezures. She does not like like the doctors who try and do
tests on her especially Rick.
Amy had hidden all her talents. When JC was waiting his sentence Amy connected and talked to him in
his head.
JC punshiment was to have his memories erased and be a good agent without feelings. Amy was able to go in and download his memories into her. Next she waited till they were finshed and he was back
into his old job but had no feelings or memories and Amy was able to give them back to him.
Amy was connected to the murderer and JC was working to find the killer. He knew how powerful
Amy was and got her transfered over to his experiments than Ricks.
Amy enjoys things she has never had before JC was able to help her block the other minds around her. They got really close and Amy stayed in his rooms instead of her old prison room.
It was hard for me to care about these characters to much. I hated the fact that they have been doing
experiments on children and those that grew up being experiments helped keep the children locked up.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley.
05/07/2012 PUB Carina Press

Both J.C and Amy grew up in a research program. J.C was groomed to fight and has become a top researcher but Amy was hidden away due to her mental abilities and continues to be hidden away and tested on. That all changes when J.C gets sick of the way the test subjects are treated and hatches a plan to free them that does not go as expected. J.C. and Amy are brought together and help each other find the saboteur and killer before its to late.

The story starts with action and ends with action. I enjoyed both of the main characters but Amy was my favorite out of the two. She has been through a lot in her life hidden away in the mental hospital area of the compound she grew up in not able to be around others without her brain going haywire from the voices. She was alone and scared and latched onto J.Cs mind at the right moment to help him out. She went from a weak girl to a fierce woman with J.C.s help and J.C. was better having Amy in his life as well. J.C was the type of man that fights for his beliefs and the people he cares about. The world that he lives in is a hard way to grow up but he has never known anything else and still doesn't want his subjects to go through what they are going through. I didn't always agree with or like what he did in the book but he was a good man and you cant help but like him. There was an instant connection between the characters upon meeting each other. Their relationship was not easy but it flowed well and was believable. The world that the characters live in was interesting and kept me thinking. The mystery of who the killer was, was pretty good. I didn't feel like I had a grip on who it was throughout the story and I didn't guess who the real killer was until he was revealed. Overall I enjoyed HUNTING THE SHADOWS.½

As you probably know by now, I'm a big fan of Carina Press. They have a fantastic variety of titles and authors, which I appreciate because there's something for all of my different moods. I decided to try Hunting the Shadows because I was in the mood for something a little different. Hunting the Shadows is romantic suspense tinged with the paranormal. Everyone at the Centre has some sort of gift, thanks to some genetic engineering and a lifetime of training. They really run the gamut of abilities, from telepathy like Amy, to the ability to manipulate time or change memories. Some of the folks at the Centre are working for the greater good but there are just as many people who have nefarious purposes. It's an interesting world and it was a lot of fun getting to know its inhabitants. Amy and J. C. are great protagonists. J. C. has the strong and stoic thing down pat while Amy is a bit more open with her emotions, despite (or perhaps because of) being isolated for most of her life. I also liked most of J. C.'s teammates, even though we don't get to know them as well as Amy and J. C. My favourites were Mackenzie and Ajay and you'll see why when you pick up Hunting the Shadows!

In terms of plot, the book is well executed. Amy and J. C. hunt for the murderer and make some interesting discoveries along the way. When I found out who the killer was, I had a kind of duh moment but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel. I was interested in knowing how J. C. and Amy would trap the killer and how the killer managed to evade detection for so long. In some ways, the story's evolution and world reminded me of Christine Feehan's Ghostwalkers series or Jayne Castle's novels (which is a compliment to my mind), though there are enough differences that the comparison was fleeting.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. It's a strong debut from a fellow Canadian (go, Canada!) and, from the looks of Alexia Reed's website, there are more Shadow Ops books to come. I look forward to seeing where she takes us next.

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