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Book CoverVeena’s review of Diffraction (Atrophy, Book 3) by Jess Anastasi
Science Fiction Fantasy Romance published by Entangled: Select Otherworld 02 Jan 17

I struggled with this book through the first half, which I found very slow and repetitive. Fortunately, it does pick up in the last third for an amazing finish.  I am definitely hooked and look forward to see Ms. Anastasi explore the various possibilities on how this story could evolve in future books in the series.

An alien race called the Reidar have been assimilating and replacing all the key leadership and command positions in the human world with Reidar impersonators.  The only person who dares to stand in their path is Rian Sherron, who was able to escape imprisonment and mind control to gather a rag-tag band of friends and cousins to stand against this alien race.

While Rian is key to the entire series and his relationship with the Ella is an interesting twist in the stories so far, Varean and Kira are the true protagonists in this story. Varean is a commando who served on the star ship that Rian and his friend Zander took over in the previous book.  He becomes of interest because, while he reacts to the Reidar detector weapon that Rian and his teammates have developed, he is not “fully” Reidar since he survives to tell the tale.  I find the treatment of Varean at the hands of Rian’s crew a bit barbaric. Clearly they haven’t heard about the Geneva Convention.

Fortunately, the ship’s doctor, Kira, is bound by her Hippocratic oath and does all she can to help Varean survive, since, as the story moves on, it becomes quite clear that Varean is going to play a pivotal role if the humans are to effectively battle and have a chance at winning against the Reidar.

This is a filler story, but for readers of the series it’s an important link in both explaining some of the mysteries behind Rian and Ella, as well as setting the stage for the future books.

Grade: C

Summary:

After his unusual reaction to a weapon, Commando Varean Donnelly is accused of being a shape-shifting alien and imprisoned onboard the Imojenna. Sure, he has abilities he keeps hidden from everyone—including the gorgeous doc examining him—because the government makes sure people as different as him disappear. For good.
Imojenna doctor Kira Sasaki knows there’s something different about the handsome commando the captain’s thrown in their brig. She doesn’t think he’s Reidar, although he might have been a victim of their cruel experiments. But when Kira learns the stubborn commando’s racial make-up, she finds herself torn between defending him to Captain Rian Sherron and his crew or urging Varean to escape while he still can.]

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:
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