I’m thoroughly enjoying this series! The prequel gave us a taste of what was possible from these characters and setting. Kirsten and Keke make a great team. They are both dedicated journalists and each has a history of being in dangerous situations. Set in a near future South Africa, showers & swimming pools are practically unheard of, the fertility rate has plummeted, and paper communications (like printed receipts, etc.) are practically unheard of. Yet tech has continued to progress. I loved this aspect of the book! Keke has a tattoo that changes colors with her insulin levels, letting her know when she needs a shot. Some people have implants tied to a small tablet (called a tile) for all their communication stuff and more.

There are several flashbacks sprinkled through out the story. It did take me a while to realize that they were flashbacks. I know I should have picked up on that sooner, I just thought this flashback character had some fascination with the 1990s. Anyway, the flashback storyline turns out to be very important for our main characters and over all, I liked it.

Seth was a very interesting character. At first, I didn’t like him but I was intrigued by him. He comes off all hard angles and has some hidden mission. He’s not above using people to attain his goal. As a loyal member to the secret organization Alba, his chemgineer skills come in very handy. As the story unfolds, it is eventually revealed that he has a connection to our main characters and then he becomes even more interesting and even a little likable.

The pacing was perfect in this story. The suspense is built up and then action happens and then more suspense followed by more action. There’s even a few brief sex scenes to spice things up. I did feel that a few times a character would jump to some conclusion too quickly. For example, one of the characters out of the blue becomes concerned that they might have an implanted tracker, so they go hunting for it so they can cut it out. I felt this was tossed in at the last minute.

Everyone has secrets and that gave the story several twists and turns. I especially enjoyed James, aka Marmalade. Kirsten has synesthesia and so she often sees her friends in colors and she sees James as Marmalade. He became a very sympathetic character at the end. He’s managed to hide his secret live for decades! But after he explained things, I could see his side a bit. I didn’t agree with everything, but I could understand how he got to where he was.

I loved all the science fiction and fantasy references. Thundercats! The ending answers all the questions presented in this book, so it stands well on it’s own. Marco, who I met in the prequel, had a brief mention or two in this book and I did miss his presence. I hope to see more of him in Book 2. All told, 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Roshina Ratnam did a great job with this narration. I felt she had perfect voices for both Keke and Kirsten. Her male voices were believable and she had distinct voices for all the characters. There was a little bit of South African slang and Ratnam voiced that well (to my untutored ear). 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by JT Lawrence. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )