Review Chain Reaction by Zoe Archer
Elite 8th Wing pilot Celene Jur was taken captive after a mysterious device temporarily disabled her ship’s controls. Three solar months later, when Celene receives intel on the man who built the device, she’s ready to get the bastard. Only problem is, the higher-ups think her mission partner should be Nils Calder, a tech-head who can understand the disabling device. The attraction between them is electric, but Celene needs a soldier who can watch her back as she exacts her revenge.
Nils knows his department is nicknamed NerdWorks. Pilots like Celene think the closest tech geeks come to combat is all-night Nifalian chess tournaments. But behind the NerdWorks insignia on his sleeve Nils is an able fighter, ready to prove himself and gain Celene’s trust.
The desire between them is unexpected, but with the fate of thousands hanging in the balance, the hotshot pilot and the tech genius must succeed in their mission—no matter the cost.
When Celene was taken hostage, with her ship and rescued by her friends fellow 8th Wing Squadron people, she was spared many of the indignities that could have come as a result of her being taken hostage. So of course to recover her confidence and get justice for herself, when they are going out looking for the man that took her hostage, she was going to be in on the mission to capture the people responsible for her kidnapping.
Nils is a genius, who knows the man that made the machine that enabled Celene’s machine to be taken and later to be sold. She doesn’t want Nils along, thinking he’s just dead weight that is only going to make her job more difficult. However she quickly realizes that Nils is going to be an asset, both because of his formerly close relationship with the man responsible for her capture and with the physical fighting aspects of the recognizance and recovery mission.
Celene is a caricature. She’s initially anime version of herself. She could have been portrayed merely as the ice queen amazing flyer of the 8th Wing Patrols, but Ms. Archer has the great ability to take what we think about the characters, what others would have been happy with and simply making us see the person behind the character. Not only is Celene vividly aware of her reputation she realizes the benefits and the drawbacks of being a figure head, a symbol, an ideal. She even says she isn’t sure if people want to be with her or with her reputation.
Nils is so secure with who he is, and is so simply okay with being the Nerd that he’s not put off by any of Celene’s hostility or her bristly nature. He is so self aware that he knows exactly what he is capable of and he is able to easily adapt to Celenes style and of her needs as they are fighting and they are finding their perpetrator.
Chain Reaction is action packed. Its full of kickass heroines, and kickass heros who also have brains, emotional intelligence and IQ to match.
LOVED it.
Overall Rating: B+
