Psyclone

Rating:
Summary: Wild Ride into the Future
Review: Oh My! You can't catch your breath for even a second in this hyper-adreniline fueled sci-fi/medical thriller. Over the top villians, a luscious heroine, and a complex lead character are wound into this action-packed techno tale. The references to Road Warrior and Andromeda Strain are on target. Be Warned-- this is not for the faint of heart, as there is mucho gore and violence. Just right for a quick summer action pick me up.

Rating:
Summary: Dark, twisted thriller
Review: Pysclone is a dark, twisted techno-thriller. In his debut novel, Psyclone, Charles Shelton has created a world where AIDS is sham created by a scientist working for the military. When one of the by products of his experiments goes renegade, it is up to a secret operative named Gene Collins and his associates to stop him at all costs. Psyclone is a good read. It has an intelligent, contemporary plot which is bound to make a few waves because of his use of AIDS as a plot device. It is the kind of book that you can lose track of the time. While waiting for a friend to pick me up because of some car problems, the time passed quickly and I didn't notice that I was waiting almost 40 minutes. Charles Shelton has a very literate, yet easy to follow, prose. While the first chapter started a little slowly, the novel rapidly picked up its pace and I was hooked. I also found the character of Gene Collins to be a refreshing addition to the spy/thriller genre. He is bitter on the surface, but beneath he struggles to hold on to his humanity. Gene and his cohorts don't waste time getting down to business. When they have to kill, they do it quickly and efficiently. They don't waste time engaging in idle banter with their targets, as in a James Bond film. I recommend Psyclone very highly.

Rating:
Summary: Kaboom!
Review: This is a fast and furious read, sort of like Andromeda Strain meets the Road Warrior. A cloning experiment is stolen by a sadistic hi-tech terrorist, who programs it to kill everyone in sight and then sets it loose in a small desert town. Some clever plot twists, lots of hardware and things that explode, and sometimes moves a little too fast to keep track of everything. A few scenes are too gruesome for my taste, sometimes gratuitously so; plus the characters never stop moving. The style is like pulp fiction, meant to keep you turning pages without thinking about it too much. If you like this sort of thing you will not be able to put it down. But it is quite violent and a bit melodramatic. So be warned; otherwise, I recommend it.