Quantum Lens by Douglas E. Richards

Alyssa Aronson has found herself in quite the quandary. Due to her position and talents, she leads a somewhat isolated existence. After meeting Mr. Brennan Craft, she may decide that could be preferable. First, however, she may want to find out who this man really is and what connects him with two opposites: a radical Muslim leader and an American billionaire.

In Quantum Lens, we get to learn a bit about Alyssa and her adventures with Mr. Craft. As much as we learn though, I still couldn’t get a good feel for her character. That is true for the rest of the characters in this book a well but, I half expected to have a better understanding and more empathy for Alyssa.   Brennan also seemed either a bit less than I had hoped he would be. Craft actually bordered on being a Mary Sue character, in my humble opinion. Yes, I realize Brennan is male but, the significance of a Mary Sue has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with the credibility of luck and ability. It was hard for me to feel any sense of drama or suspense in regard to the prospects of any of these characters without that crucial connection to them.

Another aspect that reduced the feeling of drama was so many of the predictable scenes and sequences. I’m not trying to get politically sensitive but, using Islamic extremists as a plot device is getting to be beyond worn out. I actually am very intrigued by the concept of this book and would love to see it addressed with some better constructed characters and maybe a few M. Night Shyamalan type twists. I am perfectly willing to believe that it could be just me and that I’ve read or seen more of these plot devices and twists than many people. Others may read this and get more from it than I did but, I just didn’t see enough uniqueness in the delivery of what could have been a very exciting story.

I did like the scenes, the scale and the pacing of the story. Scenes and portion intended to be action based were well placed among quieter scenes of exposition.

Quantum Lens is a good attempt at an awesome concept for a techno-thriller. It’s good but, not great. There is some language, violence and adult situations that land this book in the PG13 area.

by Tynga at Wednesday, July 29, 2015

 Douglas E. Richards, Purchased, Review, Science Fiction, Techno-Th  1 Person left their mark

Hey, I'm Tynga! Montreal-based mom of two and lifelong book lover. I started this blog in 2009 reviewing PNR and UF, and over the years my shelves expanded into Romantasy, Dark Romance, and Dark Rom-Com. This blog is the archive. These days, my bookish life lives mostly on TikTok. I also create reading journals through Tynga Publishing — designed by a reader, for readers.

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