Thank you so much to BDA Publishing and NetGalley for the early release of this book! I am very grateful,

This book follows Zoe Daniel as she tries to move on from her abusive ex. She has clearly gone through a lot in her previous relationship and so moves to a new city and takes a new job to get away from her past.

At this new company, Valhalla, she works on uncovering the secrets of the mysterious “chaos.” From here, the plot picks up at a breakneck speed with lots going on. I enjoyed that the book was full of action and once it gets going it never stops, with something new happening every page. Sometimes however, it felt like some bits came out of nowhere although with the shorter page count a lot is packed in. Definitely a fast paced read and easy to binge.

Overall, knowing that this is book three of a standalone series (I had not read the others in the series before this) I would now like to check out the others after this one.

**Book Review: *Wraith* by Matt King**

Matt King's *Wraith* delivers a thrilling and high-octane ride, combining science fiction, action, and dark mythology into a gripping standalone novel that is sure to captivate fans of intense, character-driven stories with a supernatural twist.

At the heart of the story is Zoe Daniel, a woman seeking to escape her past and reclaim her life after leaving an abusive relationship. A fresh start brings her to Valhalla, a cutting-edge scientific institute that promises to unlock the secrets of human potential. While the promise of free coffee and a new beginning might seem like the perfect way to rebuild, Zoe quickly learns that Valhalla's experiments with a mysterious and volatile element called Chaos will change everything.

Chaos, a substance capable of granting dangerous, unpredictable powers to those who survive contact with it, is the center of Valhalla’s secretive research. Zoe, after an accidental exposure, becomes embroiled in a world she never asked for, gaining powers that defy logic and threaten to unravel her life even further. Her newfound abilities bring her not only into the crosshairs of those seeking to exploit her powers but also thrust her into a battle for survival against forces within Valhalla and the return of her abusive ex.

King masterfully blends elements of science fiction with deep emotional stakes and dark mythology. As Zoe struggles to control the chaotic powers within her, she also grapples with the need for answers—both about her own abilities and the truth behind Valhalla’s experiments. The personal conflict between reclaiming her autonomy and the external chaos that threatens to consume her is what propels the narrative forward, creating an emotionally charged experience for readers.

The novel’s pace is relentless, as Zoe is thrust into one high-stakes situation after another. The action sequences are thrilling, with King masterfully portraying Zoe's growing powers and the challenges she faces in harnessing them. At the same time, *Wraith* doesn’t shy away from the darker, more emotional aspects of Zoe’s journey. Her complicated past with her ex, combined with the pressure to uncover the truth behind Valhalla’s experiments, keeps her in constant turmoil, making her a relatable and deeply human character despite the larger-than-life circumstances she’s thrown into.

The mythological aspects of the story add an intriguing layer, with Zoe and the other characters uncovering the ancient, almost otherworldly origins of the Chaos element. As the narrative weaves through betrayals, mysteries, and shifting alliances, it becomes clear that the battle isn’t just for Zoe’s survival—it’s for the future of humanity itself.

Gemma Weeks, the enigmatic head of Valhalla, serves as an intriguing foil to Zoe’s character. Driven by the desperate need to save her daughter’s life, Gemma’s willingness to push the boundaries of ethics and science in pursuit of the miraculous highlights the high stakes of the story. As both a source of potential aid and a possible antagonist, Gemma's actions challenge Zoe’s moral compass and add an additional layer of tension to the plot.

One of the book's strengths is how King seamlessly blends the world of science and myth. Valhalla may be rooted in scientific ambition, but the deeper they delve into Chaos, the more they uncover about the ancient, supernatural forces at play. It’s a world where science and the supernatural coexist, and the monsters that threaten to destroy everything may not always be what they seem. The psychological tension between the scientific and mythical aspects of the narrative gives *Wraith* its unique flavor and keeps the reader engaged.

While *Wraith* can be enjoyed as a standalone novel, its connections to a broader world of complex characters and a shifting reality make it feel part of something much larger. King does an excellent job of creating a world where nothing is as it seems, and where every character has hidden motives that blur the line between right and wrong.

Overall, *Wraith* is a dynamic and fast-paced novel that expertly blends genres and themes. Zoe’s journey of survival, self-discovery, and control over her powers is compelling, emotional, and filled with twists that keep the reader hooked until the very last page. If you’re looking for a thrilling tale that combines the best of science fiction, dark mythology, and emotional stakes, then *Wraith* is a must-read.

Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.

First off, WOAH?? No way I gobbled this up in just one day??

I think I haven't read a sci-fi fantasy + mythology in awhile and the idea of this book was interesting. The pace was great, it manage to gripped you chapters by chapters as there is no rest for Zoe Daniel. The villain was no shocked tbh but nevertheless, I love how it turns out in the end.

Also, if there is a sequel to this, I will read it.

Fast paced and very fun read! I love the blend of mythology with Sci-fi. This is the first book that I've read in the series and will definitely pick up more now!

This book was so good! The writing was amazing: somehow serious and funny at the same time. The represenation with Zoe was so refreshing, and she was just so strong. The storyline was fast paced, but in overwhelming! I really enjoyed Wraith and can't wait to read more from Matt King, especially since I've read that all how the stories are in the same verse!

First of all - thanks NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the arc!

Zoe is a brilliant scientist with a less-than-stellar relationship history. The only way to get away from her abusive ex was completely disappearing overnight, meaning that she now has to set up a new life for herself whilst never completely being certain that she truly escaped.
Now, she at least has an exciting job opportunity waiting for her, a research job with the cutting-edge science company that promises to change the world. Zoe is in charge of running tests on a new element called Chaos that has the potential to grant extraordinary powers whilst also being able to cure diseases like cancer. When Zoe is exposed to this element in a lab accident, she realizes that everything has a price and she might be a mere chess piece on a larger playing field with Chaos being ready to play as well.
Zoe now has to find a way to not only save herself, but those whose lives were touched by Chaos as well, all while trying to understand her new powers and running away from the demons of her past.

Before receiving this arc I haven't heard of Matt Kings New Mythology series, but I was instantly intrigued. Characters with a dark past, surviving abuse, science, new elements and Greek mythology? Sign me up!
I read this one as a standalone, but I am pretty sure that reading the whole series would make the experience even more fun.

I really liked Zoe as a main character. She is a brilliant scientist but we get to know her on a more personal level, seeing her struggle with the past of an abusive ex and feeling overwhelmed and uncertain a lot of the time. I love seeing these super intelligent main characters being humanized because nobody is just a genius and it happens more often than not that this type of character turns into a caricature of their field. I was not able to relate to every decision she made, but overall she followed a strong moral compass and was a fun protagonist to follow.
Gemma was a character that really suffered from the short length of this book. I wished we got to see more of her backstory and her building a relationship with Zoe before being as trusting and emotional in Zoe as she was. Whilst I enjoyed her character, I just feel that she had more potential.
Same goes for Britt - her characterization was good, but could have been great.

I really do not want to spoil you, so I'll try to keep this vague: the abilities that Chaos is able to give were super interesting. I love that we got to experience quite a few of them, I loved every new one that was introduced. I also enjoyed Zoe getting to know the boundaries of her powers, it was done in an extremely believable way without being repetitive.

The story was, again without trying to spoil anything, delightful and kept me hooked. There were a few twists I really did not see coming and were handled beautifully, my favorite being the fishing room one ( if you know you know). I think in certain aspects the story would have benefited from being longer, but I also respect the authors ability to know when their story is told (looking at some 700p books that should have been 350).

So why not give 5 stars? Well, honestly, I am the problem. And maybe the marketing of this book. From the cover, the description and the series name I expected this book to have a lot of ties to Greek mythology. I am by no means an expert in this topic, but I read my fair share of books in this realm and I was not able to make basically any connections to Greek mythology. To me, this really felt like a superhero novel that had nothing to do with Greek mythology. Again, probably my fault, but if you really want that loose Greek re-imagining you should look somewhere else. If you are interested in a super fun but also deep, short superhero novel with sci fi touches, this is for you!
Also, I absolutely love love love the cover of this book but after reading it, it does not feel cohesive to the story. But yeah, I would love to have a poster of it, the artwork is stunning!

this is a weird DNF for me. on one hand, i want to read more, the premise is exciting, and the plot was starting to get good.

on the other hand, we have some pretty uncomfortable things going on, like a weird manager-subordinate borderline romantic thing going on that I don’t enjoy at all. i thought it was going to be something where later on she would be turned into the villain, but even if that is so, the grooming and weird power dynamics are a little too much for me.

we also had a random appearance by the abusive ex of our mc, and this is what made me dnf. this came after a string of occurrences that seemed lucky at BEST, and so I was kind of running low on belief suspension. sure, we were told that this ex is crazy and WILL track our mc down, but honestly how she managed to track the mc to a hotel that was just bought and she had the exact room number… unbelievable if you ask me.

i had hope for this one and it was just starting to pick up before killing all the vibes for me.

I was so excited to get the approval for to read this book early and even more excited to know that I could dive in without reading the first two books in this series. (Prism and Atalanta). Now I'm even more MORE excited because I loved this one so much that I cannot wait to read the first two!

Fast-paced and fun! I really enjoyed the immersive world—how science fiction blended so effortlessly with mythology. I wish among all the action there was a little more time to get to know some of the other characters. Overall, a fun read!

Fast paced urban mythology/fantasy blend with a hint of sci-fi vibes. The writing style really popped and the snappiness really added to the overall vibrancy of the story & world. I read this standalone, and it was an enjoyable read with likeable characters - I wish more standalones had this much energy and depth to the world building.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I hadn't read any of Matt King's books before, but I devoured this one in two sittings because I was very invested in the story. I liked the magic/powers the most because I thought it very original. The descriptions of how the main character experienced their power was also very interesting! The only thing that threw me off a bit was the amount of times the setting of some scenes changed. The characters jumped from one place to another very fast, and sometimes it was disorienting, but other than that, this book was neat. I will definitely pick up his other books, especially seeing how there's some mentioning to other characters and their importance in this universe the author has created. I wonder what their special abilities might be. Very cool and short book!

4.5 stars!!

read for work (shoutout BDA) and I absolutely loved. 10/10 I'm so excited to be a part of publishing this in the new year hehe.

Wow wow wow, Matt King knows how to write a book. Had me hooked from the start on Zoe and her adventures in Valhalla. I mean, I too would totally fall for the free coffee in a new job. Can’t wait to read more!!

This is my introduction to Matt King and wow, just wow! I am an instant fan.

Zoe is running from an abusive past when she is hired by an enigmatic woman to work at a leading institute of science. Here Zoe is tasked with deciphering the secrets of an unknown material, but not everything is as it seems. After being "infected" by the material, dubbed Chaos, Zoe develops special abilities. Having spent so long running from danger, Zoe must now muster the courage to run towards it, to save not only herself but all of humanity.

This is labeled as book 3 in the series. There are parts, organizations and I suspect people as well, that are a part of the bigger universe that are probably explained more in depth in the other books, but there is plenty in this book to be satisfy.

Science-Fiction can be notoriously hard to get into because of the science part. I've found that too much scientific lingo detracts and is discouraging to people who are not well versed in all the sciences. This one, although has some science speak, there is enough context and description to get the point across without over explanation.

I was particularly fond of the pacing. It's fast paced for sure, but its evenly placed. This would be a great story for fans of superheroes. I am not mythologically knowledgeable, but Matt King is and does write from a mythology standpoint and brings those stories into more modern settings, but honestly the only thing I could think of while reading this was the X-Men. Which I'm sure are based off some sort of mythology themselves.

I really enjoyed the fantasy elements in this story as well. Such a short time to build a world and yet, it felt complete. A world steeped in science fiction and parallel universes there was always some new surprise around the corner that pulled me in further and left me wanting more, but in a good way.

Wraith is a standalone in a larger universe (which I am looking forward to reading now I’ve dipped my toe in!) but can definitely be enjoyed in its own.

Zoe arrives in Seattle hopeful she has successfully escaped her abusive ex-girlfriend, and excited to start a new job in a cutting-edge lab at Valhalla. Zoe is swept away by a welcoming boss and the opportunity to work with a mysterious, potentially world-changing substance coined Chaos. The facade built by Valhalla quickly starts to deteriorate and Zoe realises she may be in more danger than ever, and she’s on her own if she wants to save the world.

I really enjoyed Wraith! Zoe as a main character was intelligent and her motivations were very clear throughout the story. I also found the villain very compelling and I think the author did a great job of making me empathise with her regardless of her actions. The science fiction elements were a little patchy at the start and I definitely had a lot of questions about Chaos that I don’t think were answered by the end of the book, but I knew what I absolutely needed to know to follow along. This book explores super human abilities and parallel universes in a very entertaining high-stakes way. I also think the portrayal of domestic violence was a good representation and you definitely could feel Zoe fearing for her life, without the depiction being gratuitous.

There will almost always be questions remaining at the end of short novels, some of which in this case may be due to the book being related to an unread series. There were several relationships between characters that I didn’t understand/think they were explored enough. For example, there was no explanation beyond a passing comment as to why certain characters did not/would not stand up to the villain. This just takes away their humanity a little bit because they don’t exhibit any real independent thought.

Overall this is a very ambitious novel for the length and genre, and it is well executed and entertaining. Matt King is a new author for me and I enjoy his writing. I’m definitely keen to explore the original book series.

Wraith by Matt King is the third in a series in which this is my first, I enjoyed Kings's writing style very mcuh and am now very interested in reading the books in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the ARC.

This concept is really fascinating and felt like an action movie plot at times. Zoe is our main character, and she is escaping some demons of her own when she accepts a job to study Chaos, an element that has severe consequences if people are exposed.

I really enjoyed the action throughout and felt engaged through the story. One thing that was challenging was that there was so much action packed plot, that the pacing almost felt so fast I didn’t get the time to really care about our characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

A young scientist, Zoe, uproots her life and moves across the country in hopes of a fresh start. She is given an incredible (too good to be true?) job opportunity at a cutting-edge scientific institute to research a brand new element. However, Zoe gets the sense her boss isn’t being totally transparent.

‘Wraith’ is a book for the Marvel Cinematic Universe fans. It is one of three interconnecting standalones with more on the way. It is action-packed and superhero-esque. However, as someone who is not a big fan of superhero stories, it just wasn’t quite for me.

I found the main character to be quite naive and the writing itself felt cliche. While I generally liked some of the characters, I found them hard to connect with because they are quite shallow. ‘Wraith’ is a very short book, and it doesn’t have a spare second where action isn’t happening - as such, you don’t get to know anyone on a deep or meaningful level.

Despite this, it was a fun read. Although it ultimately wasn’t for me, if you are interested in superhero stories you should consider picking it up when it releases early next year.

This was a strong third entry in the New Mythology series, it had that element that I was looking for from the previous books. The characters were everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall story and enjoyed that each book was a standalone. I hope there is more in this series and from Matt King.

This book is action packed to the brim!!
I love me some action books who are also paced accordingly to the genre and that's definitely what this book delivered, Although maybe a tad too much. Don't get me wrong I really like the writing style and characterization of the complex characters, the characters' their personalities are constant and realistic given their history and the current development within the story. But the story happened almost too fast to get really attached to some characters or dynamics within the characters, that's why the plot twist fell flat for me although I did not see it coming. If more time was spent in building up the characters in the first part and cementing their relationships with each other I would've felt more compelled and intrigued by the story. Especially because it was referred to multiple times that Zoe was not fast enough to try to figure 'X' out while if I have interpreted the timeline correctly she only had at the most 2 days!

Also, I noted that the book is not listed on Goodreads yet. This would be a good thing to do because that way the pre-publish reviews from here can already be shown under the book on Goodreads and could give the book a little push!