I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Cass is known as an automaton; a lifelike robot. But unlike an Android, she cannot learn and evolve, instead she is all programming. That is until she begins having memories of a former owner and after being badly abused by her current owner, her nanobots unlock her free will; programming she didn't even know she had. When she begins to have stirrings of romantic feelings towards her owner's boyfriend, Cass begins to desire her freedom like never before.

I was a bit skeptical when Travis told me he was writing a sci-fi romance. I mean, seriously, why fix something that isn't broken right? I decided to read it with an open mind, and I was happily surprised. The story was absolutely amazing and if you liked Isaac Ismanov's I, Robot, you will absolutely love this novel! The story itself flowed wonderfully, I had a couple of very late nights because I just didn't want to stop reading it. This is a very creative look at robots and the future, I hated to see it end. Now I'm eagerly awaiting another new release from this awesome author! ( )

What Lies Behind is a very interesting science fiction novel. The book broaches the subject of robots and can they or can't they be like humans. The story follows Cass, who is a robot but wants to update to be more human. Her current owner abuses her, and she has "visions/memories" of her past owner. Cass is confused and doesn't understand what is happening to her. She wants to find out what she was programmed to do. Cass is helped on her journey by Brandon who treats Cass like a person, instead of a robot. This story is an interesting mix of robots and humans. Highly recommended read for those who like science fiction. ( )

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I really loved it. Who would have thought you could write a good story with some background and have people believe a human could truly love an android? Plus have an interesting story line about how the life of a robot and the abuse she experienced. More than I expected or imagined and a fun read as well. ( )

I received a copy of What lies Behind from Travis Simmons, probably originally through Library Thing, but eventually through email.
I am so happy that Travis sent me this book and that I decided to blow off work for a day to read it! ; )

This fantastic tale is a story about Cass, a machine, a robot, a servant to humans and their causes. This is political, horrific and romantic. I laughed, I cried….it was better than CATS. Seriously though, this book is short yet packed and complete. Nothing is missing, you will love the journey and the end is satisfying. Underlying all the great Tech/sci-fi stuff is a great little love story, not too sappy , but enough to make the romantic in you happy. Not too techie either, but again, enough to make the sci-fi lover smile. It has realistic qualities, at least for those of us that believe that computers will someday be in the brains of all humans and that robots can be lovers, teachers, friends and family.

My only wish is that they make a movie of this…possibly a TV series…yeah, a TV series could really work. I would love love love to see Cass and Brandon come alive and take on some bad androids and robot abusers. So my final thought is for you Mr. Travis Simmons….keep writing, you brought joy to this lady!

PS: Travis, my boss doesn’t know that I didn’t do anything at work yesterday, so I got away with it. Anything else you would like to send, I would be honored to read and review. ( )

*I received a copy of this book from the Member Giveaways program in exchange for an unbiased review. Brief plot spoilers may follow.

I loved the sci-fi part of this story and the concept of a robot becoming self-aware and even in that state, aspiring to find a different way to live. If I had to describe this premise, I’d call it Terminator meets Pinocchio in a Cinderella kind of way. LOL The fact that Cass was a robot and supposed to be programmed to her owner’s exact needs and desires, but somehow became self-aware and ready to chart her own destiny (such as it was), then had another uphill battle with wanting a life, a way of being, as close to normal as she could possibly get was an offbeat mix that somehow worked for the story. It reminded me of the tv show Dollhouse, where there was a similar concept, but What Lies Behind had a different take on it that I really appreciated. I liked Cass, and I liked that a lot of the book was actually about her journey to becoming completely self-aware, as she first learned to question, then questioned freely. We were able to read along as she was able to understand the differences between her and androids or her and humans, and as she learned the various things she could not experience because of who she was. Instead of it being narrated that she was questioning or having that part skipped completely, it was peppered into almost every interaction she had throughout the book. I liked the ‘android equal rights’ bit; I thought it was a solid way of integrating androids and robots into society in an official way rather than them simply being people’s toys. One thing that I really liked about What Lies Behind was the ‘are humans really different from automatons’ argument, which ended up proving to be a very valid question with the way that the author broke down the similarities between the two. If you’re expecting a more in-depth romance, you won’t be finding it in What Lies Behind, but I actually don’t mind that as it allows for Cass’s growth to take center stage. For the majority of the book, she isn’t even aware that she is capable for any sort of emotional connection at all, so it wouldn’t have been plausible for her level of development at the time. I appreciate that said fact was honored throughout the book and that the idea of allowing the characters to come together a bit more slowly was acted upon. I also liked that the story itself and the descriptive abilities weren’t too elaborate; describing and explaining an advanced society and sci-fi details at the same time can easily become a wordy affair. The author described the details that were essential to the book or the scene, there wasn’t too much description otherwise and I think it was better that way.

As for any critiques, I would suggest another run-through by an editor or proofreader; there were a few points of inconsistency and grammatical errors throughout the book. They weren’t severe and I could still understand what was being said, but they were noticeable enough. I wish we’d gotten to know Brandon a bit better as well. It was fully understood that he was a caring and thoughtful person, but we didn’t get to learn too much else about him; there wasn’t too much backstory about him or any of the major characters save for a couple of sentences. The final confrontation in the story felt a little anticlimactic for me. I appreciated that the book wasn’t overly complex, but I guess I expected a little more oomph out of that final scene between Olivia and Cass.

Overall, I enjoyed What Lies Behind. I liked the mix of sci-fi, self-exploration and romance and I think it was done in a way that could appeal to both sci-fi and romance fans alike. It wasn’t heavy on either one—it wasn’t full of flowery statements or feelings, but wasn’t quite as cold and unfeeling as many sci-fi books about automatons tend to be. By the by, if you’ve seen and liked Dollhouse, then you’ll probably like this book. It’s a short but interesting read, with concepts that are integrated in a realistic way for the society of that time. ( )