BRAINRUSH II

Brainrush was quite a thriller with unanticipated turns and twists until the very end. A story that started in California, traveled to Venice and Afghanistan to end back in the sunny valley of Redondo, CA. The plot has everything - bad ass guy trying to wage a jihad, a normal ex-army dude whose brain suddenly develops superhuman abilities, aliens, death defying stunts to rescue the love of his life, etc. It's got it all! Its a kind of book that would make a cheesy but entertaining movie.

It made for a pretty good mindless read so after I finished it, I went hunting for part II to find out what happens with our superhuman guy with this amazing brain. Also the die-hard jihadi from Book I hasn't been killed yet so I was sure he would make an appearance in the sequel; which he does. The book opens to all sorts of actions with the jihadis on the tail of our hero, his love and his friends (the ones who assisted him in Afghanistan). Anyway, long story short, for now I'll keep reading and see where this overwhelming sequence of events takes us.

For a new author, the story line is really not bad. He hooks you in and keeps you engaged, the thing most first time writers dread whether they will be able to do. My only suggestion to the author is to concentrate on 1 or 2 sub-plots at a time. Trying to mush in everything makes the reader feel saturated. Part I was going well until the alien thing came up. Granted it gave the story a nice sub-plot but not sure if it was really necessary.

Christmas was spent with part I; I'll go into the New Year with part II. Happy 2012! May the New Year bring us peace, satisfaction and make us thankful for everything this wonderful life has offered!