Afterimage

by Santino Hassell and Ais  

CCCC

"I would never just write you off, no matter what happened between us."

Sweet Mercy. 

This book is a long, dark trek. So many reasonable ideas with bad consequences. So many bad ideas with horrific consequences. So many moments of being f**cking Cassandra--yes, that one, from the Trojan War--and wanting to scream even though you know no one will hear it. 

Boyd, too naive for this game and he fails as usual, and like a Greek tragedy, he falls to hubris.

Hubris-->Ate (acts of folly)-->Nemesis

Let's just say that he gets more than a few lessons in growing up the hard way. He makes some foolish decisions in the beginning, but honestly, I respected and understood, even if they hurt like hell, many of the decisions he made. (view spoiler)

Sin. Again subjected to things that only acerbates his underlying issues. The disregard and cavelier behaviors of parties involved induce rage. (view spoiler) Insularity breeds mindthink, a very dangerous thing when the mental health professionals of an organization take part. 

There's a lot of history and background given to help explain so much of what is going on with Sin. Tragic and horrifying and watching his struggle is difficult. One must be completely without empathy to remain unmoved. I found the confusion and self-doubt to be excruciating.

"I didn't live up to your expectations and you aren't living up to mine."

This is why I hate chess. I can sacrifice and scheme, but some ridiculous, optimistic part of me always wants one of my pawns to Queen. But pawns are meant to die. This series better not end that way.

AVAILABLE to read online or download FREE