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It Takes A Death To Reach A Star by Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones is a fantastic edition to my reading shelf. I have started reading more Science Fiction to keep my reading fresh. You now, if all I read is Suspense/Thrillers, they all start to run together.

I first met Gareth Worthington on tour for Children of the Fifth Sun. (See below)

For an introduction into the novel, all I can say is “WOW!”

Cover:  John Byrne

Publisher:  Vesuvian Books

Amazon  /  Audio  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Started out slow for me, but it ended with a bang! I absorbed the detail of the ‘cities’ and characters. It Takes A Death T Reach A Star is much more than I expected. I have two pages of notes I took while reading, but most of that is going by the wayside and I’ll shoot from the hip.

The book takes place in Russia, but it’s not like the Russia you know. Some people have managed to survive WWIII and the New Black Death, where almost nine billion people died..

Mila is a Robust and Dimitri is a Gracile. The details of their existence is better if you learn about it for yourself. They are never meant to interact as friends or comrades, but when they do come together, they will never be the same…and neither will their world.

Mila walks to her own drum, but Dimitri is a follower. It is rare for him to step outside his comfort zone and when he does, the action becomes nonstop…and dangerous. Mila is my idea of ninjas in the future. She is a badass and I love her. Dimitri is one of the herd, but I knew he was going to grow and morph into someone to be reckoned with. Glad he’s on ‘our’ side.

Their missions become one and we are off to the races. The first lap is their meeting. The mid laps are the action that brings them to their biggest, out of this world, battle. The finale is me being able to take a breath and find out who is left standing.

Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones can write, creating a world that becomes easy to visualize by the details of their imagination and they do make me wonder, could that be our future? The characters roll off the pages as if they are real, growing and developing into people worthy of our respect or our disgust. But, you can’t have the good without the bad.

The suspense and anticipation is ramping up, becoming intense, as the lines are drawn, sides chosen and the battle rages. Gareth and Stu don’t believe in saving all their characters, so be careful who you become involved with. They may not survive. When they took out ‘her’, I was bummed, but when they took out ‘him’, I rejoiced. Just goes to show you how involved I became in their lives and the outcome of the story. It went further than I thought it would and I loved it even more, for the ability of the authors to take me somewhere I have never been. The title is very appropriate.

OH NO. It’s over. But what a great ending it was. Will there be more?

I love when the author’s are just as interesting as the book, so be sure and check them out.

I voluntarily read a free copy of It Takes A Death To Read A Star by Gareth Worthington and Stu Jones.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

***2018 DRAGON AWARD FINALIST – BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL***
***2018 SCIENCE FICTION WINNER OF THE NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL***
***2018 CYGNUS AWARD SHORTLIST (WINNER TBD)***

“…merging the best of apocalyptic fiction and sci-fi … compelling.” – Library Journal

“Cinematic, thought-provoking, immersive … in the manner of the novels of Philip K. Dick.” – Booklist

“[I] cannot fathom how Stu Jones and Gareth Worthington created this masterpiece.” – Reader’s Favorite.

THE WORLD YOU KNOW IS DEAD. WE DID THIS TO OURSELVES.

The epidemic struck at the end of the Third World War. Fighting over oil, power, and religion, governments ignored the rise of an anti-bacterial-resistant plague. In just five years, the Earth was annihilated. Only one city survived—Etyom—a frozen hell-hole in northern Siberia, engulfed in endless conflict.

The year is 2251.

Two groups emerged from the ashes of the old world. Within the walled city of Lower Etyom dwell the Robusts—descendants of the poor who were immune to the New Black Death. Above them, in a metropolis of pristine platforms called Lillipads, live the Graciles—the progeny of the super-rich, bio-engineered to resist the plague.

Mila Solokoff is a Robust who trades information in a world where knowing too much can get you killed. Caught in a deal-gone-bad, she’s forced to take a high-risk job for a clandestine organization hell-bent on revolution.

Demitri Stasevich is a Gracile with a dark secret—a sickness that, if discovered, will get him Ax’d. His only relief is an illegal narcotic produced by the Robusts, and his only means of obtaining it is a journey to the arctic hell far below New Etyom.

Thrust together in the midst of a sinister plot that threatens all life above and below the cloud line, Mila and Demitri must master their demons and make a choice—one that will either salvage what’s left of the human race or doom it to extinction…

–>Check out ItTakesDeathToReachAStar.com to find out more about Etyom, including an interactive world map, character profiles, and the research behind this epic “science-faction” novel.

 

ABOUT STU JONES

SWAT Sniper. Adventurer. Visionary. Award-Winning Author of Epic Genre Blending Fiction.

A veteran law enforcement officer, Stu has worked as a beat cop, an investigator, an instructor of firearms and police defensive tactics and as a member and team leader of a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is trained and qualified as a law enforcement SWAT sniper, as well as in hostage rescue and high-risk entry tactics. Most recently, Stu served for three years with a U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force – hunting the worst of the worst.

Stu’s passion for writing developed during his years in college while obtaining his bachelor’s degree in history. In the years that followed, Stu published three faith-based post-apocalyptic novels – the Action of Purpose trilogy.

Stu’s most recent published work is the award-winning futuristic thriller, It Takes Death To Reach A Star, written with co-author Gareth Worthington(Children of the Fifth Sun). It was published by Vesuvian books in May of 2018. Stu is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo-Helin-Fountain literary. He is currently working with Gareth Worthington on the follow-up to “Star” as well as other joint and solo projects.

Known for his character-driven stories and blistering action sequences, Stu strives to create relentlessly engaging reading experiences that readers will return to again and again.

When he’s not chasing bad guys or writing epic stories, he can be found planning his next adventure to some remote or exotic place.

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook  /  Instagram

MY REVIEW BY GARETH WORTHINGTON

Children of the Fifth Sun

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