Review: A clever, intriguing page-turner
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 24, 2013
This book's clever cover art and intriguing prologue had me at hello.  Though the prologue is only a paragraph long, the point it makes - that, for whatever unknown reason, there have only ever been 3,137 everlasting human souls in the universe since the beginning of time until now - hooks you and has you immediately questioning its meaning and where this story is headed.In the beginning, there are a few different concepts or subplots being thrown around, leaving you wondering what exactly is going on.  To its credit, though, the chapters are short and sharp, pulling you on until a picture starts to form and things start falling nicely into place.  It's likely this style was employed to add intrigue and mystery to the story, which it oh-so-cleverly does.It's not long before we discover that the everlasting souls are known as the `Guardians of the Authentics'...and they don't roam the Earth alone.  They are accompanied by soulless people or `Meat Suits' they've created simply to play backdrop roles in their authentic lives.For some reason, this had me drawing correlations with some of the new-age titles I've read and been fascinated by, which suggest that humanity as a whole is evolving and moving towards enlightenment, with `lightworkers' working towards a shift to a `New Planet Earth'.  Were the Meat Suits `unenlightened' beings and opposed to the `enlightened' Authentics?  Was the author suggesting more than the sum of his words?  Had I not been already intrigued, this, for me, was the clincher.What follows is a page-turning, sci-fi thriller of sorts, with the Authentics livelihood suddenly at risk when a suit inherits the extraordinary powers of healing other suits, unknowingly gifting them souls in an unfortunate exchange with the souls (or pieces of) their Authentic creators.Fascinating and unique, this is one story not to miss.  You'll find this one hard to put down.  More than worth its small cover price.