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Pattern Black
A city-sized prison with little oversight and a snitch economy is the worst place for an ex-cop. Especially one who is losing his mind.
Once a respected police officer, Mason Shaw’s father threw away his career by going rogue and landing himself in Revival’s privately-run prison, HRO22.
Now Mason is following in his father’s footsteps — he’s an inmate with no hope of parole and only two ways out: Chamber Therapy or a body bag.
Chamber Therapy promises the miracle of criminal rehabilitation, curing prisoners of their criminal tendencies. But the flip-side of Chamber Therapy’s success is its ultimate failure: Pattern Black — the total disintegration of identity that drives the prisoner insane.
Worse, Revival seems to be hiding what happens to the prisoners once they go Pattern Black.
As Mason makes his way through his new reality, a mysterious Preacher seems to haunt his every move. His only hope is Immunity, a rebel group led by a hacker named Calliope, who’s trying to fight the system from inside.
Can Mason find the truth — and expose the dark secret behind Chamber Therapy — before Revival finds a way to shut him up forever?
It’s Escape from New York meets The Matrix in this fast-paced, heart-pounding SciFi thriller by best-selling authors Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt.
Johnny B. Truant is also the author of Fat Vampire, a new television series coming to the SyFy channel in 2022.
Once a respected police officer, Mason Shaw’s father threw away his career by going rogue and landing himself in Revival’s privately-run prison, HRO22.
Now Mason is following in his father’s footsteps — he’s an inmate with no hope of parole and only two ways out: Chamber Therapy or a body bag.
Chamber Therapy promises the miracle of criminal rehabilitation, curing prisoners of their criminal tendencies. But the flip-side of Chamber Therapy’s success is its ultimate failure: Pattern Black — the total disintegration of identity that drives the prisoner insane.
Worse, Revival seems to be hiding what happens to the prisoners once they go Pattern Black.
As Mason makes his way through his new reality, a mysterious Preacher seems to haunt his every move. His only hope is Immunity, a rebel group led by a hacker named Calliope, who’s trying to fight the system from inside.
Can Mason find the truth — and expose the dark secret behind Chamber Therapy — before Revival finds a way to shut him up forever?
It’s Escape from New York meets The Matrix in this fast-paced, heart-pounding SciFi thriller by best-selling authors Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt.
Johnny B. Truant is also the author of Fat Vampire, a new television series coming to the SyFy channel in 2022.
776 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 19, 2022
303 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Sean Platt
334 books826 followersSean loves writing books, even more than reading them. He is co-founder of Collective Inkwell and Realm & Sands imprints, writes for children under the name Guy Incognito, and has more than his share of nose.
Together with co-authors David Wright and Johnny B. Truant, Sean has written the series Yesterdays Gone, WhiteSpace, ForNevermore, Available Darkness, Dark Crossings, Unicorn Western, The Beam, Namaste, Robot Proletariat, Cursed, Greens, Space Shuttle, and Everyone Gets Divorced. He also co-wrote the how-to indie book, Write. Publish. Repeat.
With Collective Inkwell
Yesterday's Gone: Post Apocalyptic - LOST by way of The Stand
WhiteSpace: Paranoid thriller on fictitious Hamilton Island
ForNevermore: YA horror that reads nothing like YA Horror
Available Darkness: A new breed of vampire thriller
Dark Crossings: Short stories, killer endings
With 47North
Z 2134: The Walking Dead meets The Hunger Games
Monstrous: Beauty and the Beast meets The Punisher
With Realm & Sands
Unicorn Western: The best story to ever come from a stupid idea
The Beam: Smart sci-fi to make you wonder exactly who we are
Namaste: A revenge thriller like nothing you've ever read
Robot Proletariat: The revolution starts here
Cursed: The old werewolf legend turned upside down
Greens: Retail noir comedy
Space Shuttle: Over the top comedy with all your favorite sci-fi characters
Everyone Gets Divorced: Like "Always Sunny" and "How I Met Your Mother" had a baby on your Kindle
Sean lives in Austin, TX with his wife, daughter, and son.
Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/seanplatt (say hi so he can follow you back!)
Together with co-authors David Wright and Johnny B. Truant, Sean has written the series Yesterdays Gone, WhiteSpace, ForNevermore, Available Darkness, Dark Crossings, Unicorn Western, The Beam, Namaste, Robot Proletariat, Cursed, Greens, Space Shuttle, and Everyone Gets Divorced. He also co-wrote the how-to indie book, Write. Publish. Repeat.
With Collective Inkwell
Yesterday's Gone: Post Apocalyptic - LOST by way of The Stand
WhiteSpace: Paranoid thriller on fictitious Hamilton Island
ForNevermore: YA horror that reads nothing like YA Horror
Available Darkness: A new breed of vampire thriller
Dark Crossings: Short stories, killer endings
With 47North
Z 2134: The Walking Dead meets The Hunger Games
Monstrous: Beauty and the Beast meets The Punisher
With Realm & Sands
Unicorn Western: The best story to ever come from a stupid idea
The Beam: Smart sci-fi to make you wonder exactly who we are
Namaste: A revenge thriller like nothing you've ever read
Robot Proletariat: The revolution starts here
Cursed: The old werewolf legend turned upside down
Greens: Retail noir comedy
Space Shuttle: Over the top comedy with all your favorite sci-fi characters
Everyone Gets Divorced: Like "Always Sunny" and "How I Met Your Mother" had a baby on your Kindle
Sean lives in Austin, TX with his wife, daughter, and son.
Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/seanplatt (say hi so he can follow you back!)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 30, 2023
Stars: 2 out of 5
This book was a chore to read, and I almost DNFed it at 32% when things were making to sense at all and I was getting very annoyed with the narrative. I powered through it and finished this book, but I'm not sure I made the right choice. It had been a long and often frustrating slog to get through all 700+ pages of this.
The concept itself is really interesting. I mean, I love Inception. I still think it's one of the best movies ever made. So I was really excited to read something similar. Unfortunately, this concept is a lot harder to bring to life on a written page than it is on the silver screen. Where in a movie you could add an element of crazy and reality not making sense in small visual queues, on a page it just makes for a very confusing and frustrating narrative.
It doesn't help that this confusion persists for the first 40% of the book. This is way too long to leave the reader wondering what the heck is going on. I have seen that a lot of readers DNFed this book around 30-35% in, and I totally understand why. Like I said, I almost did the same.
Once the protagonist emerges out of the simulation within a simulation he's been in for the first half of the book, things start to pick up steam and make slightly more sense, but even then, the action drags. Unnecessarily, in my opinion. I found that the final confrontation took too much time as well. I kept turning the pages and wishing for things to finally be over, yet the conflict still dragged and dragged. When I finally reached the last page, my thought was "thank God, it's done," instead of "wow, that was good book." That should tell you something about how invested I was(n't) in this story.
I got tired of the simulation within simulation within another simulation that was constantly going on. I also got tired of the double- triple- and quadruple-crossing going on in this book. It made my brain hurt. I might have enjoyed the twists and turns better if I cared about the characters, but as it stands, all of them are horrible human beings. Especially Mason. He is awful in the beginning of the book when he is in the simulation, and he doesn't get much better once he emerges into the real world.
In fact, all the characters do is fight with each other, bicker and hurt each other. There isn't a single healthy relationship to be found. They never talk about their issues or try to resolve them. They just lash out and make things worse. The relationship between Mason and Carter is especially toxic, and nothing is done about it.
To be honest, by the end of the book I was cheering Mason on when he held the logic bomb, because I would have actually been happy with an "and everybody died" ending for this group of wonderful human beings. As it stands, the ending is rather unsatisfying, because I don't think our protagonist learned the most important lesson he had to learn - that hiding from his issues isn't a solution.
I am still giving this book 2 stars, because it is well-written, and the concept is amazing. With more likeable characters you could root for, this would have been a very good story.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a chore to read, and I almost DNFed it at 32% when things were making to sense at all and I was getting very annoyed with the narrative. I powered through it and finished this book, but I'm not sure I made the right choice. It had been a long and often frustrating slog to get through all 700+ pages of this.
The concept itself is really interesting. I mean, I love Inception. I still think it's one of the best movies ever made. So I was really excited to read something similar. Unfortunately, this concept is a lot harder to bring to life on a written page than it is on the silver screen. Where in a movie you could add an element of crazy and reality not making sense in small visual queues, on a page it just makes for a very confusing and frustrating narrative.
It doesn't help that this confusion persists for the first 40% of the book. This is way too long to leave the reader wondering what the heck is going on. I have seen that a lot of readers DNFed this book around 30-35% in, and I totally understand why. Like I said, I almost did the same.
Once the protagonist emerges out of the simulation within a simulation he's been in for the first half of the book, things start to pick up steam and make slightly more sense, but even then, the action drags. Unnecessarily, in my opinion. I found that the final confrontation took too much time as well. I kept turning the pages and wishing for things to finally be over, yet the conflict still dragged and dragged. When I finally reached the last page, my thought was "thank God, it's done," instead of "wow, that was good book." That should tell you something about how invested I was(n't) in this story.
I got tired of the simulation within simulation within another simulation that was constantly going on. I also got tired of the double- triple- and quadruple-crossing going on in this book. It made my brain hurt. I might have enjoyed the twists and turns better if I cared about the characters, but as it stands, all of them are horrible human beings. Especially Mason. He is awful in the beginning of the book when he is in the simulation, and he doesn't get much better once he emerges into the real world.
In fact, all the characters do is fight with each other, bicker and hurt each other. There isn't a single healthy relationship to be found. They never talk about their issues or try to resolve them. They just lash out and make things worse. The relationship between Mason and Carter is especially toxic, and nothing is done about it.
To be honest, by the end of the book I was cheering Mason on when he held the logic bomb, because I would have actually been happy with an "and everybody died" ending for this group of wonderful human beings. As it stands, the ending is rather unsatisfying, because I don't think our protagonist learned the most important lesson he had to learn - that hiding from his issues isn't a solution.
I am still giving this book 2 stars, because it is well-written, and the concept is amazing. With more likeable characters you could root for, this would have been a very good story.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 19, 2022
Pattern black by Sean Platt and Johhny B. Trant.
Once a respected police officer, Mason Shaw’s father threw away his career by going rogue and landing himself in Revival’s privately-run prison, HRO22. Now Mason is following in his father’s footsteps — he’s an inmate with no hope of parole and only two ways out: Chamber Therapy or a body bag. Chamber Therapy promises the miracle of criminal rehabilitation, curing prisoners of their criminal tendencies. But the flip-side of Chamber Therapy’s success is its ultimate failure: Pattern Black — the total disintegration of identity that drives the prisoner insane. Worse, Revival seems to be hiding what happens to the prisoners once they go Pattern Black. As Mason makes his way through his new reality, a mysterious Preacher seems to haunt his every move. His only hope is Immunity, a rebel group led by a hacker named Calliope, who’s trying to fight the system from inside. Can Mason find the truth — and expose the dark secret behind Chamber Therapy — before Revival finds a way to shut him up forever?
I really really enjoyed this book. Gripping read. Good story and characters. 4*.
Once a respected police officer, Mason Shaw’s father threw away his career by going rogue and landing himself in Revival’s privately-run prison, HRO22. Now Mason is following in his father’s footsteps — he’s an inmate with no hope of parole and only two ways out: Chamber Therapy or a body bag. Chamber Therapy promises the miracle of criminal rehabilitation, curing prisoners of their criminal tendencies. But the flip-side of Chamber Therapy’s success is its ultimate failure: Pattern Black — the total disintegration of identity that drives the prisoner insane. Worse, Revival seems to be hiding what happens to the prisoners once they go Pattern Black. As Mason makes his way through his new reality, a mysterious Preacher seems to haunt his every move. His only hope is Immunity, a rebel group led by a hacker named Calliope, who’s trying to fight the system from inside. Can Mason find the truth — and expose the dark secret behind Chamber Therapy — before Revival finds a way to shut him up forever?
I really really enjoyed this book. Gripping read. Good story and characters. 4*.
March 24, 2022
The book starts out slow and is wildly confusing for the first third or so. It slowly cleans up as more and more of the events are explained, and it becomes apparent that the authors made it confusing on purpose, as a way to get the reader to understand how the main character is viewing his reality or unreality. The main character is a bit too much of an asshole to be believable in the beginning chapters but slowly improves as the book hits its stride. The middle chapters are amazing and the story really starts to flesh itself out but the last few chapters seemed to drag on for no real reason.
The story itself is reminiscent of the first matrix movie with lots of cyberpunk influences. A main character who isn’t really aware of what’s going on till it’s all revealed to him (Neo and Morpheus). Even at the end of the book when the character begins to understand everything is very Matrix like.
Overall it’s a decent read but there’s better, more original content out there in the Cyberpunk/Distopian genre.
The story itself is reminiscent of the first matrix movie with lots of cyberpunk influences. A main character who isn’t really aware of what’s going on till it’s all revealed to him (Neo and Morpheus). Even at the end of the book when the character begins to understand everything is very Matrix like.
Overall it’s a decent read but there’s better, more original content out there in the Cyberpunk/Distopian genre.
July 19, 2022
"Worth finishing but not worth starting"
An intriguing book, actually quite well written (both from the complexity/perspective shifts and authorship/editorial quality), but the foul language is WAY over the top and irritating. The characters are all unlikeable. It would be easy to just stop reading it because not only do I not care about *any* of them... but I actively dislike them all. But I will continue because the plot has its compelling features. It's a long, drawn out, borderline tedious book, though.
An intriguing book, actually quite well written (both from the complexity/perspective shifts and authorship/editorial quality), but the foul language is WAY over the top and irritating. The characters are all unlikeable. It would be easy to just stop reading it because not only do I not care about *any* of them... but I actively dislike them all. But I will continue because the plot has its compelling features. It's a long, drawn out, borderline tedious book, though.
March 9, 2022
I liked the idea of this book more than I liked the book itself. Way too much Inception-type stuff going on. I liked the premise of a city being turned into a jail for criminals and a type of simulation therapy to try and fix them, but all the simulations inside of simulations just got to be too much. I also felt like I really had to slog through it. Just a kind of okay book that was way too long.
June 26, 2022
This was a tough slog for me. I found it very difficult to follow the plot...so very confused. I don't think it was a problem with the writing or plotting, but rather I'm just not smart enough to get the whole AI thing and layers of consciousness and all the rest. I did force myself to the end because of the need to find out how it all resolved, which probably speaks to the book actually being well-written, just aimed at a specific audience (of which I'm not really a part).
February 28, 2022
Confusing
After getting to 32% I just gave up. For me, it was convoluted and confusing. It certainly wasn’t a linear chronological story. I also didn’t like the main character so I didn’t really care whether he was able to cope with his situations or not, or make sense of them. After 30% it wasn’t making any sense to me. Maybe you might have better luck.
After getting to 32% I just gave up. For me, it was convoluted and confusing. It certainly wasn’t a linear chronological story. I also didn’t like the main character so I didn’t really care whether he was able to cope with his situations or not, or make sense of them. After 30% it wasn’t making any sense to me. Maybe you might have better luck.
September 21, 2022
DNF at 25%
I guess I liked the idea and the synopsis of the book more than the book ifself…
I found the plot very intriguing, but so confusing and long.
I can’t force myself to continue reading it but wanted to thank NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book, I’m forever honoured to be among the people who have the joy of reading a new release sooner than the specific release date.
I guess I liked the idea and the synopsis of the book more than the book ifself…
I found the plot very intriguing, but so confusing and long.
I can’t force myself to continue reading it but wanted to thank NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book, I’m forever honoured to be among the people who have the joy of reading a new release sooner than the specific release date.
November 27, 2022
Imagine ‘Inception’ smashed through ‘The Running Man’ into ‘The Matrix’ taking ‘Total Recall’ and ‘Being John Malkovich’ with it and you’ve got some approximation of the story and setting.
A page turner from the beginning, deliberately complex and confusing to make the reader do some work. That might not work for everyone but I love that style of writing - gradually revealing the plot and what’s going on, rather than throwing it all out there from the start.
Characters are well developed and the plot is sound, it deals quite well with emotional and mental health issues and has some lovely wisdom between the lines if you’re open to accepting it.
Some good references to the overall canon of sci-fi that’s currently out there with some extra tweaks and new ideas or perspectives.
It gathers pace throughout and has several epic climaxes of frenetic activity. Right towards the end there were a couple of moments where I thought it was time to resolve things, but all the pieces were necessary and it does click together neatly without actually dragging.
Some really good twists and surprises here and there make for a thrilling book that I sacrificed a lot of sleep over - it was that compelling.
Great work, very enjoyable and glad that it’s a stand alone, not sure I could have dealt with the tension of any sequels.
A page turner from the beginning, deliberately complex and confusing to make the reader do some work. That might not work for everyone but I love that style of writing - gradually revealing the plot and what’s going on, rather than throwing it all out there from the start.
Characters are well developed and the plot is sound, it deals quite well with emotional and mental health issues and has some lovely wisdom between the lines if you’re open to accepting it.
Some good references to the overall canon of sci-fi that’s currently out there with some extra tweaks and new ideas or perspectives.
It gathers pace throughout and has several epic climaxes of frenetic activity. Right towards the end there were a couple of moments where I thought it was time to resolve things, but all the pieces were necessary and it does click together neatly without actually dragging.
Some really good twists and surprises here and there make for a thrilling book that I sacrificed a lot of sleep over - it was that compelling.
Great work, very enjoyable and glad that it’s a stand alone, not sure I could have dealt with the tension of any sequels.
December 30, 2022
This dystopian novel was a struggle for me and I really had to push through to finish. The first third or so of the book was incredibly confusing and it took until the second third for it to start making sense. Unfortunately, by this point, I had lost interest and overall found this read quite disappointing.
February 9, 2023
Mason is a cop on a downward spiral propelled, in part, by some unresolved “issues” with his father. These turn out to be something very different than that probably sounds, and feature prominently in the unwinding of Mason’s understanding of what’s real and what’s Memorex. He gradually discovers that he’s a pawn in a much larger game and that he can’t take for granted that what he thinks is so, actually is. Along the way he also has to piece together who has and hasn’t betrayed him, and work to resolve old and thorny relationships--all while staying sane and alive.
This was a satisfying read. The characters grow and evolve (or devolve, in one case) as they wind their way through a complex plot that takes place in a rich blend of virtual and real spaces. It’s an ambitious undertaking. The Platt/Truant writing team largely pulls it off, and I thought there was much more depth and polish here than in some of their earlier work. (I'm looking at you, Unicorn Western.) As a frequent (and often-conflicted) reader of self-/independently-published SFF, the evolution towards greater skill and sophistication in the writing over time is really nice to see, particularly since it seems to be relatively rare. There is a point where output overwhelms progress, and they’ve seemed to avoid getting stuck there.
While I really appreciate that this isn’t 1700 pages and four volumes longer, my main gripe is still the length. There are too many places where this drags. I think it could have been a more effective and satisfying read at 75-150 fewer pages, without sacrificing too much of the intricately-layered plot and careful--although often still sparse--world-building. Nonetheless, this is recommended reading because it uses plausible characters to explore some cool themes in a vivid world full of surprise, danger and mystery.
Total: 7/10 (3.5, rounded to 4 stars)
December 29, 2021
A thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.
Pattern Black is a well-constructed psychological adventure that could easily be the future of how our prison systems will work … what a scary thought. From word one, you’re pulled into Mason’s world and your brain starts trying to analyze what’s real and what isn’t. Finding out the answer is what initially kept me reading and I’m so glad I did. This is a psychological thrill at its best.
Honestly, at the start, I wasn’t a fan of the story format of bouncing between different perspectives but the deeper into the story I got, I realized these perspectives really fleshed out the story. They keep you informed of what’s going on from the main players’ perspectives and how the results of their actions impact everyone else, and vice versa. I found questions that arose in my mind from one section were generally answered in the next section but often with a different character’s perspective delivering the answer. I found this story to be fast paced, which kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next. It was like reading a story from a 360-degree viewpoint with a single point of origin connecting it all.
This is a futuristic novel with tones of ‘The Matrix’, ‘Groundhog Day’, and a few other mind-bending epics that come to mind, but I’m not going to spoil it for you. This is one adventure you must take on your own to truly appreciate and understand Mason’s journey to the truth. You won’t be disappointed. The only reason it took me a few days to read it was the Christmas holiday weekend and it would have been rude to sit reading while everyone else was socializing …but trust me, I seriously considered it anyway.
Pattern Black is a well-constructed psychological adventure that could easily be the future of how our prison systems will work … what a scary thought. From word one, you’re pulled into Mason’s world and your brain starts trying to analyze what’s real and what isn’t. Finding out the answer is what initially kept me reading and I’m so glad I did. This is a psychological thrill at its best.
Honestly, at the start, I wasn’t a fan of the story format of bouncing between different perspectives but the deeper into the story I got, I realized these perspectives really fleshed out the story. They keep you informed of what’s going on from the main players’ perspectives and how the results of their actions impact everyone else, and vice versa. I found questions that arose in my mind from one section were generally answered in the next section but often with a different character’s perspective delivering the answer. I found this story to be fast paced, which kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen next. It was like reading a story from a 360-degree viewpoint with a single point of origin connecting it all.
This is a futuristic novel with tones of ‘The Matrix’, ‘Groundhog Day’, and a few other mind-bending epics that come to mind, but I’m not going to spoil it for you. This is one adventure you must take on your own to truly appreciate and understand Mason’s journey to the truth. You won’t be disappointed. The only reason it took me a few days to read it was the Christmas holiday weekend and it would have been rude to sit reading while everyone else was socializing …but trust me, I seriously considered it anyway.
October 16, 2022
i gave a 3 while thinking a 4 so it's 3.5. As a combination The Matrix and some other sci fi references, i had a point of reference. It seems that the matrix idea allows fantasy to be reality in the digital world. Mason, son of Carl, gets tumbled into the matrix the same way Neo did - with a plug in the back of his head and all manner of invasive tubing. From there he doesn't realize he's causing things to change. He originally went to apply for a job in a prison that uses sim set ups to rehab inmates. Inmates are no longer given personhood status and as such don't have protections anymore. That part is the real nightmare. But i digress. Mason is locked up in prison on some fantasy charge looking for his dad, Carl. Mason fights his way to his father's digital self and they digitally argue constantly which gets a wee bit tiresome. The final injection into the digital world goes on a wee bit toooo long. I don't have a lot of patience with trying to keep up with what is a sim and what is reality and, anyway, how do humans who are not techno wizards actually write code and break code with their imaginations and will power? That has always puzzled me. Carl carved out a hidey hole and Mason made it into a huge safe place and neither knew anything about programming. They just thought it all into existence. William Gibson had his digital people writing and breaking code. (i regard him as the master of this genre) So it seems that the internet world of 1 and 0 has become fantasy land for anything you want to make or destroy. Or am i being harsh?
February 9, 2022
It took me a while to realise that a lot of what was happening was inside Mason's head but when I did it started to make sense just for a while then it all went into a different level of unreality involving more people inside his head or in prison. He has ways to get out with help from Dakota and others who are sometimes real and sometimes constructs of his imagination but real in his head with their own destinations and motivations. Chamber therapy sounds like a solution to criminality but it is in the wrong hands and trying to use it for profit is the wrong solution if it involves Blake and Elisabeth putting them into Pattern Black to use them as living cadaver brain boxes for financial gain. Read it and try to make sense of it then explain it to me please. It's psychological fiction, Psy Fi.
April 4, 2022
While almost like a story within a story, and just when you think you are starting to understand a bit, a jarring plot twist is inserted and off you go in a whole new direction. The story starts off a bit slow, but then gets going and doesn't stop, but while intellectually it was intriguing, I agree with others in that the language inserted just felt forced, not like it really belonged or flowed, nor was particularly relevant. Normally I kind of fly through reading books, but this one slowed me down as I was trying to really piece together the different story lines, the characters, the mind tricks as Mason went under Chamber Therapy. There are many points that give almost a Matrix/Shutter Island/Inception vibe that you really pay more attention to. Overall, I really did enjoy reading it.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*
March 16, 2022
For those that are fans of multiple stories, or psychological outlooks, this book is a treat! It does start a bit slow, but once you persist beyond the first few chapters (which are short), you enter a world that is altogether too possible, and follow the trails of thought and outlook to find other layers of the story.
Follow the main character as they travel the ins and outs of what is reality, what is not, and how things can be both.
It does have a few slow points, enough that you can put the book down for a bit - which are needed. This seems to be a stand-alone book: most of the story is here, so you don't feel (afterwards) that you should go in search of the first book to understand the situation. A satisfying read!
Follow the main character as they travel the ins and outs of what is reality, what is not, and how things can be both.
It does have a few slow points, enough that you can put the book down for a bit - which are needed. This seems to be a stand-alone book: most of the story is here, so you don't feel (afterwards) that you should go in search of the first book to understand the situation. A satisfying read!
June 13, 2022
When Matrix meets Sigmund Freud
This was probably one of the most complicated novel I ever read... But I loved it.
The first third of the story can be very confusing, so don't be surprised if you keep reading the same page over and over trying to understand what's happening... the main character is probably in your same position...
At the beginning it took me a lot from dropping the book. And then, when you finally pass the hardest part of the story, you'll start seeing the pieces of the puzzle coming together and you can't stop reading page after page. You want to know more and more. And I can't say more without spoiling it...
As I said it's a very complicated novel, but it's "Platt & Truant" at their best...
This was probably one of the most complicated novel I ever read... But I loved it.
The first third of the story can be very confusing, so don't be surprised if you keep reading the same page over and over trying to understand what's happening... the main character is probably in your same position...
At the beginning it took me a lot from dropping the book. And then, when you finally pass the hardest part of the story, you'll start seeing the pieces of the puzzle coming together and you can't stop reading page after page. You want to know more and more. And I can't say more without spoiling it...
As I said it's a very complicated novel, but it's "Platt & Truant" at their best...
August 1, 2024
This book was hard work. Its as if the author binge-watched The Matrix and Inception then decided it would be a good idea if they mashed the two together but took away any semblance of a coherent plot and likeable characters.
From the outset, its confusing. And it stays that way for at least the first third of the book. After that you get a better idea of what's going on, but it still doesn't make any sense. All the characters seem to have their own 'baggage' and hidden agendas. You never know who's on what side or whether they're helping or hindering.
I finished this book, but I didn't enjoy it. I certainly wouldn't read a sequel, and doubt I'll read anything else by this author.
From the outset, its confusing. And it stays that way for at least the first third of the book. After that you get a better idea of what's going on, but it still doesn't make any sense. All the characters seem to have their own 'baggage' and hidden agendas. You never know who's on what side or whether they're helping or hindering.
I finished this book, but I didn't enjoy it. I certainly wouldn't read a sequel, and doubt I'll read anything else by this author.
April 21, 2022
This was an amazing thrill-ride of a book. Every time you think you have the plot figured out, nope, another twist. No one likes a book with a predictable plot. This one keeps you guessing from the beginning. Platt is an amazing storyteller, and he makes it easy to get fully involved with the characters. You're invested in, concerned for and cheer on the main character, hate the 'bad' guys and the truly bad guys, get skeeved out by the creepazoids. The setting is perfect and I felt assailed by the scents, sights and ickiness of the places in the book. If you love sci-fi and need something surprisingly awesome to read, Pattern Black is what you need. I recommend this book 100%.
February 1, 2022
Totally immersive and mind-bending read.
They writing style takes a couple of chapters to really grab you, but once it does, get some coffee because you will lose some sleep. I did.
I don’t want to give a summary, or spoilers and making comparisons to Matrix, while superficially accurate just don’t capture the depth and complexity.
This is a much simpler story than Matrix, while being much more complex. Sorry. But this is difficult to describe without spoilers.
Read it.
They writing style takes a couple of chapters to really grab you, but once it does, get some coffee because you will lose some sleep. I did.
I don’t want to give a summary, or spoilers and making comparisons to Matrix, while superficially accurate just don’t capture the depth and complexity.
This is a much simpler story than Matrix, while being much more complex. Sorry. But this is difficult to describe without spoilers.
Read it.
February 18, 2022
For me the book started slowly at first, but once it began its pace, I was hooked. It kept me coming back for more pages! There was a twist within a twist and was just simply amazing! Future prisons could end up something like this without the Chamber Therapy (or not!) but all in all, this book is something I would recommend.
February 20, 2022
Another good one!
These guys are consistently amazing. And this book is another example of that. I don't think I have ever been disappointed with the results of their collaborations. "The Beam" was my first exposure to the magic these guys create and I'm always excited to see another opportunity to experience it again. Highly recommended!
These guys are consistently amazing. And this book is another example of that. I don't think I have ever been disappointed with the results of their collaborations. "The Beam" was my first exposure to the magic these guys create and I'm always excited to see another opportunity to experience it again. Highly recommended!
Read
March 31, 2023Dnf. It was to much rambling, psychotic back and forth for my taste, difficult to get through. I’m a leisurely reader, and when a story goes all over the place it’s not for me.
It could be getting better, and I could miss out on the greatest story ever..but I don’t want to wade through this mud before I get there. So stopped after 1/3 of the book.
It could be getting better, and I could miss out on the greatest story ever..but I don’t want to wade through this mud before I get there. So stopped after 1/3 of the book.
March 6, 2022
Quite the cyberpunk thrill ride!
I read it from cover to cover. The protagonist starts as an anti hero who isn't what he seems. As much a treatise on what it means to be family as it is a rollicking, non-stop sci-fi thriller. Great stuff!
I read it from cover to cover. The protagonist starts as an anti hero who isn't what he seems. As much a treatise on what it means to be family as it is a rollicking, non-stop sci-fi thriller. Great stuff!
March 6, 2022
Mind Maze
Interesting story but hard to keep track where character interactions were occurring. Little longer than normal but had good ending. Readers enjoying dreamlike worlds will find book a real page turner.
Interesting story but hard to keep track where character interactions were occurring. Little longer than normal but had good ending. Readers enjoying dreamlike worlds will find book a real page turner.
February 5, 2022
What a ride!!!! This book was twisty, so very twisty, and I loved everything about it.
February 6, 2022
Thriller
This book is a real page-turner. It captures you from start to finish. Highly recommended even if you think you're not a sci-fi fan (like me)!
This book is a real page-turner. It captures you from start to finish. Highly recommended even if you think you're not a sci-fi fan (like me)!
February 28, 2022
This is an interesting story but it seemed to take forever to read. Much of the action takes place in someone's mind. It's close to 800 pages long and I can't really recommend it.
March 7, 2022
Intriguingly different.
A plot of many twists. Initially I found the book very slow but persist you will be rewarded by a story showing the power of the human mind.
A plot of many twists. Initially I found the book very slow but persist you will be rewarded by a story showing the power of the human mind.
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