Review of Chrome Mountain

[Anaïs Quesson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Chrome Mountain" by Ben Schneider.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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“Despite popular belief, you can’t entirely blame chance, situations, or hardship for molding you into the person you are today. You’re mostly defined by only two things. Two …things--what you will do and what you won’t do.”

Chrome Mountain is a fast-paced thriller with science-fiction elements revolving around two characters.

Sonya McCall got herself into a hairy situation. She was dating Levi, the head of a renowned biker gang in California, when she discovered the gang was stepping up from robbery to murder and torture. A night of violence from Levi is the straw that breaks the camel’s back: Sonya leaves Sacramento with a black eye and thousands of dollars from Levi’s safe. Three years later, when she thought she had her life back together, the Screamon Demons are back after her and determined to end her life. She has to flee her grandmother’s home.
Meanwhile, Trey Radisson’s life takes a turn when he creates the discovery of a century: the VV1, a cloaking device that can turn cars and other means of transport invisible. But Trey is haunted by nightmares of his creation falling into the wrong hands. He destroys it. However, this is not the end of VV1. A terrorist group named the Chrome Falcons has heard of it. They’re now after Trey and want him to recreate the incredible device for them.

Will Sonya escape Levi and his murderous associates? What will happen to Trey’s VV1? Most important of all, how will both of their lives meet and intertwine?

I’m not going to lie. It took me ages to finish Chrome Mountain. I was not into it at all. Because of the characters’ despicable temper and the dual point of view going back and forth between Sonya and Trey, I did not care about any of the characters and their actions. This lack of interest made the narrative long and hard to get through.
Let’s dive into more details about what I enjoyed and disliked about this book.

This book is a fast-paced thriller mostly revolving around several manhunts. Many things happen in just about 300 pages. Yet, it felt like the longest book I ever read. Many parts of the book served no purpose to the main story. For example, I think the multiple fatphobic and misogynistic remarks could have easily been edited out with no impact on the storyline.
Overall, the storytelling could have benefited from a better organization.

At first, I felt some pity for Sonya. Leaving an abusive relationship is tough, and it is even harder when you’re dating the head of a hateful biker gang. She is clever and can stand up for herself, which I enjoyed reading at the beginning of the book.
Trey, however. I despised every chapter from his point of view. His thoughts made me angry. Let me give you an example. At the very beginning of the novel, he is taken hostage by one of his former coworkers, Pele. Yet, all he thinks about is how his colleagues are stupid or insipid, how bored he is, and how he needs to pee and go home. He manages to trick the armed man into letting him go by telling him he will lure the cops on a false route to allow Pele time to escape. When leaving the building, he falsely gives hope to his colleagues, leading them to think he will help the police arrest Pele. But you know what happens? Trey acts like he works on another floor, doesn’t know anything about the hostages, and goes straight home. It is only one of the many situations that make me heavily dislike this character. He is always judgemental and acts like he is better than anyone else when he is just as bad as a person. His inner dialogues are almost always whiny and pedantic.

I think the book’s resume is misleading. Its GoodReads description states: “Readers will find this story, driven by the female protagonist, a page-turner but without the darker tactics of similar sci-fi thrillers. The characters of Chrome Mountain tell their stories with clean humor, no profanity, a lot of advice from God, and action--lots and lots of action.”
Trey is undoubtedly the main character. I wouldn’t say Sonya is the one driving the story. The book is littered with borderline and non-borderline profanities. I have no idea where this “no profanity” statement comes from. I struggle to find the “advice from God” as well. Both characters are written as kind and flawless Christians. In reality, they spend most of the book fat-shaming innocent people and judging others for being fat, shallow, or impious. Sonya could have been an interesting character, but she turned so fast into this out-of-character, perfect, God-devoted wife that I lost all interest. Yes, she can still fight better than Trey. Is that enough to make her a strong female lead character? Not in my opinion.

Schneider’s writing style is easy to read and straightforward. It is consistent across the whole book. The storyline is easy to follow and understand.
Some minor details bothered me, though. The author often uses passive voice to describe simple actions, which results in uncanny sentences. Some aspects of the book also stood out to me as unrealistic. For example, Trey and Sonya pass by a control board in the Chrome Falcons base at about 33% of the book. Trey is walking by, supposedly fast, yet he can immediately count “thirty-eight blue dots, twenty-three red, and one green” on the map. He also has the time to read the legends in the corner to know what they correspond to. It makes very little sense to me that someone would be able to count this fast. I’m sure the author could have found another way of showing the reader such details without involving his characters in such an unbelievable manner.
The abundance of all-caps onomatopoeias like “RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TA!” (yes, that long) or “WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP!” was very off-putting and distracting. I would have overlooked it once or twice, but I counted 30 of them over the whole book. That's one every 11 pages. Once again, I think the author could have delivered this differently to make his writing appear more professional.

I would like to end this review positively with special congratulations on the editing work. I haven’t noticed a single mistake in this book. It was extraordinarily well-edited. Without a doubt, this is what helped me read until the end.

To conclude, I give Chrome Mountain 2 out of 5 stars (33%).
All the negatives I mentioned in my review concerning the character development, themes, and writing style caused me to lower my rating significantly.
This rating is entirely personal and based on my experience while reading. This book might still appeal to thriller lovers who aren’t shy about science-fiction elements like teleportation or cloaking devices. Chrome Mountain is Ben Schneider’s debut novel. I want to stay open-minded to his next books as he has a lot of room for improvement.

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Chrome Mountain
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[Terry Kimble]

Yikes. It sounds like this story has some room for improvement, for sure. I enjoyed reading this well-thought-out review. You obviously put your heart into giving us your honest opinion of this book. I commend you for sticking it out until the end.

[Anaïs Quesson]

Yikes. It sounds like this story has some room for improvement, for sure. I enjoyed reading this well-thought-out review. You obviously put your heart into giving us your honest opinion of this book. I commend you for sticking it out until the end.

Thank you for taking the time to read my long review until the end too, Terry, haha. Have a good day!

[Runan]

Thanks for the deep analysis of this book. I think if Trey’s character were an antagonist, it would make more sense to hate him. I wonder if the author intentionally chose a flawed character as the main lead. This book does have its share of thrilling elements and, as you have stated, will surely appeal to a certain group of readers.

[Anaïs Quesson]

Thanks for the deep analysis of this book. I think if Trey’s character were an antagonist, it would make more sense to hate him. I wonder if the author intentionally chose a flawed character as the main lead. This book does have its share of thrilling elements and, as you have stated, will surely appeal to a certain group of readers.

Thank you for your kind comment, Runan!

[Cristiano Bellucci]

Thank you for your review. The plot is intriguing. It is a pity that overall the book does not maintain its promises.

[Sarah Zain]

Wow Anaïs, I must salute you for this honest analysis. It seems that the author needs to reconsider some points affecting the cohesion of the story. I may not be excited to read the book, but I really enjoyed reading your review.

[Stephen Christopher 1]

Hi Anais, I love how honest your reviews are. I agree that fat-shaming and misogyny don't often add to any storyline. I'm ok with flawed characters, I prefer them over 'too perfect' like it appears Sonya is. I like the concept of the story but there are too many issues for me to consider adding to my list.

[Anaïs Quesson]

Thank you for your review. The plot is intriguing. It is a pity that overall the book does not maintain its promises.

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment, Cristiano.

[Anaïs Quesson]

Wow Anaïs, I must salute you for this honest analysis. It seems that the author needs to reconsider some points affecting the cohesion of the story. I may not be excited to read the book, but I really enjoyed reading your review.

Oh thank you so much, Sarah! Have a great day

[Anaïs Quesson]

Hi Anais, I love how honest your reviews are. I agree that fat-shaming and misogyny don't often add to any storyline. I'm ok with flawed characters, I prefer them over 'too perfect' like it appears Sonya is. I like the concept of the story but there are too many issues for me to consider adding to my list.

Hi Stephen, thank you a lot! Have a good day

[Priya Murugesan]

I thought of picking up this book. Glad that I found your review!

[Anaïs Quesson]

I thought of picking up this book. Glad that I found your review!

Thank you for your comment, Priya. I'm curious to read your thoughts if you choose to give this book a try!

[Priya Murugesan]

I thought of picking up this book. Glad that I found your review!

Thank you for your comment, Priya. I'm curious to read your thoughts if you choose to give this book a try!

Sure Anaïs!