Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian LitRPG
4.25 out of 5 stars
Absolution was a book that I didn’t know much about going in. I know Sloan is a fantastic author so I went into it with pretty high hopes even though I wasn’t sure what I was getting into.
It read like a post-apocalyptic/dystopian LitRPG. Now, the way that I read this, it wasn’t really a LitRPG – but it has the same levels and level up features that they usually do. In my head it was sort of a dystopian future where everyone is basically a number now.
The storytelling and character building in this opening book of a series was good. There wasn’t a ton of it early on – it was sprinkled within and I really like that. I felt like I knew enough about the main characters that I could guess what was coming next but not enough to always guess correctly – making the story a surprise throughout.
Overall, the story was enjoyable and since it’s a series I’m be curious to read more of. It wasn’t perfect and had its flaws but the good definitely out paced the bad. I can see some of the books that it’s said to read like (especially Ready Player One).
Throw in the narration by Gary Bennett and it takes it to another level. I thought that he did a great job on it and really helped take a story I wanted to read and turn it into a story I enjoyed listening to. He was able to give the characters some feeling without turning it into a full production.
Book Description:
It’s a dog-eat-dog world of upgrades and bio-enhanced assassins, where a brutal dictator keeps New Chicago separated from the outside world.
Marisol is a bounty hunter, tasked with tracking down “Runners” – people who have been paid to take the fall for crimes committed by the wealthy. But when she captures a young Runner with a secret, she unknowingly stumbles into a vast conspiracy. The hunter becomes the hunted as those in power turn the city inside out trying to crush anyone who would dare to expose the truth.
Nowhere is safe as Assassins close in from every direction. The unlikely duo of a Runner and a rising-star Hunter must survive the endless onslaught to blow the lid off the rampant, city-wide corruption…or be silenced forever.
A bit Logan’s Run, Running Man, Escape from New York, and even some Ready Player One.
Absolution by George S. Mahaffey Jr., Justin Sloan
Narrator: Gary Bennett
Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
Published by Elder Tree Press on October 16th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Buy from Audible
Also by this author: Designated Survivors, Requiem
