Review: Builds suspense well, & irritating with lack of resolution
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2013
First in the Bytes of Life short stories series, which is a character-developing companion series to their full-novel Countermeasure series; a prequel toCountermeasure (Countermeasure, #1).Personally, I see it as a way to force their readers to part with more cash. (Yeah, they say it's free. For now. Once they get you hooked...) The Almeidas claim it's a way to develop and provide insight into their characters. Yeah, right. Do it in the book...!They also claim this contains EROTIC content. Well, yes, there is a sex scene, but nothing you won't find in many romance novels. Just sayin'...My TakeI'd consider this more of a prologue as it introduces you to the suspense of what is coming. It is really well done, which is why it gets the "5". It still bugs me, though, that they're forcing their readers [and me!] into buying these shorts---AA have warned that they will be referring to events/characters in these shorts in their main series. Nothing like a little extortion, eh...I know, I'm almost whining for 29-pages' worth, so I'll shut up. For the moment. Thank god for computers so I can edit this out after I've vented my spleen!AA do set the hook and create the suspense beautifully. It starts off delicately, giving the reader just enough to start, to question, and then to realize with a growing horror just what Conor and Maeve intend to do.The goodbyes were enough to make me cry with such an incredible feel for how a parent would truly feel in a situation like this.The StorySome threat hangs over Conor and Maeve. One they can only escape via drastic measures.The CharactersConor has a successful company, Brennan Enterprises, and adores his wife Maeve. Trevor is the only child they had; he works somewhere on the East Coast in AmericaStephan Connellan has been Conor's friend and partner for over twelve years.Captain Simon O'Brian seems to run the marina where the Brennans dock their boat, the Morrígan. Roisin is O'Brian's wife.The CoverThe cover is...whoa...busy. There's a couple embracing---I'll assume it's Conor and Maeve. In front of them is the Morrígan on a slant sailing through the water. On top of that is an angled bit of white binary code on a transparent background. Then follow that up with four different fonts. I'm exhausted.Oh, yeah, it's an Uncharted course all right.