Official Review: Controlled Descent by K. M. Herkes

[Jax14]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Controlled Descent" by K. M. Herkes.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Controlled Descent by K.M. Herkes is the first in the Resurrection/ Stories of the Restoration series, and is a Sci-Fi thriller. The level of violence would indicate a suitability rating of mature young adults and up.

Years after the Restoration the world is still feeling the extent of the societal collapse that preceded it. Coups and riots eventually forced this extreme remedy and rigorous changes in laws and structures were implemented. Justin Wyatt, company owner and inventor extraordinaire, is presumed dead after his plane goes down in Alaska. Alison Gregorio has just begun a new job at the law firm that represents his company. Their worlds are about to collide when Justin is found alive, and along with Alison and the crew of Mayhem and Havoc, they must fight to survive and find out who wants Justin dead. Can his inventions that were created for peaceful purposes be used to combat the evil that is pursuing them? And will money prove to be the superseding control in this new world, or will old-fashioned loyalty be enough to save the lives that matter?

The emphasis is definitely on thriller and conspiracies in this novel, and the Sci-Fi aspect is not so farfetched that it could be a possibility in our future. The action sequences are interspersed with scenes about blossoming love, the bond that unites brothers as well as friendship ties that are tested to the extreme. A very important underlying theme is the influence of major technological corporations in our lives and exactly how much is kept secret "for our own good".

I enjoyed the personalities and the character quirks. A good amount of time was spent explaining most of the main characters and their roles with each other and the story. With the Sci-Fi addition I had to go back a number of times to the explanation about this, as I found my mind sometimes skipped over the technical aspects and later in the story I would hit a blank on the link between character and technical issues. The character of Tyler rubber me up the wrong way but it eventually became clear as to why the author had moved him in this direction. I resonated well with Alison's character due to her fortitude, intelligence and general abilities-hers was a well thought out personality. I felt that the brothers' story, while in part introduced, was not as in depth as I would have liked it to have been, since it seemed to be such an integral part of the story. I understand that a short side story has been written to deal with these issues but it would have been helpful to have more information in this story. As a reader you never get to go deep enough into Justin's head. I was hoping that the time lapses he was experiencing would lead to more of the Sci-Fi aspect, so a lot of clues about his condition fell flat to me. The extreme violence and injuries experienced by a lot of the characters pushed the boundaries of plausibility and endurance. While I am no expert on human pain tolerance, I felt skeptical as to the multitude of wounds, both physically and mentally, that could befall a person and yet they lived.

Thankfully there were no major issues with editing in terms of spelling or grammar-just some capital letters that crept in for no reason. One continuity issue in the beginning of the book however bothered me. I reread it a number of times and whether I didn't understand the sequence of events or if it was not explained properly, I think the reader would be confused. Justin and William are about to leave from the mountain where he is testing his inventions in Alaska on the 2nd helicopter, as William says he needs to debrief him there. The next thing they are sitting on couches in a jet about to take off. Either the modes of transport were mixed up or the link to move people from the helicopter to the jet was missing.

While the story was well written with a good flow and interesting characters I would only rate it 3 out of 4 stars. Generally I award full marks to books I would have no problem rereading, and in this case while there is nothing inherently wrong with the book, I didn't find the storyline or characters memorable enough to read it again.

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Controlled Descent
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[Sarah G]

Good review .
I get what you mean when you said about lack of info about a character. I like to be able to immerse myself in a character when I'm reading a book, so that would definitely make it fall short for me.
The story sounds intriguing but the issue with the characters would make it a no for me.
Thanks for the helpful advice

[Jax14]

It's but a pleasure! I certainly hate info dumping but it's just as bad when there is not enough given. But I guess that's a fine line to skate around-everyone has a different opinion!

[kimmyschemy06]

The story sounds interesting but I'm not sure I could stand the violence level and the wounds and the pains. Great review!