Infinity Lost (The Infinity Trilogy Book 1) by S. Harrison

I got this book today as part of the Kindle First program and I’ve managed to read the entire thing. The fact that I managed to read it in a single day shows just how well this book held my attention.

Infinity Blackstone, aka “Finn” is the 17 year old daughter of Richard Blackstone, CEO of Blackstone Industries and the richest, most influential man in the world. And yet Finn has never met her father and knows nothing of him other than what she hears in news reports.

But when she turns 17, Finn begins to ask herself more questions about her past. For the first 16 years of her life, she’s never had dreams. But starting the night of her 17th birthday, Finn begins having vivid dreams where she recalls memorable events from her childhood. Except that as she relives these events, details of her past that she didn’t remember start revealing themselves. Like why did her nanny warn of her father’s bad intentions towards her? And how was it possible for her broken arm to heal itself in two days? Is anything that Finn remembers of her past really accurate, or are her dreams revealing the truth? Just who, exactly, is she?

With the help of her best friend Bit, Finn goes on a quest to get some answers. They hack their way into Blackstone Technologies, and try to hunt down her father. Will they succeed in finding him? Will Finn ever learn the truth about her past?

I couldn’t believe it but this book had me riveted from the opening pages. And the suspense keeps building up as the story progresses. Finn is a likeable character and easy to relate to.

However, I was very disappointed by the ending. I wasn’t shocked by the ending, because the I had a pretty good hunch what was going on.

—————

This debut novel is a fast-paced page turner that is very nearly a five star science-fiction gem. Since I abhor reviews that are, essentially, a condensed version of the story, and since I loathe spoilers, I’m going to speak in more general terms so you can make your own purchase decision, yet still enjoy the story as it unfolds.

Imagine a world in which Apple (or Microsoft or Amazon or Google) has become so wildly successful that every facet of your daily life is perfect and has been provided by that one tech company.

The trouble with such a setting is to create a believable conflict, but this author passes this task fairly well. I could suspend my disbelief.

I also was surprised that this book was so fast-paced even though it had long chapters. The trend lately, in fiction, is to keep short paragraphs with cliff hangers at the end of each chapter. The writer goes against that trend with panache.

Where the story is weak, however, is in character development. As a reader investing my time into a story, I want to love the heroine and despise, even if respectfully, the villain. I also want to experience shock, horror, remorse or fear when I come across a corpse. One other issue, as noted by another reviewer. Infinity Lost ends on a cliffhanger, forcing readers to look for closure by purchasing the next installment.

Therefore, although I did find this an engaging, intriguing read that I could zip through in a single sitting, I can rate it only four stars.

Good enough to encourage me to read the next installment, but this could have been a great story with only a little more effort.

Again, this is an excellent debut novel worth my investment in reading time.