REVIEW TO FOLLOW ( )

In reading the quick synopsis of Brainrush, you're made aware that you're in for a different kind of thriller novel. Indeed, the story is an international, millitary-esque thriller but it expands into other genres as well ranging from sci-fi to paranormal and filled with bits of romantic and buddy comedy. To a large extent, this is a cinematic novel filled with lots of action and quick takes but it also slows down and plods through a lot of detail and information.

The premise involves a terminally ill man named Jake. During an MRI, an earthquake shakes the machine and rattles his body and mind and apparently unlocks some amazing mental and physical abilities. Before long, these abilities get Jake caught up in a global adventure with high stakes. The story continues to get more and more intricate with new threats and revelations showing up every few chapters. Many sections read like something caught between James Bond and Jason Bourne. As you reach the climax of the book and work through the final few chapters, you get a bit of X-files or Indiana Jones (and the Crystal Skull).

In terms of believability, the story stretches things as paper thin as many adventure movies. As such, the general character and plot development is a little weak, but an entertained reader can employ their suspension of disbelief to ride alongside Jake and his friends. As more and more outrageous plot elements showed up, I found my willing to suspend disbelief to be waning but I continued on and generally enjoyed the story.

More than the plausibility of the story, the thing I had the most trouble with was some of the writing. I felt that many stretches of the book suffered from the "tell don't show" mistake of storytelling. Descriptions were often ponderously heavy handed. And while they really made a scene vibrant, it absolutely slowed down the pacing of an action scene to have lengthy sentences going into significant detail of the weapons or the scenery.

I also felt like the writing spent too much time trying to tell me how I should react or interpret a scene rather than presenting me actions or conversation and letting me shape my own logical conclusions. A lot of these flaws would likely be covered up in a movie since large descriptions or narrative statements would be removed. They might even disappear in an abridged audiobook reading. But in the print book, I feel like you could probably trim 50-100 pages worth of content (my copy clocked in at just over 400 pages) and not only maintain the story but improve the pacing and readability. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy "long books" with detailed description and narrative. But I don't feel that lengthy diatribes need this much play in an otherwise fast-paced adventure story.

Overall this is a fun thriller. It's a novel of escapism that's so outrageously over the top that you can (mostly) cruise through it without having to give it much thought. This is both a plus and a minus. It follows many stereotypical tropes of the thriller. With all of these common concepts, the story is almost predictable in spots. Fortunately, the author keeps the reader on their toes by twisting the tropes in new ways and adding wholly unexpected elements to an otherwise standard adventure.

If you're in the mood for something light and adventurous, give it a try. There is some gunplay and romance but I suspect it would pull off a PG-13 rating. The action and story are fun and keep you jumping. And if you want to keep going, Jake and friends have continued their adventures through another 6 books so you'll have plenty to keep you occupied for a while.

***
2.5 out of 5 stars ( )

Amazing, heart-racing book

I’ve just finished re-reading this for the second or third time, and am re-reading the whole series, to bring it all fresh to my mind before starting the final book. The quality of the writing and the depth of characterisation have put Richard Bard into my top handful of favourite authors.

This is a book that makes you get deeply invested in the main characters; and there are no ‘throwaway’ characters - even the minor ones are fully-fleshed individuals.

Highly recommended ( )

The trouble with the first part of most series is that you spend an awful lot of time on establishing the situation, the major players and the general set-up. Then just when things get really interesting… wham, bang, thank you and please buy the sequel.

That’s pretty much Brainrush all over. It’s a slightly sci-fi military thriller, set sometime around now, which gives ‘an ordinary joe’ extraordinary mental abilities and throws him into a global terrorist conspiracy.

The ordinary Joe ain’t so ordinary, either, as it turns out he can whistle up an entire special forces black ops team at 24 hours’ notice while evading major national security forces. Plus he’s a dab hand at combat skills and is now endowed with super-brain-stuff.

The rest is an entertaining romp, one which hops around the globe at a blinding pace, tipping its hat to James Bond and every other superspy along the way. But only in the final assault upon Bad Guy Central does the real series plot reveal itself – and it’s far more interesting than the superficial Islamist threat which most of the book concentrates on.

This opening episode could’ve cut through the chase a lot quicker for me. I got a little tired with the ‘no way out’ action sequences after which there was inevitably a way out… and the fact that someone getting shot / stabbed barely slows them down.

A bit less rushing around and a bit more plot development would’ve worked better for me. But if you like non-stop galloping (and not entirely logical) action, then there’s plenty of it here. An entertaining interlude – if you can download it for very little expense.
6/10

There's more thoughts on this over at https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/brainrush-much-rushing-not-... ( )

Great thriller mixing scifi and action/adventure with a splash of the paranormal.
Wondrful immersion reading experience ( )