Shawn Jaffe had just talked to the man staring with dead eyes at the ceiling with the bullet hole in his chest. He had said, “Nothing you know is real” (p2), which would have been easy to ignore if not for his sudden murder.

The Eighth Day
by Joseph John
Obsidian Dawn
April 2016

[SLIGHT SPOILERS] The events in the café set in motion a series of intriguing and frustrating attempts by Jaffe and Detective Harrington to figure out what was going on. Bodies disappear. Attempts are made on their lives. Lives are digitally erased. And then an unthinkable murder / suicide takes place and it all unravels even more. [END SPOILERS]

Part detective and part science fiction, John’s novel is the written equivalent of a Bruckheimer popcorn summer movie. It’s fast, moves faster, and includes lots of “on screen” violence. John does an excellent job keeping the reader guessing and even when we understand we are still engaged in the resolution – one that is highly satisfying in terms of pure aggression and excitement.

It is surprising to find a novel by a first time author that has the polish this one does. It’s slick and easy to read, deftly builds a world 25 years in the future, including future past events without being heavy handed about them. Some things may not fit exactly (will we still carry physical mobile phones in 25 years? Probably not) but it flows easily. There isn’t much work to imagine this world of the future, which allows the reader to enjoy the show without getting bogged down.

This is a very strong first novel. Science Fiction and action fans of summer blockbusters will definitely enjoy it.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.