- By Patrick Lee
When I started this novel, it was already a bit late in the night. And let me tell you at the beginning, don't you dare open this novel, just before you go to bed; for, in case you think you could cozily drift to sleep after turning few pages, you are sadly mistaken. You will just toss and turn around on the bed until you give up and open the darn book again and rush through to the ending. It's that kind of a book. And if you are like me, you will enjoy every bit of it, despite what it costs the next day! An adrenaline pumping, blood gushing, absolute whopper of a thriller. Patrick Lee with his first Sam Dryden novel sets a pace that ticks like a timer on a bomb and rushes the readers through its pages for the ending.
Sam Dryden is an ex-Secret Service agent, who is living a quiet life in El Sedero, a small Southern Californian coastal town. While taking a nighttime run on the boardwalk, he runs into a young girl who is running away from heavily armed men intend on killing her. This Runner seems to know nothing about herself save her name, Rachel, and remembers nothing more than the past two months she was held captive, from which she is trying to escape and urges him to help her. Eventually, they escape from the immediate vicinity, only to realize that they were running from far more powerful force who seems to be just a step behind them in their plan to find a safe place. While trying to find an escape, he tries to get more information from the girl and realizes she could read his thoughts. Upon questioning, she tells him she had no idea how she could do it and that there seems to be more to her story, since someone is hell bent on killing her and she has no idea why! And the story kicks up a notch, with Dryden and Rachel trying to figure out a way to thwart their enemies, yet uncover who Rachel really was. Will the truth set her free? Why is she being hunted? Why can she read minds? In search for finding answers, she puts herself and Sam in crossfire. Will they escape unscathed? Every page turned is a preview of the next, with impending doom just hovering around the corner, like a tornado that is gathering around, ready to dance its way to destruction in the blink of an eye.
Sam Dryden is an instant super hero, yet only a human, with a strong sense of right and wrong and a good dose of empathy. Rachel is a mystery to begin with and is uncovered layer by layer, garnering sympathy along the way. Gaul, the main antagonist in the novel is smart, calculative and every bit a match to Sam Dryden's determination to keep Rachel alive. Patrick Lee does a fantastic job to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.
In this age of technology and biometrics, there hardly is a sphere that seems unimaginative to us humans. Every new invention gets us that bit close to those science-fiction realities of either finding ourselves in Zombie land or being overtaken by machines or creating a new race altogether. Yet, we cannot live without these inventions, if only to test the boundaries of science that seem to stretch only as far as our imagination could go. Ah, the possibilities!!Or the repercussions!
I urge all the fellow thrill seekers to pick it up and enjoy the roller coaster. It's one hell of a ride!
Happy Reading Fella Readers!!
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