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“We are not alone, and they are dangerous.”

What do you get when you take the best of “Top Gun”, and blend it with an updated and cooler-techno “Star Wars” ? This action packed sci-fi epic – which has elements of just such a magical mixture – is sure to please genre-crossing fans of both, and with the chilling line above as the starting point for thematic elements of our plot – who can resist reading more?

Ryan Fall is a cocky, adventure seeking, twenty-four year old cyber-racer – an incredibly talented, ( and no holds barred ) risk-taker in the high-speed world of simulated motorcycle racing, living in a time and space perhaps not too different from our own distant future.

As survivors of a now borderless post WW3 world, the stakes are very different, and when Ryan breaks one too many of the strictly enforced new-world laws, his options, as they are spelled out to him, are limited.

Ryans ‘choice’ puts him the drivers seat for a very different level of risk – one that places him on a crash course with “reality”, – his very survival, in fact, as well as the survival of the new world, now dependent on the cyber skill and strength he can bring to the table.

A coming-of-age story, the author does a good job adding layers of interesting characterization to our main protagonist, Ryan, who is best described as a know-it-all (cocksure, independent and reckless), who is forced to learn, that after all, he really knows very little. Hints of Ryan’s vulnerability, including a not explained eleven year absence from his parents, as well as glimpses into his underlying social anxiety and alienation, set the stage for our hero’s journey, and it promises to be a doozy.

Jam packed with cool and crazy technology, and armed with a cyber-arsenal of simulation-controlled mega-weapons. this well-written and immersive look at a future world is perhaps not too far out there after all.

A great big thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.