Book Review: Reapers by Anthony (A.J.) Ryan

4.25/5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the eARC. I am an enthusiastic fan of Ryan’s fantasy stories, but in the last few years, I have enjoyed reading his dystopian thrillers even more. This is the third of his dystopian stories that I have read, and this is the best of the bunch so far. Ryan is an excellent writer, builds interesting worlds, and populates them with fascinating characters. Reapers is no exception.


I highly recommend this story for anyone who enjoys dystopian, science fiction, artificial intelligence, and military action. Be forewarned, there is some violence, but the characters are absolutely outstanding.

 

There are some SPOILERS below, so read at your own risk!!


Our story begins after a catastrophic event called the Glitch. A large group of people implanted with a new chip device that allows access to immediate knowledge and intelligence have had their brains affected by an electronic surge. Some of these people died right away while others were turned into a zombie-like creatures, called the Glitched, that have no clear awareness of their surroundings.


The main character of this novel is Dalton, a former convict chosen to help clean up the zombies and remove the chips from their brains. He is tasked by ‘the Authority’ with finding a particular woman who is moving around inside of the sector overrun by the Glitched. What he learns while searching for her turns everything he has known about the Glitch until now completely upside down. There is also a way to save many of the Glitched who are still alive. However, what’s left of society is collapsing and some of the Glitched, called Snowflakes, remain smart enough to control other Glitched, create mass ‘swarms,’ and rebel against the Authority. Can Dalton and his new companions do enough to stop the total destruction of human society, or will they be too late?

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