Sci
Fi
Title:
The Immortality Virus
Author:
Christine Amsden
Date Published: 6/15/12
Synopsis:
In the
mid-21st century, the human race stopped aging. Those who know why aren't
talking, and the few who are brave enough to ask questions tend to disappear.
To an elite few, The Change means long life and health, but to the ever-increasing
masses, it means starvation, desperation, and violence.
Four
centuries after The Change, Grace Harper, a blacklisted P.I., sets off on a
mission to find the man responsible for it all and solicit his help to undo The
Change -- if he's still alive. To complicate matters, Grace's employer is
suspected of murdering his father, and when the police learn of their
connection, they give her a choice -- help them find the evidence they need to
convict Matthew Stanton, or die. But if they discover Grace's true mission,
they won't hesitate to kill her in order to preserve their shot at immortality.
Winner
of the Epic Award for Science Fiction, the Global eBook Award for Science
Fiction, and a finalist in The Next Gernation Indie Book Awards.
Will
Raphael tame the willful woman or love the untamed fire that burns within her?
Review
Like a lot of you know, I am a sci-fi fan (not as big as my
sister but still a fan). The premise of The Immortality Virus really got it. It
seemed action packed with mystery entailed in it. The book did deliver. I have to mention how I am not a fan of the cover. It looks...very unprofessional. I mean I had seen worse but I really wish the book can get a better cover.
The world created in The Immortality Virus kind of reminded
me of Gotham City
Okay I love books set in the future because I just LOVE reading about the technologies. #GeekForLife. I can just drool over the amazing high tech awesomeness. The action was so intense and heart bounding that I wouldn't breath at times when I read the book. There were twists and turns that just blew my mind. Furthermore, Christine added splashes of romance within the novel and it was delightful. Too bad there were parts where it was a little slow for me.
Okay I love books set in the future because I just LOVE reading about the technologies. #GeekForLife. I can just drool over the amazing high tech awesomeness. The action was so intense and heart bounding that I wouldn't breath at times when I read the book. There were twists and turns that just blew my mind. Furthermore, Christine added splashes of romance within the novel and it was delightful. Too bad there were parts where it was a little slow for me.
Okay, I kind of knew I was going to get confused (by a little)
when I read the Goodreads synopsis (yes I got confused reading the synopsis
#fail). Yes indeed I got lost a few things during the reading. The plot seemed complex to me then and it was when I read it. Grace
didn't have the most simple life. Grace kind of reminded me of Kiera from
Continuum. I totally pictured Kiera the whole time.
Grace was kind and could kick butt. She was definitely
something. Unlike Kiera, Grace was sassy with awesome comebacks and humour. Man if I was her, I would be eeeeppiiiccc! I loved Alex and Meg too. Meg was someone not "strong" like Grace but she was super kind and strong in her own way.
I don't want to spoil the ending but it did remind me of Triggers by Robert J Sawyer's ending.
Overall, I enjoyed the fast paced of the book hinted with romance and packed with mystery and twists. I do recommend this to sci-fi and dystopian readers.
Excerpt Time!
“Check him for an ID chip,” McMillan said.
Grace checked both wrists, but didn’t find the tiny metal button that acted both as tag and as a neutral interface for portables. She also did not see any sign that such a chip had been ripped out of his skin by the same people who had stolen his clothing. This man had probably been born on the streets. “Nothing.”
“Good,” McMillan said. He subvocalized an instruction to his portable. It must have opened up a com link because a moment later he said, “Send a cleanup crew to my location beacon…no ID…10-4.”
McMillan turned to Grace. “All right, let’s go.”
“W-wait! Shouldn’t we find out what happened here? Someone murdered this man.”
McMillan actually laughed, a sound that infuriated Grace. He caught a glimpse of her face and the laughter died immediately. “Just like me. I bet I said all the same things my first day. It ain’t fair, is it?”
“So you’re just going to accept it? Accept a man being murdered in the middle of a crowd of witnesses? You’re going to accept not knowing his identity and not letting his family know he’s dead?”
“The cleanup crew will take fingerprints,” McMillan said. “The census gets almost everyone’s fingerprints. If they come up with a contact, they’ll let them know.”
“And if not?” Grace asked.
“Then he’ll join the ranks of the nameless, faceless dead. C’mon, let’s go.”
Grace didn’t move.
“Look, before the day’s out we’ll handle a dozen more like this. We don’t have time to ask questions or take statements. We don’t have time to properly examine the body or the area for clues – most of which have been taken away by other unfortunates.”
It took her a moment to find her voice. When she did, her words dripped out like acid. “Would we have had time if he’d had an ID bracelet?”
“We would not have. We’d have called in the homicide team and they’d decide. Get in the car.”
This time, Grace complied, but she sat in stony silence as McMillan lifted off and began circling the area anew.
“It helps if you don’t think of them as human,” McMillan said after a while. “More than one officer has called this job pest control.”"
Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.
When she's not writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing, usually at Savvy Authors. She also offers professional editing services. She maintains a book review blog on her website with occasional writing tips thrown in for the fun of it.
Christine lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two children.
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