ARvekt — Craig Lea Gordon

Will the battle for humanity be fought in reality? Or in her mind? Tannis Ord is a black-ops cyborg assassin. A highly-trained human-weapon, dedicated to hunting down the last of the brain hacking syndicates. There's just one problem…Her mind was broken from a psychotic episode. Neural programming erased her trauma, gave her a fresh start. But when an old brain hacker cult resurfaces, and a sentient AI is set to govern the entire human population, she starts seeing things. Horrors that can't possibly be real… that make no sense… that only she can see. Ix, their AI Guardian, is abducting innocent citizens from the streets in broad daylight. And it's using the Augmented Reality it has thrown over the world as cover. Is the AI hellbent on humanities destruction? Or is her mind tearing itself apart again? ARvekt is an explosive story, fusing action and intrigue into a journey full of twists and turns where you won't know what's real and what isn't. If you enjoy books with amazing plots and characters, set in a stunning futuristic world, then input ARvekt into your brain now. ARvekt is book two of the Instant Reality Series. Praise for ARvekt WOW. This was the most intense and mind-bending story I've read in a long time. I'm still in the process of getting my brain back online; I think it got a little fried while reading. If you enjoy immersion in action-packed cyberpunk future shock, this book is a must read! This, my friends, is Augmented Reality (AR) taken to its full expression, and it is delightful. It's also complex, requires you to pay attention, and remember what you read before in order to stitch together what's happening. Lovely. I'm pretty stingy with 5-star reviews. This book deserves five stars. I can see hints of The Matrix here, but there is sooo much more! This is jam packed with action and intrigue. We are thrust into the action from page one and the action keeps coming again and again till the end. If you enjoy stories where you don't know what's true or not, who can you trust and what to believe, ARvekt is a perfect book. The author really messes with you, making you doubt everything and everyone. This book dives right in to a high tech future and doesn't really take a break. Reminiscent of Black Mirror, you explore a world full of constant connection and stimulus where a series of ritualistic brain hacking murders are just the tip of the iceberg. Action packed all the way through. Gordon is particularly adept at action scenes. The action here is militaristic in parts, gloriously choreographed overall, and vividly depicted. I'm glad to see a new appreciation for what I think is a very clever style of storytelling. Here, Gordon is heavy on the military/chase-scene side, describing a complex mythos whose most interesting feature is a layer of augmented reality that's been slapped on the surface of every real thing in the physical world. Don't trust what you see! Yes - cyber tech, cyber war and virtual world: check, check, check! Interesting characters: check. Interesting plot line: check!