Review of Kindle INDIE EBOOK Second Chance by Dylan S. Hearn

This is a book I came across when browsing fellow book bloggers on WordPress and downloaded it onto my Kindle to read while I was  away.

Four lives become linked by a student’s disappearance: a politician looking to put integrity back into politics, an investigator hoping to atone for past mistakes, a data cleanser searching for a better life while haunted by his past and a re-life technician creating new lives for old souls. But it soon becomes clear this is no ordinary case, and in the pursuit of the truth, long-held secrets are at risk of being revealed. Set in the near future where everybody is connected and death isn’t final, this is the story of how far those in power will go to retain control, and the true price to pay for a Second Chance.

This post-apocalyptic near-future thriller unfolds through following these four characters. So does Hearn manage to handle the different voices? Oh yes – and it would have been all too easy to have lost the plot, literally, in the thickets of political intrigue, or by including yet another nifty plot twist while trying to hunt down missing Jennica. This is a slick, well written book with a strong storyline and plenty of narrative tension. The world is complex, with plenty of layers. I felt that the reveal, though I didn’t see it coming, was entirely plausible. Sadly…

I had a couple of favourite characters – Nic, the investigator and Stephanie, the politician. It was the fate of these two protagonists that pulled me into the story – and wanting to know what had happened to Jennica, of course. These two people struggling to do the best they can in difficult circumstances were well drawn and when Hearn demonstrated that he isn’t afraid to allow his main characters suffer major damage, my emotional involvement in the story increased, which isn’t always the case.

Hearn ably builds the pace to the shocking climax and the denouement. It is a tricky business to wrap up the storyline satisfactorily, while still leaving a couple of plot threads waving in the wind to tempt readers to track down the sequel – certainly harder than Hearn makes it look. Any grizzles? I did feel the reveal regarding Jennica was a little more rushed than it should have been – but this is a minor point. Writing a strong, plausible near-future thriller with multiple protagonists requires a great deal of technical skill – and way Hearn manages to tick the necessary boxes in order to produce such a successful book makes him One To Watch.
8/10