Cycle Three: The Probing by Bill MyersMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
First of all, I took a major reading break. I don't want to do that again!!!
This book was presented to me to review by the publisher. These novellas are #9-12 in a series. I missed the first 2 books (or 8 novellas) so I will admit, I was lost on the characters and their previous adventures. That being said, I could still follow the 4 different stories but was a little frustrated by the missing holes in some of the situations.
"Leviathan" is the first novella in this book. Imagine a reality show like "Fear Factor" only it's life or death. The team of Tank, Brenda, Andi, the Professor, and Daniel are invited out to a taping of this popular show. Everyone starts hearing weird things and exhibiting even stranger behaviors. The team has to figure out what's behind all this "weirdness" before it's too late.
What a swashbuckling adventure was had in "Mind Pirates". Andi is abducted by pirates and the rest of the team has to figure out how to get her safely returned. In the meantime, she knows things she doesn't know and the pirates are using this to their advantage. Of the four stories, I had the hardest time with this one.
Did you ever watch the movie "Children of the Corn"? That's what "Hybrids" reminded me of!! Dark-eyed children walking around doing strange things to make people disappear is the subject of this novella. If you see these children, you should run for your life and hide or you might be the next to disappear. Also, we learn about the Professor and his research in this story.
Last, but not least, the team finds themselves in a very unique village called Newland. The people here are straight out of an episode of Twilight Zone!! They talk weird, look even stranger, and warn the team to get out before it's too late. Will the team ever get back to "normalcy"?
Overall, I found this book to be interesting. I have mixed feelings about it, only because I hadn't read the other books previous to this one. I am interested in going back to read those so I can put some pieces together. This particular book can still be enjoyed as a stand-alone book. I love the sci-fi aspect and it's been awhile since I've read at all, but even longer since reading sci-fi. I would recommend this book to teens and adults how love sci-fi, Twilight Zone, etc!!
Thank you to the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my personal review. All thoughts are my own.
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