Code Breakers: Alpha by Colin F. Barnes [Review]

Code Breakers: Alpha (Code Breakers #1) by Colin F. Barnes
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review as part of the Heroes Urban Fantasy bundle
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 4, 2014

Code Breakers
1. Alpha - Kindle
2. Beta
3. Gamma
4. Delta

Colin F. Barnes
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity survives within a single domed city run by a shadowy benefactor known only as The Family. Each week the death lottery claims more lives and Gerry Cardle, head of the lottery, inexplicably finds himself the next on the list.

Something's wrong with the system. A deadly artificial intelligence has breached security. Gerry has just 7 days to live. Forced off the grid, Gerry has to do the unthinkable: willingly leave the city. What he finds in the abandoned lands will shatter his perception of what it means to be human. Everything he had been told before was a lie.

In a deadly world of conspiracies, Gerry has to sacrifice everything he loves in order to save it, and time is running out.

Thoughts on Code Breakers: Alpha: I liked parts of this book quite a bit, but it took me a while to get into the flow of the story. Given that this is a pretty sci-fi centric story, the taking a while wasn't surprising. I tend to have to get the lay of the land and unravel how it works before I start understanding the characters.

That said, I don't know how I feel about where it ended. Being the first book in a four book cycle, VERY little of what is laid out through the course of the story is resolved. So, yeah, there were things I liked (the gritty, post-apocalyptic world was whacked, man. WHACKED. And I liked it.), but there were also things I wanted more resolution to. (Again, I totally get that this is only the beginning of the story. I just wanted more answers.)

So. Gerry. He seemed like such a normal guy in the beginning. Then things get freaky. We start to see that he's very much NOT normal and the things he can do might make all the difference in the world. The connections he makes outside the walls lead to revelations and betrayal.

There's a lot going on in this book.

Bottom line, there were things I liked and things I didn't like. Most of my discontent revolves around the lack of resolution, however, and has nothing to do with the storytelling itself.