I’m not usually a big reader of spy thrillers, so I’m not sure why I requested this book. I think it was that it seemed to have an X-Files vibe, and I was into that. Unfortunately it was quite disappointing: flat characters, clunky prose and an unconvincing story-world.

2.5 Stars - This book was not for me. I thought this was going to be about spies, missions and love triangles, but nope. It was about spies having powers and being trapped in the woods. I didn't like any of the character and I was pretty bored reading it, I almost didn't finish it. Unfortunately, this was too Sci-Fi for me. The writing wasn't bad and I'm sure people that enjoy the Sci-Fi genre will maybe enjoy this.

Thank you to NineStar Press, LLC for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions.

This has to be one of the weirdest books I have ever read. My advise is to ignore the back cover.


It is set during the cold war when the spy network was at its peak with the CIA, KGB and MI5. The three countries are involved in this book. The best of the best from America and the UK are captured, kidnapped and experimented upon. The experiments make them in to something like monsters. They are hugely disfigured and have superhuman strength. Yes, they escape and are hiding out in the mountains in America.


The KGB send a team after them to recapture them but they fail. So they give their own team the drug and then resend them. So now we have monsters tracking monsters. A local hiker helps out the escapees by bringing them food and clothing. One of them has the ability to see into the future. Therefore everything they do is connected to his visions. But the visions are taking effect on his body and he is weakening quickly especially in the cold damp mountains.


The book is definitely intriguing and has many twists and turns. You actually start to feel sorry for all of them. Also, although it is very bwell written it's a hard slog. At times I found myself having to back track to understand what was going on. Yes I would recommend it if you want something totally different. Enjoy!



ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2281060920


https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RMXACVYLCU9VQ/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This was an interesting and unexpected read and, consequently, a bit difficult to review. It's really hard to explain without giving much away. During the Cold War, a group of CIA agents is captured by the KGB and experimented on. They escape but get trapped in a state park, leading to a standoff with three KGB agents.


The synopsis makes it seem like the majority of the story will be these two groups of agents matching wits, but there's really not a lot of plot here.There are a ton of flashbacks. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd say half the book is flashbacks to the agents' previous missions, which aren't even that detailed. As a result, the story is so choppy that I felt adrift most of the read.


The main problem is that there are too many characters for the story to focus on--at least eight. Everyone has code names and real names, and the narration flops between them, so it's sometimes hard to keep track. More than that, though, is that they all get points of view. In fact, some scenes even seemed omniscient, switching between characters' thoughts. Despite all these characters having points of view, it was so hard to get a read on their motivation. Okay, the CIA agents want to get away from the KGB, but they don't do anything about it in the present, and in the flashbacks, their motivations are even murkier. Why is anyone doing what they're doing? The synopsis gave me the impression that Diana is the main character, but after reading the whole book, I still barely have an idea of who she is or what her relationship with the KGB agent was like.


As far as the editing goes, there were many little typos or errors, such as comma splices or capitalizing the first word after a comma. I'm attuned to that sort of stuff anyway, but it felt like this manuscript needed another run-through to catch those things. The writing is decent and flows well, but some of the phrasing is awkward.


It's not that this wasn't an enjoyable read--I definitely liked aspects--but it was frustrating one. I think there are a lot of good ideas here but that the execution is lacking. I'd probably read more from Carmack in the future, but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone except readers who really like spy novels.

The synopsis from the book is very misleading and not a go pod description of the story itself. It says it is about the Cold War but there is actually not that much about the Cold War. THe plot was not well developed and there were several parts that didn’t really tie into the story and it would have been better to leave them out. The characters didn’t have any development and there was not a lot of interaction or them doing something. Another problem I had with the characters was that they changed a lot - they didn’t stay true to themselves and it was hard to keep up with their changes. All in all I would not recommend this book.

A very intriguing novel by this first time author. The story is full of twists and turns where you could never really tell who were the good or bad guys. CIA or KGB.
For me it was a little bit of a hard read because I had a hard time keeping up with real names, code names, and who was who. The names are constantly changing between one or the other. As well as trying to keep up with what period of time the story was in. I normally have no problem with flashbacks in a storyline and quite enjoy them when they are relevant and they are in this storyline. It just got a bit confusing at times for me. Some characters are very well developed while others just seemed a little distant but you do get a sense of who they are. But maybe that is a spy thing.
The story is a very intriguing spy game with elements of the paranormal. I would recommend you give this first time author and Seven-Sided Spy a read. Maybe take notes to keep up with the spies real names and their code names.
@Netgalley @NineStarPress

I choose this book by mistake. I thought, I don’t even know why, that there was a romance involved in the story, but what a magnificent mistake to make, It was an amazing book. I loved it.

It is under the historical genre in the publisher, but I get a bigger paranormal influence than historical from it. I also think the mystery was an important element, and certainly something I enjoyed a lot about it. The plot was fantastic, it is full of twists. It was very exciting. The book description made me believe it was going to be center only on Diana, and maybe that’s what made me think there was romance involved ,because it also mention her former flame, Nikola. But it wasn’t only about her, the story was told from several points of view, what I found that really interesting and made it easier to know all of the characters.

It was almost impossible to choose a favorite character. Every single one of them had an interesting story to tell. I particularly liked the fact that none of them was perfect. There wasn’t good guys and bad guys, just individuals trying to survive under a very difficult situation.

I did have some issues about it, mostly related to the fact that sometimes, especially at the beginning, it was hard to tell when the story had gone to tell us something from the past and then get back to the present. After I advance a little in the book, it got easier to tell. It was bothersome at first, but nothing that made me enjoy the book any less.

Overall it was an amazing book. I loved it. This is, obviously, the first book from the author that I read, since is a debut novel, but I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this new author after this great first experience.