3.5 stars. I was going through the books on my Kindle reading the first few pages of novels I had hoped to read. Nothing was grabbing my attention unt3.5 stars. I was going through the books on my Kindle reading the first few pages of novels I had hoped to read. Nothing was grabbing my attention until I opened Reaper's Run. VanDyke immediately pulled me into his story of Jill/Reaper, a wounded veteran on a cruise ship who realizes she must escape. The details of military procedure, firearms, and hand-to-hand combat smacked of experience, and only later did I realize VanDyke was a veteran himself. Those details made the story in many ways. I cared about Jill, who was thankfully not too much of a Rambo wannabe.
However, I did have a few issues with the book as well. Initially I was somewhat confused what the plague actually was. It was written into the story as if the reader would already know. Which now makes sense since I see Reaper's Run is Book 1 and there is a Book 0 I haven't read. I know it's challenging for an author to write a sequel and include just enough info to appease new readers and not bore old ones, but a little bit more about how all this began would've helped this reader.
Reaper's Run is imaginative while still remaining grounded in reality, but there was never a clear objective for Jill. At the book's beginning she's intent on finding out about her family in LA, but that is pushed to the wayside as the story progresses, and it's completely forgotten by the end. That's not really a spoiler. It felt like Reaper's Run was three books in one, and the story might've been better if each part had been given its own book.
But regardless, I still enjoyed VanDyke's writing. There is some language, and though the violence is brutal at times, it isn't overly graphic. I'll look into reading the other books in this series. Maybe some of my questions are answered there. ...more
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