Review of The Attuned
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Review of The Attuned
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Attuned" by Gary B. Haley.]
In the second book of the 'Attune' series, The Attuned, Gary Haley sends his hero - and readers - into the life-altering journey through multiple countries with the sole purpose of returning home.
The book's starting point is the next day after the gunfire in the Iranian desert that left the protagonist with superhuman abilities (whose name has never been revealed) shell-shocked. The hero wakes up surrounded by friends: his love interest, special FBI agent Carla Bright, and magic rescuer INTERPOL agent Kemal. After a quick breakfast, the trio starts their flight from the people interested in murdering the man. Kemal organizes Clara's return to Canada while leaving the hero at the university in the shantytown of Turkmenistan with a promise to return in three days. A campus in the middle of nowhere? What can go wrong? Possibly, everything.
The book delivers much more than a reader can expect from an action genre. Gary Haley's upbringing around the military bases manifests itself in the accurate descriptions of the airplane flights. The author's hobby, hiking, finds its way into the book as the astonishingly detailed illustrations of the Canadian wilderness. The precision with which the author documents the tiniest changes in the forest during the transition from fall to winter is worth the naturalist's notes.
In 'A Note from the Author...,' Gary Haley reveals that he wanted to pay homage to the editors who helped polish the book into high quality. The editors and the author did an excellent job creating confident, up-to-the-point prose. The self-insertion strategy also plays in the author's hands: the author included himself in the text as a writer who merely puts on paper the adventures of the real man with actual superhuman abilities.
The author employs a risky author's technique of multiple POWs that can ruin any story's solidness if not used carefully. Some POWs loosely follow and expand the protagonist's plotline, others show minor characters. At the moment, the minor characters' plotlines, especially revolving around Sharon, appear to be incomplete and redundant. As it is the second book in the series that ends with a cliffhanger, a reader might expect an expansion - or a conclusion - of all the unfinished storylines.
The book is a top-notch story with unexpected plot twists and realistic descriptions of European cities and Canadian nature. It hooks readers from the first page and doesn't let go till the last. Summarizing my observations, I rate the book 4 stars out of 4.
I recommend the book to people passionate about the action/adventure genre and those who want to get a sense of the world inhabited by people with superhuman abilities.
******
The Attuned
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
In the second book of the 'Attune' series, The Attuned, Gary Haley sends his hero - and readers - into the life-altering journey through multiple countries with the sole purpose of returning home.
The book's starting point is the next day after the gunfire in the Iranian desert that left the protagonist with superhuman abilities (whose name has never been revealed) shell-shocked. The hero wakes up surrounded by friends: his love interest, special FBI agent Carla Bright, and magic rescuer INTERPOL agent Kemal. After a quick breakfast, the trio starts their flight from the people interested in murdering the man. Kemal organizes Clara's return to Canada while leaving the hero at the university in the shantytown of Turkmenistan with a promise to return in three days. A campus in the middle of nowhere? What can go wrong? Possibly, everything.
The book delivers much more than a reader can expect from an action genre. Gary Haley's upbringing around the military bases manifests itself in the accurate descriptions of the airplane flights. The author's hobby, hiking, finds its way into the book as the astonishingly detailed illustrations of the Canadian wilderness. The precision with which the author documents the tiniest changes in the forest during the transition from fall to winter is worth the naturalist's notes.
In 'A Note from the Author...,' Gary Haley reveals that he wanted to pay homage to the editors who helped polish the book into high quality. The editors and the author did an excellent job creating confident, up-to-the-point prose. The self-insertion strategy also plays in the author's hands: the author included himself in the text as a writer who merely puts on paper the adventures of the real man with actual superhuman abilities.
The author employs a risky author's technique of multiple POWs that can ruin any story's solidness if not used carefully. Some POWs loosely follow and expand the protagonist's plotline, others show minor characters. At the moment, the minor characters' plotlines, especially revolving around Sharon, appear to be incomplete and redundant. As it is the second book in the series that ends with a cliffhanger, a reader might expect an expansion - or a conclusion - of all the unfinished storylines.
The book is a top-notch story with unexpected plot twists and realistic descriptions of European cities and Canadian nature. It hooks readers from the first page and doesn't let go till the last. Summarizing my observations, I rate the book 4 stars out of 4.
I recommend the book to people passionate about the action/adventure genre and those who want to get a sense of the world inhabited by people with superhuman abilities.
******
The Attuned
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Living Forward After Loss by Kathleen Ho
