TRAVELERS - Brett Riley

The high school friends who self-titled their group of friends "Freaks" have survive the summer (despite the otherworldly figure trying to kill them) and now school is back in session and they are looking are starting their sophomore year. While the appearance is that they are ordinary, if borderline outcast students, the truth is quite different.

The Freaks inherited a variety of unusual superpowers and there's an alien god trying to kill them. This god can shape-shift.  Yet this isn't the biggest threat to the Freaks.  When people were dying and it was dangerous just to step outside the home at night, the local police weren't prepared to deal with whatever was happening.  Now the CIA is in town.  They're sure the Freaks are somehow responsible for everything going on but they haven't got proof ... yet.  

I can still see the appeal that a book like this (and this book in particular) would have with a certain group of young readers (typically the outcasts, nerds, or freaks). There's a nice blend of superhero and horror going on here and young teens 'alone' or as though the adults in their lives don't understand them, so add to that feeling some superpowers, aliens, and the CIA, and these readers will feel 'understood.'

As these school-aged Freaks in the book get older, some of their social life aspects begin to change - there's the budding romances or at least the awareness of one another as something, possibly, more than just a friend. This is a really nice addition to the book (from the first book) and author Brett Riley handles it well, not giving it too much importance but not ignoring it.

But somehow this book just doesn't thrill.  For all the characters and exciting incidents, this feels like it should be a thrill-a-minute experience, but it bogs down in the relationships and interactions between the characters. And while I like books which are character driven, there just isn't enough drive here.

Not a bad book, but definitely very average.

Looking for a good book? Travelers by Brett Riley is the second book in the Freaks series and this volume builds on the relationships while increasing the threats to the community.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

* * * * * *

Travelers

author: Brett Riley

series: Freaks #1

publisher: Imbrifex Books

ISBN: 9781945501470

hardcover, 311 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more