Header PromotionSilenced by Nicole Givens Kurtz
For the past few months or so I've been waiting for this book and a new
sci-fi series to sink my teeth into. Silenced certainly delivered. The
story revolves around Cybil Lewis, a private investigator in the year
2146 during a time with the United States has broken up into smaller
territories. In the running for the governor position is Mayor
Annabelle Christensen, a picture perfect poised woman always decked out
in designer wear. Mayor Christensen comes to Cybil for help with
finding her daughter Amanda who went missing. Cybil eventually takes
her up on the offer and soon dives into a conspiracy where everyone
wears masks and the truth is hidden between a neatly threaded web of
lies.
I really enjoyed Silenced for so many reasons. Cybil for
one weaves this tale with such a unique voice as she speaks to the
audience throughout the book. There were so many one liners and quips
that kept me chuckling to myself at her smart alecky comebacks The real
beauty of the book lies within the descriptions. Kurtz has a gift for
describing visuals and feelings so much that you can feel the
atmosphere of futuristic D.C. and Memphis, taste the food (Cybil has an
affinity for the peppered sweetness of jalapeno jelly on toast with her
coffee) and see the cool gadgets of the age. I have to admit the
gadgets were probably some of my favorite additions to the story. From
the hovering automobiles called wautos to the foghog which attaches to
the end of cigarettes to inhale second hand smoke to the dangerous
drugs of the day from ackback to Zenith, I felt like I had fallen into
a different world and I loved meeting the different inhabitants. The
variations of culture with the characters make the closeness to reality
a special treat because you don't see much diversity in most sci-fi
books of today.
Silenced has the feel of a film noir mixed with
science fiction; two of my favorite genres mixed together like the
awesome and classical Blade Runner. Readers may liken the series to the
current popular J.D. Robb's In Death series (the first book I couldn't
get into and didn't finish) and although there may be some similarities
(Captain Hansen reminded me of Roarke for some reason and I really hope
to see him and Cybil start something in the future!) this book was
infinitely better.
The story takes it's time to start up while
it introduces you to the background of Cybil and her surroundings, but
once it gets going you'll have to hold onto your seat. Although the
mystery is tied up in the end, including some characters that were
introduced really early in the book, there were still a question or two
brought up later in the book that still are left unanswered. I imagine
with the series we'll learn more about these items as we dive into more
mysteries and get more information on the factions that inhabit this
world.
The Cybil Lewis series is definitely an auto-buy with
Silenced going on my keeper shelf. If you enjoy a futuristic mystery
noir series with a fiesty, tough PI heroine you may want to pick it up
and give it a read.
Everyone needs a lil romance & adventure in their lives. ;-)
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