Dragonflies Books 1 and 2 by Andy Straka and Durrell Nelson

364 Pages
Publisher: LLW Media/Fountain Hill Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Titles
Release Date: February 19, 2015

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Military, Drones, Spies

Raina was a combat helicopter operator before a devastating crash took her left foot. Now she flies microdrones called dragonflies and angels. The government has a secret black ops group which flies these drones to benefit their operations. Things get tricky when Raina’s brother, Manny, is kidnapped and his girlfriend, Lucy, is on the run with a camera memory card. The evidence on this card shows an assassination and is threat if it is discovered. It ends with a cliffhanger.

The book states it is a two-part book but honestly, I could not tell where the parts begin or end. To be honest, I picked this book because of its title. I love anything about dragonflies. Although the book is listed as sci-fi and fantasy but I believe microdrones exist.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Former Army helicopter pilot Raina Sanchez, grounded after being shot down and desperate to be back in the air, plunges into a brave new world of stealth-killing micro-drones.
But her loyalties take a potential detour when she begins to understand a chilling reality. In an America where surveillance devices as small as insects are secretly piloted into places most would never imagine, public and private forces large and small are maneuvering to control them with inevitable consequences.
With personal allegiances and even love weighing in the balance, Raina soon confronts a threat that may alter the course of history.

INCLUDES:
BOOK 1 DRAGONFLIES: SHADOW OF DRONES AND
BOOK 2 DRAGONFLIES: FLOCK OF ANGELS

Well, I am at a bit of a loss to describe how I feel about these two novellas (that have been crammed together to make a reasonable novel-length presentation.)

What's to like: if you are looking for something that almost defines "Men's Adventure Story", this could be the one. Lots of action and tech, explosions and so forth...

What's not to like: the editing (some pretty minor mistakes - breath/breathe for example); not enough tech and far too much YA-angst-romance style dribble for my liking. Not what I read technothrillers for. Raina was about as military as I am (I own a bookstore) and was just so unbelievable as the lead...

Too many issues for me to rate this any better. If I hadn't already liked the Frank Pavlicek novels, this would have been enough for me to give up on this author.


Paul
ARH