Book Review: Blackquest 40 by Jeff Bond

I was intrigued by the cover and concept for this one – both caught my attention straight away and promised a dark tale of corporate greed. The book went a little farther than I thought it would, and while I must admit that I rolled my eyes once or twice and had to suspend disbelief more than a few times, the tale on the whole was an entertaining and enjoyable ride.

What starts as a corporate training exercise quickly devolves into a radically insane race against time – but to do what, really, and for whom? Resolving those questions becomes an obsessive mission for Deb Bollinger, a software prodigy with some personality quirks that waver between believable and not-so-much so…

Her character, thrust into an unbelievable situation, proceeds to shift between bad-ass and hesitant a couple of times in ways that didn’t feel quite believable; fortunately those shifts were short-lived and the tough-as-nails personality carried most of the story. Without that personality things would have been a lot less interesting and even more unbelievable. Her travails were darkly humorous, starkly dangerous, and quirkily entertaining throughout, and even though she was a difficult character for me to relate to, she made the story for me. I loved her perspective (for the most part, except for the odd couple of meltdowns mentioned already) and I think her outrageousness held the tale together.

It was a quick read, well paced and characterized. The plot occasionally felt a little overly dramatic, but it worked with the writing style and personalities involved. I enjoyed this one, and would read the author again.

I received an advance review copy for free through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.