Heather’s Bookshelf: Zealous
Author: Alex Rawecki
Released: 06/14/24
Genre: Adult Thriller
“Nika didn’t face any moral dilemmas about what she was doing, and she didn’t question the reasons for which she was occasionally put on a mission to kill somebody. For her, it was simply a part of a job. The job gave her the adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment she was hooked on. After all, the rules in her line of business were simple. If you are faster and smarter, you get to win; if not, you lose.”
“Zealous” introduces Nika Beresic, a young scientist trying to leave her stamp on the world but encountering obstacles to her achieving her dreams.
Nika has dreams that don’t seem to be her own. She remembers things that did not happen to her and seems to have forgotten things that actually did. She has the remnants of a malunion fracture of her finger, but no memory of actually breaking it. When she experiences a seizure and ends up in a hospital, she must decide if she’s succumbed to the side effects of her benzo addiction, if she’s developed a psychosis or if there’s a different underlying cause to her condition. Determined something else must be influencing her, she sets out to uncover the truth and enlists the help of her boyfriend, Marc.
Her investigation leads her to a biotech company and a brain implant, though she’s unsure as to how all of this relates to her. When her life is threated and people involved with the company end up dead, Nika realizes she must find the whole truth or she’ll end up dead alongside them. Will Nika find the truth in time?
Trigger Warning: violence, adult language, murder, death
Overall, I enjoyed this story. A majority of the story is told through the main protagonist, Nika. She’s an interesting protagonist- intelligent, strong, and flawed. I found her benzo addiction to be a good touch in developing her character. Marc, her boyfriend, is also a well-developed character adding mystery and depth to the story. His character continues to evolve up to the very end. I thought the author did a nice job in essentially making everyone in the story ambiguously good or bad- swaying in the breeze based on their motivations and goals at any given moment. It is clear the author has a neuroscience background and the incorporation of aspects of science were well-done but not too in-depth to turn off those without such a background. The pacing is also excellent and the different POVs do well in pushing along the story in small segments and chapters. The mystery of what exactly is happening and who is behind it also begs for page turning. A lack of an emotional connection between Nika and anyone else in the book limits the readers connection as does a frequent switching between tenses (ex: The weather outside hasn’t changed) or changes in character names/spellings (ex: Mark vs Marc and Mathilde vs Marta). The author does well in wrapping up these questions by the end of the story, tying up lose ends and giving a complete feeling to the tale. However, there are also aspects of the ending that good lend to a sequel if the author desires.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A thriller with a strong protagonist, great pacing, and elements of mystery and science that add to the dimension of the tale. A lack of emotional connection and some structural difficulties detract from the story.
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