Killswitch: A Kinetic Thrill-Ride

Ryun Patterson of Bookgasm reviews Joel Shepherd’s latest, Killswitch,third in his Cassandra Kresnov series. Ryun has been a big supporter of the previous two books, so it’s good to hear that Killswitch is, in his opinion, “another remarkable effort that remains true to its predecessors and shows Shepherd’s evolution as a writer. His strengths are on full display: Action is electric and infused with the rough-edged reality of warfare, the characters are multifaceted and introspective, and the sexy quotient is once again high. Kresnov as a character has matured in a delicious way, staying hot and ultra-bad-ass while keeping the self-examining, self-reliant emotional core that makes her such an appealing heroine…”

I’m also always very gratified to see when cover art makes it into a discussion of a book, as our genre has a unique history of illustration that deserves much more attention than it historically gets. In this case, Ryun says, “So many times when you get books with covers as great as Stephan Martiniere’s, the contents are a letdown, but the kinetic thrill-ride of the Pyr covers really captures the essence of what’s great about this series.”

Update: Calico Reaction reviews Killswitch, as well as previous book Breakaway. Her overall impression: “Overall, this has been a pretty enjoyable trilogy. It’s ambitious and intellectual, action-packed but yet intimate. Shepherd’s greatest strength are characters you can really emphasize with and the amazing level of his diverse, culturally relevant world-building. Also enjoyable is the fact he really does have some strong, heroic women leads, and multiple leads at that, which is really awesome.”