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Shockwave

(Star Kingdom – Book 1)

by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Science Fiction
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

The beginning of an intriguing science fiction mystery, one that, quite literally, sweeps the galaxy. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

What if being a hero was encoded in your genes?

And nobody told you?

Casmir Dabrowski would laugh if someone asked him that. After all, he had to build a robot to protect himself from bullies when he was in school.

Fortunately, life is a little better these days. He’s an accomplished robotics engineer, a respected professor, and he almost never gets picked on in the lunchroom. But he’s positive heroics are for other people.

Until robot assassins stride onto campus and try to kill him.

Forced to flee the work he loves and the only home he’s ever known, Casmir catches the first ship into space, where he hopes to buy time to figure out who wants him dead and why. If he can’t, he’ll never be able to return home.

But he soon finds himself entangled with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and pirates, including the most feared criminal in the Star Kingdom: Captain Tenebris Rache.

Rache could snap his spine with one cybernetically enhanced finger, but he may be the only person with the answer Casmir desperately needs:

What in his genes is worth killing for?

Thoughts on Shockwave

Science Fiction is hit or miss with me – fortunately, Shockwave is a hit, at least enough of one that I will continue the series. I am curious. Who is Casmir? What makes him so special? What’s up with the Kingdom? And how did that thing with Rache come about?

These are the questions you are supposed to end this novel with, and Buroker sets it up well. While I normally don’t indulge in narratives with a male main character POV, not exactly by deliberate choice, more a choice in author’s – this one features Casmir as the front and center set of eyes. His way of thinking is rather self-deprecating, but somehow also wholesome and welcoming. It’s a odd combination, but for this strange scientist – it works. As for his companions? I am half in love with Kim already.

Perspective:

Third Person, Multiple POV (Limited)

Ending Type:

Cliffhanger:

Rating:

PG-15

Romantic Dynamic:

Not prime in the story, though a M/F tension exists.

Character Age Range:

Adult

My Final Verdict on Shockwave

The foundation of an entertaining and intriguing Science Fiction tale, this novel hits the ground running – throwing characters together, hinting at past mysteries and opening up the galaxy to our exploration. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

Shockwave

Published May 8th, 2019
290 Pages

If you enjoyed this review of Shockwave, please consider checking out a few of my other articles.

• A Tail of Woah by Jacquelyn Faye – A Book Review
• No Longer Alone by Erin R. Flynn – A Book Review
• First Moon by Jacquelyn Faye – A Book Review

Your Turn

What are you reading today? Have you read this series yet? What other books by Lindsay Buroker have you enjoyed? Leave a comment, I would love to talk!