Book Review - 7 Scorpions: Rebellion

7 Scorpions: Rebellion
by Mike Saxton

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)

The world was turned upside down by the swift and brutal attack of a dictator known only as Zodiac. Planting flash bombs in every major city across the world, he detonated them simultaneously, sending the survivors into chaos and anarchy.
In the wake of the destruction, Zodiac unleashed the dreaded Seekers, a group with the ability to radiate an aura of intense fear, which would complete the enslavement and extermination of humanity.
A former vigilante, turned government super soldier experiment, emerges from his self-imposed exile to challenge the new status quo. Can Vincent Black, with his makeshift team of unlikely allies, overcome the demons of his past to help preserve the future of humanity?

Why I Picked this Book: I was offered this book in return for a fair and honest review.

My Thoughts:
7 Scorpions: Rebellion was an intense video game meets print read, with near nonstop action and pace.  There was rarely a moment of the characters sitting around, twiddling their thumbs.  Instead, as soon as peace set in, something would explode, someone would scream, something would happen to trigger another fight.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  The plot and story was intriguing.  It was refreshing to read a sci-fi book again, written solely for the enjoyment of sci-fi.  The world has been taken over by a mad-man psychic named Zodiac.  America is in shambles as his fear inducing drones wipe out the remaining remnants of the population.  And Vincent Black, a man now stepping out of self-imposed isolation after escaping being a government guinea pig, is our last hope.

Um.  Hello.  It may sound cliche and old, but sometimes something that isn't so "new" is the best thing to devour.

Saxton did a great job of building this world of destruction.  I truly did believe that the world had gone to heck and didn't doubt for a moment that these bad guy drones were doing Zodiac's bidding (maybe in part due to their lobotomized brains...)  As the story unfolded, Saxton slowly let loose the back story and the pieces slowly came together.

Slowly.  While I did appreciate knowing more back-story of more characters, I almost got tired of learning where everyone came from.  The strange ensemble of characters was nice, though at times a bit too convenient.  While the convenience was stated in the book, I would have liked to not feel so "planned" and more "oops!"... if that makes any sense.  The description in this book sometimes got to be too much.  Yes, I would skim...

Along with that, there was repetition.  Alot of repetition.  Every couple chapters, thoughts and statements were repeated.  After a time, I was rolling my eyes and muttering under my breath that I "already knew that."  While some key quotes make sense being repeated, others just got tiresome and well... repetitive.

But hey: There was action.  Tons of it.  I sure got my fighting fix with this book!  And might I add: Lexi is one kick-ars lady!

Maybe if some/more of the description and repetition had been cut out, I would have felt different about this book.  There were other grammar errors that got to me as well.  (Such as the overuse of the caps lock key... lots of caps lock yelling.)  One or two more sweeps in the editing phase probably would have fixed this.

Like I said, I enjoyed 7 Scorpions: Rebellion.  I truly do feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been on a time line to read it.  Even with that, it took me longer to read than my usual books.  I can easily see this book turned into an awesome teenage shoot-them-up game.  Any young man (or older... or action seeking woman for that matter) looking for a book full of violence, action, and non-stop "go go go" will most likely enjoy this book.

(Note: This book has violence.  And language.  Lots.)

I look forward to seeing where Saxton takes us next.  Now that I feel completely worn out from all that battling and crazy fighting, I think it is about time to relax.  In hiding.  Away from the end of the world.

My Rating

(3 out of 5 stars)