Loved the wrap up of the story, but it was a bit light. The romance a bit forced, especially the love. Didn't have the intensity of the earlier books

3.5 Stars

Full review to come

Thrills, superheroes and supervillains keep readers on the edge of their seat throughout this exciting Altered book.

Beth and Luke are strong, dynamic characters that draw readers in and refuse to let go as they chase bad guys and work through their issues in order to embrace the attraction that pulls them together despite their differences which has sparks flying and the readers easily becoming enamored with the couple. The romance is sweet, full of angst and steamy heat while the fast paced plot keeps readers on edge with lots of twists, turns and thrilling suspense as well as exciting action as they try to get ahead of the bad guys and stop the carnage that they are causing in a diabolical grab for power.

I haven’t read the first two books in this series but I will definitely be remedying that as I was completely captivated by the characters and fascinated with the world. Marnee Blake created an exciting world that is the stuff of comic book heroes, with wonderful characters and some unique elements that add spice to her story and she brought it all to picture perfect life with well written words that make it easy for readers to imagine every last detail. So, I will be reading the ones I missed and looking forward to reading more from Marnee Blake.

The final book in the series. Luke is obsessed with finding and stopping his old friends and roommates, Jack and Parker. He would do anything to stop them, even if it's putting a hold on his attraction to Beth. Beth has her own obsession; finding a way to slow down or reverse the affects of the drug. Together they learn to fight and protect each other. Their relationship is a little rocky, but they learn that they're much stronger together.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Absolved. Such an interesting title. Having finished the book I’m sitting her thinking which character was absolved. Is it Luke who returned following Parker and Jack when they first were all changed? Is it Beth and her wanting to research Solvimine, to adapt it for commercial use and help her mother with Alzheimer? Is it Jack, who is working with Parker but beings to have his doubts. The one person I know it certainly isn’t is Parker!

Well, the honeymoon phase is over and just like the previous book, Absolved doesn’t quite have that special oomph that the first book did. That’s not saying it’s bad in fact it was a great ending to the series. The altered ones get their HEAs, the bad guys get their just rewards, and along the way, there’s excitement and Holy Cow! moments.

The one character that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end is Luke. The perfect hero to this final story. Okay, he’s not quite perfect having made a poor decision when they first were changed but since then has fighting the good fight. Beth had her moments of greatness but at times I found her to be a bit trying. Girl, you should have come clean with Luke from the beginning! Parker is one crazy dude. Was he that messed up before the change or did it exacerbate his mental instability? His evil plans are scary and the possibilities of it happening in real life is enough to have me quaking in my boots. Jack is, he is a conundrum. I just couldn’t hate him. I can’t help but feel had circumstances been a bit different…well…

Action packed with edge of your seat excitement, Absolved is less Sci-fi that the Altered series started as and is more of an adventure thriller. There’s still plenty in the book to keep me from putting it down and the climactic finish was the perfect ending for this series. This series and author Marnee Blake are certainly both worth recommending to others. I look forward to seeing what this new author comes up with next.


I received this book from The JeepDiva with the express purpose of an honest review. The opinions, contents, and rating of this review are solely mine
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reviewed by Jac

This is an action packed page-turner and brilliant conclusion to this fantastic series – I just couldn’t put it down until I had read it all and have absolutely no hesitation in suggesting you go grab the series and read them instead of my review!

However, just in case you want to know more before you do that . . . This is the third book in the Altered Series at the start of which a brain altering drug was released in the isolated home town of Glory, where Luke Kincaid lived. Very few people survived but those who did were altered in some way. In Luke’s case he became telekinetic but others developed other powers and two other survivors are now rogues, scheming to use the drug for their own purposes.

Luke is working with a small group of other survivors and government agencies to try to prevent the further misuse of this powerful drug and to thwart the desires of the rogues. Beth Jenkins is a science prodigy, researcher and doctor seeking a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and believes that same drug could be the key. Luke doesn’t believe any use of the drug should be permitted because the mortality rate is so high and the side effects so life changing. However the two are seriously attracted to each other and will need to work together if the rogues are to be overcome. Will they find a middle ground to enable them to give their love a chance? Can they succeed in achieving their goals and keep each other and everyone else safe?

This is an emotive, angst filled romantic suspense. I had no problems remembering events from the previous stories but much is filled in as the story progresses to provide reminders. The characters, their dilemmas and turmoil are all portrayed superbly, making it easy to relate to them and share in their experiences. I’ve really enjoyed escaping into this adventurous series and have no hesitation in highly recommending it!

I requested and received a copy of this novel, via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

Absolved by Marnee Blake is book Three in the "Altered" series. This is the story of Luke Kincaid and Dr. Beth Jenkins. I haven't yet read the previous books and I do feel that I would have understood things more if I had, but overall it didn't stop me from enjoying this book
Beth is very smart women...a science prodigy who works for the government to help with new and powerful drugs along with solving crimes. One of her more persona and important reason is in hopes to help her mother. Luke too is trying to help his family and friends with stopping the spread of the mind altering drug that has almost all but destroyed his town. To help stop this his is willing to work with Beth, although she is a distraction onto itself. But they must come together to save the people that are being killed due to this drug and the evil forces.
This was an exciting read for sure~!

Finally a story that kept me hooked to the end. Excellent plot and romance elements.

I will say right away that although I really enjoyed this and understood what was happening, I hadn't read the previous books, and think it would be better to read the series in order. That is just because the reason our hero and lots of the other characters are "altered" is very important.
Dr Beth Jenkins is a genius. A child prodigy with a true gift for science. She is working with the government to understand a very powerful drug. She has her own personal reasons why she signed up for the work.
Luke Kincade is one of the "altered" . He is telekinetic, and carries a heavy load of guilt . The powers they received can be very hard to live with.
When someone with their own mad schemes gains the ability to use the drug, the team must try and counteract it and save as many people as they can.
Lots of emotion and worries for our lead characters, and some very unusual fights. This will grab you on the first page and keep you fascinated all the way through.

Plunging into ‘Absolved’ felt like being hurled into the deep end of the pond and swallowing mouthfuls of pond water while trying to stay afloat, despite having read the first 2 books of Marnee Blake’s Altered series. The break between books meant that it was difficult to catch up on (and remember) what had happened during an apocalypse-like situation where a drug kills half the population and infuses the other half with telekinetic/mind-reading superpowers. 

What I could figure out early on was that there were baddies to fight—bad guys with the notion that the drug responsible for the fall of the human race can help create a new world order—with a ragtag band of people to fight them, as was the growing push-pull tension between a scientist prodigy and a tortured computer guy trying to atone for his misdeeds woven into the whole story. 

A prologue perhaps, or some insertion of context would have made ‘Absolved’ a lot easier to get into especially for first time readers; placing the scene or working out the back story out was an exercise in frustration because it was difficult to get to a point where pieces had to fall into place before I could get lost in the narrative without needing to re-read the first 2 books. That said, though it took a while for me to get into it, to sort out the details of what really happened before I could actually sit back and enjoy the story, ‘Absolved’ by and large, took off as soon as I fought my way through the bits that needed time to fall into place. 

Clearly then, this isn’t a standalone, and as a YA/NA-type book, the sexual situations never quite went all the way, so to speak (as with all the books in this series) because the romance took a back seat to the rush to make the ruined world right again. Beth and Luke, like all the other pairings in the rest of the series, become the ‘heroes’ when hit by the drug, in contrast to the few who become villains because of it, but it was a pairing I couldn’t exactly get into. 

Apart from the conflict that kept both Luke and Beth on opposing sides of the argument for most of the story, I found myself preferring ‘old’ Beth more before she was hit by the drug somehow—the problematic definition of what it meant to be heroic came into play for me here, though it’s probably nitpicking on my part or my rooting for the underdog—and was vaguely disappointed that she could suddenly achieve what she did and get past Luke’s feelings only when she had super-enhanced senses, which felt almost like a cop-out for the solution to her problems. Would a ‘normal’ person then, not be able to do what she did and help save the world, by this implication? Along with the change, the ‘new’ Beth became someone I couldn’t recognise and was frustrated with when it often seemed to be on Luke to fight that uphill battle to get back into her graces when it was clear he had demons of his own to fight—when she could seem to do no wrong in contrast. 

Unfortunately, while I really liked Blake’s 2 previous books, I think ‘Absolved’ fell somewhat flat at all for those reasons above. I just wished I’d liked this one a lot more, but there just wasn’t enough for me to cheer for, not least the characters who went from push-pull to a rushed HEA that was hard to swallow.