SINthetic by J.T. Nicholas is a dark story that covers some of the dilemmas that arise with scientific advancements.

From descriptions: "They look like us. Act like us. But they are not human. Created to perform the menial tasks real humans detest, Synths were designed with only a basic intelligence and minimal emotional response. It stands to reason that they have no rights. Like any technology, they are designed for human convenience. Disposable."

“Darkly engrossing, SINthetic shines a stark light on the age-old question, what does it mean to be human?”
—Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author

I'll mention again that this one is dark and frightening because of the possibilities of genetic engineering, and unfortunately, man's tendency to abuse scientific advancements. Of course, there has been plenty in the news lately about the way powerful individuals have oppressed and exploited women to give another take on this story.

I liked it and look forward to the sequel.

Read in November; blog review scheduled for Jan. 5, 2018

NetGalley/Kensington Books

Murder Mystery/Speculative Fiction. Jan. 23, 2018. Print length: 178 pages.

I would give this title 4 stars. (Some spoilers may be included)

I'm guessing this book falls under the category of new adult. Whereas I normally read YA And fantasy, I decided to give this book a try.
Things I didn't like: it was a bit tedious during the first half of the book when Detective Campbell (Main character) kept mentioning Anabelle. I wanted to know why this person was so important. The first half of this book also set the general ground work of what was to come. Once I pushed past it, I enjoyed the book!
What I loved: The supporting character, Melinda Hernandez! I loved how bits of Spanish words/slang were thrown in! Also the whole idea of robots doing our manual labor takes on a whole new, seeing as the robots look just like humans, save for the raised barcode tattoo on the back of their neck. I also love that Detective Campbell isn't a perfect hero. He's a bit rough around the edges but willing to fight for the truth!
Definitely looking forward to what's in store for book 2!

Well, this an intersting book. Well written and with good characters. Unfortunately I was unable to "buy" the main idea which is that artificial human, clearly human, are treated like slave in a "normal" advanced society.
I couldn't manage this feat, sorry !

Good book I enjoyed reading this, it did remind me of a tv programme here in the UK called Humans a little because the subject matter was the same but the book was quite different, and had some interesting and thought provoking concepts.It was also a really good story and I liked the main character and and the other characters were interesting and I look forward to finding out more about them in the next book.The pace of the book was good and there was plenty of action for fans of this genre it is a really good read.Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC .

Review to come at end of dec with cross posted link

*thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.
This was a huge let down. It had everything going for it. The cover is amazing and immediately got my vote and attention. The description made me realllllly want to read this. Cyborgs 'artificial humans', robots, drones, androids, whatever you want to call them, are my number one favourite sci-fi story themes. AND it is also a crime and mystery story. This had EVERYTHING I wanted. It was also based in the future. It ticked so many boxes, yet it just didnt work. It was a good start, but it quickly got boring. I found my attention kept dropping to other things and id have to force myself to keep going incase it got better, which it didnt. One other thing I liked about this was the description of the cars! Ohh wow, the self-drive cars was amazing to read about and I can only wish that this becomes a reality some day. I mean, what more could you want. You get to be driven home, safely, without doing anything AND while being driven home you can sit back and READ! Its pretty perfect. But im still pretty upset but I only hope that if others decide to read this that they enjoy it more.

So I just finished SINthetic and I have to say that if anyone goes into this book thinking J.T. Nicholas' writing style is an extension of his Wife Julie's, they are wrong. It is wholly unique and completely epic!! 5 STARS!!! It has an air of IRobot (without the robots and the Detective is on the side of the Synths), and with a fresh take and a unique spin on what could happen with Genetic Engineering. What could happen if people suddenly decided to start playing God?? It kept me intrigued, held my attention, and had me trying to put together clues and guess what was going to happen next. It is fast paced, and a darker take than a lot of sci-fi/fantasy books now-a-days, which I completely loved. I can't wait to get my hands on SINdicate!!

Despite how interesting this book sounds, I think it just wasn't my taste. The story itself is intriguing, and I liked the idea of a sci-fi/futuristic crime novel, but there were too many things that bothered me that I couldn't get over.

The biggest factor was the writing itself. There was so much telling instead of showing, and I got tired of listening to the main character ramble on about how things were. Give me a proper setting, give me strong action scenes, give me believable world building, give me anything but unimportant musings from an arrogant protagonist whose rambling thoughts go on for pages.

There's a scene where the main character is at a boxing ring fighting another person, and the scene gets almost an entire chapter of dedication to it. The scene doesn't advance the plot, doesn't show us more about the main character. It just exists to take up space, and within a few pages I skipped it...which is admittedly what I started doing with the rest of the book. I skimmed the action scenes because I was bored with them and their outcome. The ending confused me a bit, because it was a total change of direction in the main character. Throughout the book, he continued to say how he was not willing to do something, how it didn't interest him, how it wasn't fair that he was chosen, but the book ends with him following that out anyway.

I can definitely see this book being favored by a certain demographic. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm a part of that.

This was a great book and thank you NetGalley for letting me get a copy to read and review. I loved that it was a combo of I Robot and crime novel. The main character is gritty and has a a dark past that builds up the mystery as to why he reacts to way he does and when you find out why it all falls into place. It was a quick read because I never wanted to put it down and the ending was perfect leaving you wanting more and I can not wait for the next book!!!

All too brief but a concise book with a great story. Would definitely like to read more stories set in these world.

Good Cyberpunk Noir on the status/social implications of "artificial" beings...human or not and what can you do with such "artificial" beings? It did feel like a narrative taking place in a dark maybe rainy cyberpunk city. I did like the fact, the narrative did move fast and action packed.