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D.G. ~Shameless Reader~

Book blogger, audiobook lover and shamelessly honest reviewer. Mostly read fantasy, mystery, romance, UF and YA but all genres welcome.

Among the Craziest Books I've Read

Brainrush  - Richard Bard

A Terminal Illness. Psychic Powers. Terrorists. Human Experiments. High Stakes Gambling. Mercenaries. And...Aliens?

Yes, you read that right. Brainrush had ALL of the above. It's definitely made my top 10 of the craziest books I've read, EVER.

Jake Bronson is terminally ill but he comes out of an MRI with brain powers. Instead of keeping it to himself, Jake foolishly brags about the whole thing in public and before you know it, everybody wants a piece of him, including Battista, a mastermind who's doing human experiments to create the perfect terrorist.

The plot was full of action and very exciting, even if things were crazy improbable. Not only did Jake seem to develop new powers just as he needed them but all his friends happened to have all sorts of different skillz that allowed them to help him out. The plans were so ridiculous that there was almost no chance that they would work out but of course, they did. And the writing was so over the top that I kept laughing hysterically. You usually don't see purple prose in thrillers.

The characterization was not one-dimensional but it was very black and white. The good guys were good and the villains were eeevil! But unlike evil villains world over, Battista didn't kill Jake when he had the chance. Instead we were treated to that most stupid of plot devices, "the teacup", in which the evil villain decides to spare the hero so he can kill him in a slower, more elaborate, painful way (like boiling him in a giant teacup full of hot water) or some crazy non sense like that which allows the hero to escape. A few times I was yelling at Battista...just kill him now!

R.C. Bray did a decent job with the narration. His New York accent was really good (amazing how many narrators get that wrong) and the rest were good to passable (except his British one...that was bad.) He had a range of voices and his pacing was good. If only the plot wasn't so ludicrous, I would have enjoyed his narration more.

Even though the sequel promises more wackiness (with the aliens and all), the book ended in a way that I want to know what happens next. I won't buy it at full price but if I come across the audio on sale, I will definitely grab it.