Time Heist

Firstborn Saga Volume 1

De: Anthony Vicino

Narrado por: Adam Verner

Tom Mandel's got 24 hours to catch his wife's killer, stop a war, and save the world...again.

Former time vice detective Tom Mandel lost his wife after failing to stop Malcolm Wolfe from pulling off the biggest time heist in Unity history. Nine years later, with less than a day remaining on his government-allotted Life Tracker, Tom's ready to join her.

But when his former partner, Alaina Raines, brings word that Wolfe has escaped prison and is gearing up for another heist, Tom must decide: spend his last hours on Earth in a drug-induced haze or return to the life he left behind to catch the man who broke him.

For Tom, it's not about justice anymore. Only vengeance. Now all he's got to do is catch Malcolm before the numbers catch him

Are you ready to join Tom on his quest to find his wife's killer?

Buy Time Heist today to start a thrilling adventure that'll have you on the edge of your seat until the very last second!

Time Heist is the first book in The Firstborn Saga, featuring fast-paced action, thrilling suspense, and complex characters. If you like Jim Butcher, William Gibson, and Chuck Wendig, then you'll love this captivating postapocalyptic adventure.

©2014 Anthony Vicino (P)2015 Anthony Vicino

I. Loved. This. Book.

Any additional comments?

I love science fiction but I was not prepared for how much I loved Time Heist. It's incredibly well-written in a Raymond Chancellor Philip Marlowe kind of way. One of my many, many favorite lines: "I didn't want her pity. I wanted answers but this conversation was leading nowhere but to the little town of Pissed Off with a population of me." (I know, right!!!) The characters, main and otherwise, were well-developed. You hated who you were supposed to hate and rooted for who you were supposed to root for. And that ending!! My heart is still racing. I did not, could not, see that ending coming. What a rush!

Even with the fantastic story and witty writing, the narrator knocked it out of the park. He was able to deliver the dialogue of many different characters, including females and sinister bad guys, with seemingly no effort. I think I want to marry him. I will look for more books by both the author and this narrator. Loved, loved, loved this book!!

A plot with twists and hidden surprises

I gave this four out of five stars for the break neck pace of an action movie, the beautiful language of a beloved classic, and the vivid imagery I wish existed in more contemporary works of this genre.
What I liked:
1) The characters, each one was full of hidden surprises that were just as intriguing as the plot of the book. In the beginning most are sketched together and appear very typical to the crime-thriller genre, they evolve and transform which made them fresh and added depth to the novel.
2) The Futuristic world, in my opinion is one of the stand out features of the book. I like being taken to new places that are strange and different, and Vicino took me somewhere new with gusto. Nano technology that does everything from brushing teeth to fixing a broken leg, flying cars, hologram clothing, and air transport that works off of a real scientific theory.
3) The plot, there are a lot of moving parts in it. Some of the early scenario’s seemed to bump against my suspended disbelief, but somehow the protagonists impending death made it work. I like the role of time in the plot, and how as time wore out it became more important.

A Must Read for fans of Urban Sci-Fi Cyberpunk!!!

Excellent Book! Highly Recommended! Can't Wait for the Sequel!

Set several hundred years in the future, mankind had a war and tried to annihilate themselves and failed. Out of this war comes a one world government known as Unity. It has been determined that the world can only safely sustain a human population of 7 billion without depleting all resources and destroying every living thing on the planet. To that end, each person is given a maximum lifespan of 70 years. When that time expires you simply die. At birth each person receives a counter on their arm that shows how much time they have left, assuming that they are not killed by some accident, murder or drug abuse (which makes their time go faster hence shortening the lifespan).

Tom has only a few hours left on his time clock which he plans to use sulking and drinking at the Peregrine, a bar in the Lowers where he has been living since retiring as a time cop several years before. However, when his old nemesis, Malcolm Wolfe, escapes from prison where he has been sentenced to life without parole for killing one million Intuits (Humans who can manipulate the time stream) he is thrust into one more mission to try and recapture him before he kills again.

Anthony Vicino has a potential bestseller on his hands with Time Heist, and Adam Lerner does a masterful job at narrating this Sci-Fi Suspense Drama. I highly recommend both the book and the audio book for fans of urban sci-fi and cyberpunk.

A Great New Series!

First off, Time Heist is a great novel. It is one of those novels you feel as though you watched instead of read. There are a great many intense action scenes that keep the book flowing from page to page and a story line with plot twists that will have you craving to know what happens next. The only issues I had with the novel (why I gave it 4 stars) are that I feel as though some things were used too often. Take for example the word 'nanites'. I didn't count how many times it was used, but if I make it a point in my review, it was probably somewhat exorbitant. Similes are used ferociously throughout the novel as well, making the scenes a little too drawn out at times. And, since I listened to the audiobook (because I'm a boss like that), I did enjoy listening to Adam Verner on long car rides, except for his chosen inflection for the antagonist. It was just a bit annoying at times, but did not detract from the book.

Overall, I look forward to the next installment by Vicino because he definitely has something here.

filled to the brim with action

Time Heist by Anthony Vicino is the first in a series called the Firstborn Saga. Unity was created after the world was destroyed through weaponry hundreds of years ago. In an attempt to control the population so that the human race can continue to survive on its limited resources, the life tracker was invented. Displayed on a person’s arm, the life tracker counts down to the end everyone’s designated life time. Life time can be squandered through the use of drugs, won in wagers, or stolen from the stream. Tom Handel used to work for Time Vice, the law enforcement agency in charge of catching criminals who steal others life time. After the death of his wife and the imprisonment of her murderer, Tom becomes a drug addict and loses his position. Nine years later, as his remaining time is coming to an end, he becomes wrapped up in the politics of time and the control of peoples’ lives once again as he attempts to find the escaped Malcom.

This is a cyber-science fiction novel that is filled to the brim with action. It jumps from one thrilling life threatening scene to another quickly. While the life tracker concept is easy to pick up, the rest of the stream concept isn’t intuitive and is a bit confusing. Also, I found that the character development was primarily action driven and thus a little flat. The dialogue and actions of the main characters were somewhat predictable. The story is told in first person through the main character of Tom Handel. He is every bit the cynical washed up cop character who still wants to the right thing. He is highly reminiscent of a character from a detective noir novel. This vibe throughout the novel and the intense action are aspects the reader must like to enjoy this novel. The plot itself takes a few turns that were not predictable at all, which for me is what made this novel really interesting. These twists in the plot tie the action together with the political backdrop, which increases in importance as more and more information is revealed. The story comes to a clear end at the end of the novel, but the epilogue opens the door for the next novels in an extremely interesting way.

The narration by Adam Verner is good. He voices the characters well and the obviously evil characters are clearly distinguishable through their voicing. The production quality of the novel was good as well. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes cyber-science fiction novels with a lot of action.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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