Mind Waves

Mind Waves
Amanda Uhl

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

David is a mind hacker, a psychic who works for the Government, invading the minds of criminals and agents. After losing his team, he is even more controlled than normal, but those above him don't trust him after the failure that took his team. He doesn't trust himself. Until he meets Gracefully
Grace is a successful struggling artist. Recently divorced, she is testing the waters of the Internet dating world. But more importantly, she is trying to make sure she can pay her mortgage and other bills. That's how she meets David. A potential client asks her for a proposal. And David destroys her chance at it.
What neither of them realize until it is too late, someone is after both of them, a rogue hacker with a grudge against David. In order to save Grace, David must get her to trust him, while he is falling in love with her
The novel is a tightly written thrilling with romantic overtones. The concept is well realized and well thought out, from how it is moves down families to the natural dangers to the dangers.
The novel is plot driven, the search for the rogue hacker and the David/Grace romance that is on again and off again (when David does something stupid, like wipe her memories). Even with that, the characters keep us enthralled all the way throughout. Ms. Uhl's characters are more than characters, they are actual people with actual problems. Even the hackers have real lives beyond slipping in and out of minds.
David is very well realized and his shifting character is the most interesting of all. He goes from a hard-shelled control freak to an protective, romantic, Alpha hero when he finds Grace is his match/love. I particularly enjoyed the scene when James, Claire's (Grace's wayward, forever changing mates, actress sister) companion to her wedding shower – to another man, hits on Grace. David uses his mind hacker gift to make James blurt out the completely wrong thing in order to break up what might have been a one night stand in the very least. This humanized David, chasing away his competition without a single punch being thrown.
Grace is the perfect struggling artist who has seen some success. While she is confident in her art, she is still flighty, her mind taking trips on its own when she is in the middle of meetings or even simple conversations.
The shifting POV, third person between, usually, Grace and David and occasionally the rogue hacker is seamless, with each narrator having his or her own quirks. With those quirks, that are not over the top or false-feeling, we are constantly aware of whom we are dealing with. For instance, David rarely if ever uses a contraction. Grace's voice is always aware of her finances and it always wandering away. The rogue hacker is definitely nutty than a squirrels winter hiding place, but there is a sadness to it. Even as we learn of his paranoia, we learn where it comes from. With these quirks, it is as if we know them as friends, even the villain.
Ms. Uhl has an exceptional talent for foreshadowing. For instance, at the end of chapter 25, we are told that Grace fell asleep and started to dream. Then we are told that she wish she could wake up. Chapter 26 starts out with her nightmare. It is done in such a casual, light-handed way, the cliffhanger doesn't feel choppy, as some of the books I've recently read. Instead, natural tension builds. This is repeated throughout the book to maximum effect.
The novel is exemplary in its building tension and its action. Being the naughty girl I am, I would have liked a little more in terms of the romantic scene. But all in all a great book.
4 out 5 stars

A good well-written romance. Plot was unique and well-developed. Liked it

"A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, and dimension of mind, you just crossed over into..." Mind Waves. What a cautionary world Amanda Uhl has written.
If you every thought of signing up for one of those dating sights or thinking about hooking up with that nice guy you met over the internet. You should seriously think about reading this book first.
Only worries Grace had was, being able to pay her mortgage on time which wasn’t looking good if she doesn’t find herself a steady income and Stat. Then fate dropped David into her lap. David offered her a job to where Grace could put her love of turning glass into art and still make a nice income.
As Grace found herself becoming attracted to David, that’s when strange things started to happen. Grace began to have strange dreams about another woman that she never met, if that is not worrying enough, David’s sister told her how David was a hacker.
Mind Waves the first in the Mind Hackers serious the story was fast pace with an interesting plot. This was a paranormal romance that you don’t want to miss. I definitely can’t wait for the next book in this series.

I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily giving an honest review.

David is a Mind Hacker and works for a secretive branch of the government. It is very important for him to stay focused and unemotional, for it could cost him his life and the lives of the team he works with. He is one of the strongest with his ability but someone wants to eliminate him.....

Grace is a freelance artist and meets David when she puts a bid in on a project. She doesn't know David has seen her before. David is quite impressed with Grace and is also very attracted to her. He has never felt quite the attraction he does and it bothers him. This is the beginning of danger for both of them.

Grace has been chatting with a man online and this man wants to get to know her better. They have only chatted and don't even know each others real name, that's what Grace believes to be true. This man has a different agenda.

I am on the fence about this book. I liked David and Grace's story but the "mind waves" part confused me a bit. It is very intense which it should be because every "mission" could end in the death of the person traveling into that mind. This is a very different type of paranormal for me so I do expect an adjustment period to get everything down pat.

The whole issue of being able to read ones mind is frightening as is being able to erase memories. I think I would like to read more of this type of book before I say I don't like it.

If you could read thoughts, and alter them to your liking, would you abuse that kind of power or make sure to respect boundaries?

David Jenkins is a Mind Hacker. He can read minds, erase or change memories and thoughts, and generally hack into someone’s head as he pleases. But he’s not doing it for fun. A Government Operative, David uses his ability to ensure the safety of common civilians from criminals. However, lately, there has been a certain criminal who seems to have the same skillset as him – and Grace Woznisky, a woman David is strongly attracted to, has become said criminal’s sick new obsession. Will David be able to protect her, all the while keeping his identity hidden? And how is he going to do that, if he’s on the verge of breaking the one rule he always followed: never get too close to a civilian?

Well this book sure had some interesting plot twists and sidestories to offer. Apart from the X-men kind of feeling – courtesy of the Jenkins family – it was also fast-paced and full of intrigue and action. The main villain kept twisting around and it was nearly impossible to fgiure him out, not until he decided to explain himself – which was rather late in the story, so bonus points to keeping the suspence that way!

The romance was definitely a nice touch, as it was given room to bloom and develop even with the insta-attraction factor giving it a headstart. The only thing that may have brought me down a little was how much everyone – especially Geneva – was hellbent on interfering with David’s decisions when it came to Grace. I mean, sheesh, guys, he’s the strongest member of the team, and he’s damn good and in love, leave the man be!

I’m looking forward to reading more of this series, Geneva’s story in particular – I have a feeling she’ll get a book of her own, that kind of tension I sensed just can’t be ignored!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

Wow – this book was phenomenal! I’m not usually one for serious science fiction, but for some reason this story hit all the right buttons for me. There’s a love story (that is at some points tragic), a lot of mystery and danger, and some seriously cool mind hacker skills.

David Jenkins is the best mind hacker around, so it only makes sense that he has also become the target for a rogue hacker. Under constant attack and forced to hunt down the source, David works for the government by “hacking” into the minds of suspects and targets alike. It seems like his life will be made up of work and attack in varying degrees until he meets Grace. Their first meeting didn’t quite go so well, what with him being responsible for her failing to get a job offer to create some specialized artwork. To try to get herself out of her funk, she agrees to meet up with her longtime online mystery man only to stumble upon an even better job offered by David. David, obviously, has other intentions.

These two have such a wonderful and tragic romance that I found myself torn between wanting to turn pages faster and wanting to slow down the inevitable heartbreak. David uses all of his abilities to work his way into Grace’s life and begin what could be the love story to end all love stories. Unfortunately, the rogue hacker has other ideas. While leaving Grace in the dark about all the mind reading and hacking he does, David opens her up to be attacked by the rogue in some pretty horrible ways. Somehow they have to find a way to keep Grace in David’s life (as he is unable to part with her) and still keep her safe from being attacked for information. With all the odds stacked against them, they really found a difficult, but wonderful way to accomplish all their goals. The ending is completely satisfying, but so sad to come upon. I wish there were hundreds more pages written on these two and how they overcome all their struggles. I’m so happy to have gotten exposed to this world and all these really fantastic characters.

This book was kind of hard for me. Well I like the main characters I find they were very good plot twists and side plots to the story I’m not sure if I will ever read it again. David is a Mind Hacker and works for a secretive branch of the government. And Grace a is freelance artiest. Well we have good chemistry together and the story was intriguing it was just missing something for me.