This book is like a mixed salad! Spies, aliens, archeology, adventure, chases, narrow escapes, religions both good and evil, history, suspense, fiction, odd relationships... I think I have missed something on that. Anyway, over all this is very drama, very SF, and major film worthy.

Science fiction gets a boost with Quantum. Aliens, archeology, adventure and spies. Fast moving and an interesting read.

I tried. I really, really tried.

Quantum: The Trilogy Begins sounded so much like it would be the perfect book for science-loving nerdy old me, but when it came down to it, I couldn't finish it. After four attempts over a year and a half, I am throwing in the towel.

To those of you did finish and enjoyed it, I am jealous. I couldn't there to find the "good stuff" that I'm certain was lurking just behind the next chapter. I'll keep it on my Kindle for a while, so if you want to talk me into yet another attempt, I am open to entertaining your arguments FOR ENJOYING Quantum: The Trilogy Begins.

Two doctors working in a refugee camp in the Sudan discover a mysterious metal cylinder buried in the desert. Their initial tests show the object was made long before any civilization on earth would have had the materials or technology to do so. In fact, it may predate the existence of mankind itself. When intelligence agencies around the world show an interest in the object, the scientists studying it disappear. What follows is a fast-paced race around the world between governments wanting to control the cylinder and the scientists trying to discover its secrets. Secrets that could change everything we thought we knew about how our world and our species began.

I found myself unable to finish this book. I tried it several times but I feel nothing as executed in the way I was expecting based on the description. This novel was just not for me unfortunately, as much as I hoped it would be.

"Quantum" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Dean De Servienti (http://www.deandeservienti.com). Mr. De Servienti has published three novels.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in the contemporary world.

Doctors working for an NGO in Africa stumble across a mysterious object. It looks high-tech, but was found buried in ancient rock. They gather a few experts to study it further and head to London. They quickly realize that they have found something that will disrupt world religions as well as possibly governments.

They decide to disappear until they can find out more about the object. They head to the US for further secret testing. They soon discover that they are being ruthlessly pursued by various intelligence agencies. They quickly find that survival and not pursuit of knowledge is their biggest challenge.

This was an interesting 9 hour read of a 301 page science fiction novel. While I liked the overall plot, I thought the execution was a bit weak. Nor was I really drawn to any of the characters. I had a hard time with all of the intelligence agents being nothing but obnoxious and ruthless killers. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 3.4 (rounded down to a 3) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Very interesting book, a mixture of different genders.

I don't know if every book of this category are the same, but this one is reaaally enjoyable, I really liked that they added depth to this book based on REAL things, also the situations and the adrenaline of the characters feel immersive.

I'd recommend this book to a friend.

Two scientists, working for a NGO, discover an artifact in the deserts of Darfur that seems to have alien origins. They contact four other scientific experts and meet to see what they can discover about the object. In short order, they are alarmed by what it reveals, and consider it a worldwide threat. They go off-grid to study it further, and in fear for their lives. They tell their families not to look for them. But word has leaked of their find, and every government who knows about it wants to have it for their own.

The story follows the six scientists as they race against time to unravel the secrets of the object. But what do they know about evading trained assassins and covert operatives who are trying to kill them? They receive help from unexpected sources, but is it enough to keep them ahead of the killers? And is the world ready to hear what secrets are hidden within the alien artifact? . . .Once the assassins pick up their scent, the story picks up speed as they try to outrun their pursuers, and it was a wild ride till the end. The interaction between the spy agencies was fun, and injected a bit of humor with the interplay of government bureaucracies. There is an incestual relationship that is a bit unsavory, but a few twists and an entertaining read.

3 or maybe 3.5 stars. First off, since I think the author wrote this book in Italian, I want to compliment the translator--very good job. The book is a blend of genres: mostly thriller (with spies and lots of action) and science fiction (more science than sci-fi). An artifact is discovered that appears to be quite ancient, but of a substance that does not exist on earth, and was apparently left by aliens. There are no aliens and no space travel, so don't worry if sci-fi is not your thing. This is more of an action-packed thriller with an exploration of the implications for the origins of humanity. However, I thought the scientific fantasy aspects were more plausibly developed than the supposedly realistic actions of the various religious leaders and government agencies and some of the individuals involved. Also, there was a relationship that was just plain creepy and I didn't see how it contributed to the book. Anyway, with a little work, I could easily see this being made into a movie!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC of this book.

Dean De Servienti came up with A well thought out Sci-Fi trilogy filled with a lot of action and intrigue concerning the past, present, and future. QUANTUM The Trilogy Begins is like taking a giant step into the unknown.The book cover and title itself suggests to the reader that there are matters in the universe beyond the human spirit in understanding.
Our story opens with a note from the author. But this reader has found a few unanswered questions. Was there actually a meeting that took place? Could the leak of a meeting have been a rumor? Even though suicide attacks ceased, and some CIA operatives were summoned home, there was no proof of these events. Did they really happen? Very intriguing indeed. I liked reading this book. It brought back a program I use to watch. QUANTUM LEAP. A very enjoyable program with excellent characters. Also this book had some characters that really stood out.
Then our introduction begins with an equation that Frank Drake developed, and we are thrown into the unknown about the cosmos; which, in turn, leads us into the Prologue that takes us into Darfur. An interesting read indeed!

This book is like a mixed salad! Spies, aliens, archeology, adventure, chases, narrow escapes, religions both good and evil, history, suspense, fiction, odd relationships... I think I have missed something on that. Anyway, over all this is very drama, Sci-Fi, major film worthy.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Quantum is a book combining quantum mechanics, paleoanthropology, ninjas, and spies. It read like a science fiction-action movie. If you're one of those readers who is sensitive to the whole science versus religion debate when it comes to our origins as humans, I recommend not reading this book. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I found the concept behind finding advanced technology from another world and unlocking its mysteries that provide insights into our own origins very intriguing. On top of that, the author throws in the action sequences that come with having international parties looking to chase down and steal this technology to meet their own needs and misdeeds. The writing was just okay because I felt the author would go off on rather descriptive sections of the book that would distract from the overall story and slow the story down. Regardless, I definitely would be interested in reading future installments in the trilogy.

While the premise of this book seemed engaging, the narrative itself was lacking. Perhaps the fact it was translated from another language may have something to do with the choppiness at times. Also, the story seemed dated a bit for a contemporary release.

ARC ebbok/Science Fiction: I saw the cover and read the description and thought this was the book for me. Too many characters with too many locations was the first hint this was going to be a stinker. The icky relationship between the "siblings" was another. The people with unendless money in bank accounts to skip around the world makes me mad too.
The scientist are a plenty and they are so dull. All these governments chasing after them was tedious. I expected a cross between Dan Brown and Michael Crichton with facts and history and faux science that makes sense. I'm a slow reader and bad books take even longer. I only finished it because NetGalley let me read the book in lieu of an honest review and I want my time back.

I was so intrigued by the concept of this one - I liked the alien artifact idea, the scientists trying to save the world, and the implications of it all for world history/religion. BUT I did not particularly love the writing... It was alright in the beginning, but slowed WAY down rather quickly and I found myself plodding through each page. Still, I was curious enough to see what would happen with the artifact and how the world would handle the inevitable release of information about it - until Chapter 9. That's when the book lost me completely... There were a few points before then when I found myself creeped out (there's a, let's say, *unusual* familial relationship presented early on), or bored (honestly, it seemed to me rather beyond credibility that every major government was so free and easy in their dramatic responses to the hunt for the scientists), or eye-rollingly irritated (how can smart people be SO oblivious??). But at the end of Chapter 9 - which is almost half-way through the book - there was a Big Reveal. I enjoyed it and didn't see it coming (although perhaps in hindsight I should have), but the way it played out seemed utterly unbelievable and totally turned me off... The Shadow is a HUGE part of the early book, and then, suddenly, Big Reveal and everything changes, like flipping a switch. It was the proverbial straw that broke the back of this one for me and I closed it for good...

This is the first book that I have read from Dean and I'm looking forward to reading the next two in the series.
A book similar to National Treasure or the Da Vinci Code, this pits several national security agencies against each other and 6 scientists and their special discovery. The plot was not too contrived or too involved so the book did make an easy, good beach read this summer.
Two of the characters have a very icky relationship which seemed out of place through the book which just does not fit in with the rest of the story.
There were several plot twists in the book that were unexpected (as they should be) and did not seem to be too out of place for the story.
This book is part 1 of a trilogy so I am looking forward to the next two books.

This book was translated from Italian and the translators did a very good job - although there were several spelling mistakes (and the ones I spotted were provided to the publisher), the flow and structure of paragraphs did not make it obvious that the book had been translated

This book began vaguely interesting. Sadly, it did not end that way.

The prologue should have been my first clue. It is a mini lecture on Darfur and the genocide that has/is taking place there, along with descriptions of the agencies trying to provide aid. We are introduced to Dan, a doctor with Doctors Without Border and Jodie, a doctor with an American NGO. Don't know what NGO stands for? Me neither. Still don't. The doctors are attractive and in their mid-thirties.

A young boy in the camp has brought Jodie something she wants Dan to see.

Then we are whisked away to Rome, where we are introduced to Yoshi and his sister Midori. They are gorgeous and in their mid-thirties and have a slightly icky attraction to each other. They are well off, and have clients. What kind of clients? No idea, yet.

Then we are off to Tel Aviv where we meet Nahum Oz, Zvi Shalit (director of Collections Dept) and Efraim Harel (director of Political Action and Liaison). What is Oz title? No clue yet. Oh, and the two directors, what agency are they directors of? Haven't the foggiest. Yet.

They discuss the object that has recently been discovered in Darfur. The know about the two doctors, and that they fled Darfur for London. There the doctors hook up with: Jean, a French researcher at CERN, mid-thirties; Pavlov, a Russian physicist, 68; George, and American, head of the Computer Science research department at MIT, 47; Francesca, Italian, mid-thirties, biochemist studying DNA and a consultant for the ESA. Is your head spinning yet? Mine was, because the author goes into MUCH more detail about these people and I was already lost trying to keep track of who was who.

Oz and friends think this group has discovered some kind of nuclear weapon of mass destruction at first, and they will kill them all to get their hands on it. They enlist the financial help of the Catholics and the Arabs in order to hire the Shadow, a hitman who never misses, to take out the group of scientists and receive the artifact .

We soon find out the artifact is a probe sent to our planet billions of years ago by an unknown alien intelligence. It often speaks to the scientific group but the author includes so much computerese that it is virtually impossible to figure out what its saying. I started skipping the paragraphs when it 'talks' and just read what the peoples reactions were afterward. They usually repeated everything so I could continue to follow along.

Speaking of repeating everything: thats what happens. The story constantly jumps back and forth from describing what the scientists are doing (by now they are being lead by Yoshi and Midori because, although scientists and doctors, they are too stupid to figure things out for themselves) to how the CIA (yes, they are in the hunt now too) and the Catholics and the Mossad have just learned what the scientists are doing and we have to listen in as they rehash it all over again.

Yoshi is in charge of the scientists because his client is Richard Hooper, a wealthy Englishman in his mid-thirties who has been dating the lovely Francesca. He is paying Yoshi whatever he wants to make he brings Francesca back safely.

Jump ahead to the end (I didn't but I desperately wanted to): Several people die (ho hum, didn't care), the true identity of the Shadow is revealed (yeah, yeah, figured that out 1/3 of the way into the book), and good eventually triumphs over evil. Whatever.

There is a teensy little cliffhanger at the end to set up for a sequel. Honestly, by then I could not have cared less about the probe, the scientists, or the out of left field romance between two of the characters.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

The first problem I encountered with this was that it's the first of a trilogy, which means it's really not a novel, but a prologue. The funny thing about that was that there is an author's note, an introduction, AND a prologue in this volume. Now that is serious and hilarious overkill. I do not read introductions, prefaces, prologues, author's notes, or any of that stuff. If you want me to read it, put it in the main text. Anything else is as antique as it is pretentious.

Despite this being a trilogy overture, I decided to take a chance on it anyway because it sounded interesting, but in keeping with its tripartite roots, it moved too slowly for me and didn't offer me much reward no matter how much I let slide. This is why I so rarely find series of any value. The first volume was boring - at least the fifty percent of it that I read - and it should not have been. I can't see myself being remotely interested in reading three volumes if they're anything like the portion I read of this one.

The second problem is that there are far too many characters introduced far too quickly. All this means is that we never get to know a single one of them in any depth, and so we have no one with whom to identify or for whom to root. This is another problem for me. I am not a fan of novels which jump around like this, especially when it's after as little as a single paragraph as often happens here. It moves so rapidly from one person to another, and one locale to another that it's likely to induce whiplash in many readers! It also pretentiously announces each paragraph with a dateline, like this is somehow crucial information. It's not, so why the pretension? Who reads datelines anyway?

This is translated from the Italian (as far as I know), so I readily admit something may have been lost in translation, but I doubt so much could have been lost that a brilliant novel in the native language would have been rendered so uninteresting in English. What bugged me most about this though, is that it was set in the USA. Italy has so much to offer - why betray that and set your novel in the US? Was it to avariciously pander to an insular US audience which evidently can't stand to read a novel unless it's native? And I don't mean Native American! I felt it would have been more interesting had it been set elsewhere, and Italy would have been a fine place to set this.

The most amusing thing was that Kindle's crappy app on my phone, which is the medium I read most of this in (and the formatting was, for once, fine) told me on page one that there were six minutes left in the book! Right, Amazon! Seriously, you still need to do some work on your crappy Kindle app. You're pulling down enough profit from your massive global conglomerate, so I know it's not that you can't afford to hire top line programmers; is it just that you're too cheap to hire them? Or are you purposefully trying to force people to buy a Kindle device?

The story opened amusingly: "Rome was beautiful in spite of the annoying wind that had been buffeting the city for the past couple of days." How might wind make it unattractive? Was Rome farting?! I liked Rome when I visited, but felt it was rather dirty - more-so than London is typically asserted to be, but that was a while ago. I don't know what it's like now, but I promise you the wind cannot make it ugly, so this struck me as a truly odd way of expressing a sentiment. Another translation problem? I can't say.

There were other such issues. One of them was that the artifact they found was six inches in diameter, yet it's referred to as a cane and a walking stick?! Again, this might have been a problem with translation, but with that repetition, it didn't seem so. I think it's funny that the artifact is described as sparkling, yet one guy assumes it's made from gold. Again, a problem with the translation? I don't know.

The truly bizarre thing is that I read, "Whatever metal it's made of isn't known to us." I'm sorry, but this is bullshit. We know all the metals in the universe. They're in the periodic table, and scientists can reliably project what others may be found. There are almost none beyond Uranium that are remotely stable. They can be created in the lab, but are so loosely wrapped that they exist for only minuscule fractions of a second, so this 'unknown metal' which often appears in sci-fi, is nonsensical.

The author would have made more sense and impressed me more if he'd talked about an unknown alloy instead of an unknown metal. I would have been more impressed still if he'd gone for one of the unstable metals and reported that it had somehow been rendered stable in this artifact (but then it might still have been radioactive), or if he had gone with one of the projected stable metals which are way off the end of the current periodic table. There's supposed to be one somewhere in the vicinity of Unbinilium. It hasn't been found yet and may not exist, but something like that would have been sweet to read about instead of this amateurish 'unknown metal'.

The story itself made no sense. The idea is that medical volunteers in the Sudan find a metallic cylinder, which was evidently embedded in rocks a quarter billion years old. Instead of asking permission from the powers-that-be in the country, they simply assert white man's privilege and steal the thing, transporting it to the west like the Sudanese have no business with it at all, and no say in the matter. They're black and African so why would any white scientists care at all? That can and has happened, but the fact that there isn't one single voice of dissension recording how utterly wrong that is bothered me intensely, and spoiled this right from the beginning.

The next absurdity is that the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) cease all disputes and come together as one, Israel sending the Mossad after this object. why? There is no reason whatsoever given for this intense religious interest, and for why it is only those three, like there are no other important religions on the planet! Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, Falun Gong, and Sikhism are all larger than Judaism, so this seemed like an utterly arbitrary choice.

Anyway, all of the scientists contact their families and tell them not to try to contact them (!), and then they disappear. They're accompanied by and protected by a guy named Yoshi, who has a really interesting and overly intimate (but not sexual) relationship with his sister. Those two intrigued me more than anything else in this story, though they 'skeeved out' at least one reviewer I read, but they were switched-out with other characters almost interchangeably, so we never even got to learn why those two were like they were, although this may have been revealed in the second half of this first volume which I did not read. Life is too short!

So overall, based on the half of the volume I read, I cannot recommend this. It's too dissipated: all over the place and completely unrealistic, and it offered nothing to hold my interest.