Red Cicada by Gregg Luke, 290 pages. Covenant Communications, 2022. $16.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
When a seizure at work leads to a hospital visit, Lana (29yo) resists medical attention because of her late father’s warning against x-rays. The doctor ignores Lana’s concerns and discovers a metal disk in the back of Lana’s head that she doesn’t remember being put there. All of a sudden multiple parties interested in the disk approach Lana, and she struggles to uncover the lies of the past and who to trust with her future.
I was ready to chew out Lana’s doctor for ignoring her clear protests – even knowing that the doctor’s actions were necessary to drive the plot. Despite some illogical assumptions, inconsistencies, and contradictions, Lana’s story was made exciting as she worked to figure out what was going on. It was a fine afternoon read.
The main characters are described as white. The mature content rating is for illegal activity and drug and alcohol use. The violence rating is for gun and knife use, mention of suicide, gore, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Rating edit: 3.5 stars.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC.

I'm not sure why I requested this book because as I read I realized it was out of my genre. It's an interesting blend of science fiction, spy thriller and mystery. I enjoy mystery/thriller but science fiction is not something I read often (I like to watch movies though). However, interestingly, I enjoyed reading this book. Thanks to engaging writing style and interesting characters. I particularly liked Lance. Lana was a bit annoying (understandably though).

After 70%, I began to lose interest. The chase seemed never ending. Plus there were too many documents and details, which I found a bit difficult to understand (thus uninteresting). The thing that Lana didn't want to know the details in the end made the ending a bit flat (I was actually expecting/guessing something shocking).

Overall, it was an intriguing and mysterious read.

This was a definite page turner. I wanted to keep reading for answers. And an end to the poor girls attacks by the bad guys! Intriguing story a little closer to reality at times, this story could cause a few nightmares. I read a version prior to actual publish date so hopefully the typos will be fixed by then.

This was my first medical thriller. It was intriguing! There is some violence in the book. It seemed to have some loose ends at the end of the book. I liked Lana and Lance. I also liked that the author used multiple narrators to tell the story - including the bad guy's perspective. Overall I liked the story.

This novel pulls you in from the very first page and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end! Another fantastic suspense novel by Gregg!

I received an ARC through Netgalley and all opinions are my own.

You get horrible migraines, doctor's do a CT scan without your permission and discover a disk with Russian letters on it implanted at the base of your skull? You're 28 years old, no known surgeries and suddenly some really bad people are looking for you to take the disk out...with or without annestesia!

Lieutenant Lance Kipling questions Lana about the disk. How does he know about a disk in her head when she just found out about it herself! A hospital employee takes her down for a second CT scan, is he really taking her to get a CT scan? The intensity builds!

I received an Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's no spoiler that this book is about experimental Soviet research, so I can tell you that part of my rating is because in 1981 a supposed outbreak of smallpox is used to warn people off the research site. Wild smallpox was eradicated in the USSR in the 1930s and worldwide in 1977. An outbreak would have had all of the world's attention focused on it so it sucks as a cover story. I have issues with a couple of other details too, like why insert the disks in the skulls of children? There are lots of other spots in the body that are less risky. And why not use adults who would swear to keep them safe? And what's with the prime numbers? And why didn't Lana's dad teach her about communication security and how to pack a go bag? I don't know but he should have.

If this kind of nitpicking doesn't bother you then this is a reasonably good book. I read it to the end and that's something.

This was such an interesting read! I was hooked from the first page and found it to be an easy read. I really loved the concept behind the book - what if you discovered there was a metal object in your body that could only have been surgically implanted & you had no memory of it happening. In Lana's case, what is in her head could have an impact on the entire world. There's plenty of secrets, and as more information is revealed, there's more danger, and we see how far Lana's father had gone to protect her. It seems both farfetched & entirely possible, which I felt made for an exciting & suspenseful read.

My thanks to Gregg Luke, Covenant and Netgalley.
Honestly, I felt no connection to this story or it's characters. I always try to give a book at least 33%.
This? Nope. Nearly as soon as I started, I knew that it was a no go.
I'm glad that others liked it. That means I don't feel like such a pootard! Go ahead and enjoy! Me? Imma keeping my distance.

This book is a wild ride! Between all the twists and turns and the suspense the whole way through, it's guaranteed to keep your attention! I didn't realize QUITE the level of suspense I was walking into, but with that said, it was a good book!

I was hooked from the start of this suspenseful, surprising, story with characters I instantly cared for. This was a fascinating, haunting, scary, page turning story I stayed up late reading.

I had to smile when I read about how the author was inspired to write this story. He says, “…Not long ago, I had my knees scanned…After the MRI…the technician asked me when I had had my previous knee surgery… I hadn’t ever….She asked if I had ever been in an accident and banged up my left knee. I hadn’t ever…She pointed to a bright mark on the image (in further investigation, there was no foreign piece of metal in my knee.) But…what if there were? What if, unbeknownst to me, some ne’er-dowell had implanted it in my leg –or, better yet, my skull – for sinister reasons? And that, dear reader, is how the mind of an author works.”

I loved that story and this novel. I enjoyed this romantic suspenseful story that had a lot of ups, downs, and everything in between. This author is new to me. I look forward to reading more books by this author, I found this book fascinating. This story would work well for your next book club pick. There is so much to discuss.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org

Great book! It was so suspenseful and kept me guessing. I love all of this author's books, but I think this is his best one yet.

Romantic Suspense, contemporary;
Lana's discovery of secrets that her father kept from her start an all out chase and trying to stay one step ahead of murderer's set out to get her and biological military secrets from the past and Russia. With help and protection from Lieutenant Lance Kipling, she manages to stay one step ahead of the killers set on capturing her and retrieving the information from her that her father has hidden. Other than one minor political jab that distracted me from the novel, this was a great read! Loved the characters, the premise of the novel, and the minutia that made up so many great facets of this novel. The suspense/chase was really well drawn and depicted, and well paced to make for a perfect read for me.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review, my opinions are my own.

Luke knows how to instantly intrigue the reader and hold that intrigue until the very last page. Red Cicada was a whirlwind ride and I eagerly turned the pages needing to know what was going to happen. Lana herself was a mystery and I found myself swept up in the need to know what this plate was that was in her head. How does someone have a plate in their head and not know it?!? There were some twists and turns that had me hanging on to see what would happen next. Lance was every girl's dream of a hero! A handsome lieutenant who has come to protect her from those seeking her harm. Gregg Luke has hit it out of the park with Red Cicada. It kept me page turning late into the night because I needed answers. Warning: once you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down until you have finished it! I received a copy of this book for free; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The characters felt flat; even the main characters weren't fully developed. Their romance was boringly predictable but happened very suddenly, and the villain completely changed motivation halfway through - it was as if the author wrote the first half, took a long break, then came back to write the second half without reading back through what he'd already written.

Interesting premise, especially in the world today. But not written in a believable way.
E.g. every time a doctor is going to slice into Lana, there is no other medical professional in the room. No anesthesiologist, no nurse, no other doctor. How realistic is this, given the risks and nature of the surgery?
It felt like no research was done to make the plot plausible. So many tropes were pointed out as being 'just from the movies' and how 'it's not like this in real life', right before the author fully used the trope. E.g. law enforcement and intelligence agencies butting heads.

I found myself annoyed with how many times the main characters were surprised by things and just couldn't figure out what could have happened. I'm pretty sure I figured it out and predicted Lana's history around a quarter into the book.

The author excels at describing gory moments in great detail, which I did not appreciate. If you do, and want a quick read that you can predict easily then this book might be for you.

There were a lot of loose ends with no satisfying explanation; e.g. what happens to the hospital staff who first found the disk? Are they not going to follow up with Lana?

Given the timing of this novel, it feels like the author's only purpose in writing it was to point fingers at who they felt was responsible for the current pandemic. Some might enjoy reading it because of that. I did not; while it was a great idea for a plot and could have been intriguing and believable, I cared more about the secondary characters who faced the caricature of a villain than I did the supposed hero and heroine.

Too tropey, predictable, and graphic with violence for my liking.

I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

A woman with migraines and seizures presents to the hospital to discover there’s a metal chip implanted in her head. She soon discovers it holds important information sought by the government and the Russians. The lieutenant on the investigation realizes the danger she’s in and they disappear, trying to unravel the clues her father left behind.

If you enjoy mystery and suspense, this will be a story you’ll enjoy!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book starts out with a young woman who has horrible migraines. As the story goes on we learn there could be more to the migraines but a disk is stumbles upon in the process. We question what this disk, how did it get there, is there something on it and does anyone know it’s there?
This book has us questioning throughout but keeps the reader enthralled with what could happen next to Lana.

This is a suspenseful well written book that pulls you in from the first page and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. It has great characters and a unique plot, but it did creep me out a bit to think of having a disc imbedded in your brain that you were totally unaware of.

I really enjoyed reading this book. If you like suspense I would recommend you give this book a try!

Author:Gregg Luke
DOP: 2nd May 2022
Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author Gregg Luke for the ARC.

Think up that you go for a simple routine health checkup and the Doctor there asks you about the brain surgery that you have had years ago that you are completely unaware of up to the moment!!!!
Yeah, Red ciccada is all about it...
The storyline has a power to hold you to it's pages right from the start.
Lana, a self-reliant, independent woman blacks out after a seizure attack and is hospitalised.
For further investigation the doctor suggests the CT scan and x-ray but Lana totally refuses the procedures. Her father had once instructed her against these techniques, but had not explained why.
On MRI , it revealed an disc implanted at the back of her skull,which when further probed revealed the words "Red Ciccada"...
So this is the storyline...
It's an delightful mystery filled with twists and turns that compel you to readan a single sitting.

As in true Gregg Luke fashion, I was hooked with page one. I was pulled in and felt a part of the search for answers. I really enjoyed it and loved the uniqueness of the story line. The characters were well developed. I loved the determination that Lana had to do whatever it takes to figure out who she is and where she comes from. Definitely recommend!!!