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I want to thank Book Sirens & Vivek Pravat for the opportunity to read and review Xenome.

MY REVIEW

All I had to see was…a remote Pacific Island, something new birthed and not of this world, and I was curious. But, it was a little over my head when it came to the scientific information.

We started out with something I am familiar with, Holly’s mother being found dead. She goes to Melanesia to search for answers. All kinds of red flags were flying for me, and I asked myself, “Would I do it?” It doesn’t take long for danger to mount, guns blazing and bullets flying.

Holly needs to be on her toes, because danger and betrayal lurk around every turn. She has her boyfriend, David, at her side, and he is the only person she can trust. He is injured early on, and she is left to her own devices. As the story develops, other characters come into play that will be important to her.

The something new birthed is nothing I anticipated and I like that, but Vivek’s scientific explanations were confusing and stopped the flow of the story. I think others, more technically minded will grasp the concept quicker than I did, but once we got past that, the action ramps up, evil rises, betrayal and friendship come from unlikely sources, and savagery and death surround her.

I do love an author who isn’t afraid to kill off their characters, even ones I have come to count on and was saddened when they died a grisly death, but I have to consider the players in a game of world domination. Greed and power are at the forefront and the players will stop at nothing to go where no man has gone before. (LOL) Haven’t humans learned not to play God? Nothing good comes of it.

In the Afterword, Vivek Pravat shares elements of the story that are fact and fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Xenome by Vivek Pravat.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

ON A REMOTE PACIFIC ISLAND, SOMETHING NEW HAS BEEN BIRTHED. SOMETHING NOT OF THIS WORLD…

Holly Truong is a field biologist on the verge of an experimental breakthrough on swarm intelligence. But when she receives news that her estranged mother has been found dead in faraway Melanesia, she is compelled to put everything on the back burner and go in search of answers.

Waiting for her there is an experiment of a completely unexpected kind: a recreation of alien life, made possible by a secret SETI program called Metis Eye. Earth is now host to a bizarre new life form—one utterly unlike anything the planet has seen in its four and a half billion years of existence.

However, as shocking as the revelation is, a deeper, far more terrifying secret lurks in the heart of the jungle. A secret that if left uncovered could mean the end of civilization itself.

Nature, red in tooth and claw, has returned to claim its dominion, and Holly is about to find out that she is the only one standing in its way.

Genre: Action and Adventure, Aliens, Fiction, Genetic Engineering, Horror, Science Fiction,Technothriller
450 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication July 31, 2023

ABOUT VIVEK PRAVAT (from his website)

Vivek writes books under the pen name Vance Pravat. Software engineer by profession, the author has been an ardent fan of science fiction since childhood. During the course of his work, he has lived and worked in several countries around the world, and prides himself on his ability to assimilate alien cultures and cuisines with all the gusto of some benign version of the Borg.

His love for fiction that doesn’t hesitate to ask big questions eventually compelled him to overcome the demands of his day trade and pen his first book.

His main areas of interest are AI, philosophy, history, physics, and geopolitics. When he is not too busy writing, reading, or entertaining his baby daughter, he likes to indulge in PC role-playing and collectible card games.

He is always happy to chat with his readers and can be found just an email or a PM away.

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