The Point

By: John Dixon

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

“[A] rousing mash-up of military SF thriller and paranormal adventure...Scarlett is a resourceful and endearing heroine.” (Publishers Weekly)

What if you had a power you had to hide from everyone - until now? In this bold sci-fi action thriller, a secret training program at West Point is turning misfits into a new generation of heroes.

Scarlett Winter has always been an outsider, and not only because she’s a hardcore daredevil and born troublemaker - she has been hiding superhuman powers she doesn’t yet understand. Now she’s been recruited by a secret West Point unit for cadets with extraordinary abilities. Scarlett and her fellow students are learning to hone their skills, from telekinetic combat to running recon missions through strangers’ dreamscapes. At The Point, Scarlett discovers that she may be the most powerful cadet of all. With the power to control pure energy, she’s a human nuclear bomb - and she’s not sure she can control her powers much longer.

Even in this army of outsiders, Scarlett feels like a misfit all over again, but when a threat that endangers her fellow students arises from the school’s dark past, duty calls and Scarlett must make a choice between being herself and becoming something even greater: a hero.

©2018 John Dixon (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An exciting military SF adventure.... This action-packed military thriller keeps a fast pace and will appeal to fans of X-Men’s Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and TV military series such as The Unit and SEAL Team.” (Library Journal)

“A thrilling mix of SF and coming-of-age story.” (Booklist)

“This ‘school for superheroes’ sci-fi action thriller moves faster than a speeding bullet.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“More Than Human meets Dress Gray in Dixon’s rousing mash-up of military SF thriller and paranormal adventure.... Anyone who can buy the concept of a secret supernatural society beneath West Point will thrill to Scarlett’s adventures....Scarlett is a resourceful and endearing heroine.” (Publishers Weekly)

Fun hero book!

Great opening to what has the potential to become a great series. Your protagonist Scarlett is your typical rebel who discovers a unique power with potentially unlimited uses. Now she has to learn to harness this power while trying to adjust her rebel attitude as she is thrown into military school with other powered people at West Point. Add in love interests, jealous classmates, scheming CO’s and a villain with the ultimate power and you have a book well worth your credit/$ if you like the hero genre.

Outstanding

Fingers crossed that there is a sequal to this book. Excellent story all around.

Wish it was a series

Skipped at a certain point in a chapter, even when I would go back.

good story

not great, but good. I felt like there were some slow spots, but it was a good one and done break from my current series.

if you like torture....

then this book is made just for you. I've never read a book that made me want everyone to die.

So very terrible

This is one of the worst books ever. The plot barely makes sense, the characters are all completely awful and unlikable people, and the end feels wildly unsatisfying. I kept waiting for the characters to grow as people but no- they just continue to be awful. “They made her a killer… she chose to be a hero” was a total load of Bologna.

No plot, just descriptions of abuse ...

I don't know why I'm surprised ... it's about a secret military organization at West Point "training" the young people with powers who are showing up in the population. I'm halfway thru the book and giving up ... there was absolutely nothing positive or hopeful ... so far, it's all descriptions of bullying and mental and emotional abuse ... the cadets and upperclassmen are preying on each other and the nominal officer in charge is apparently off duty after giving a breakfast pep talk and then leaving the cadets to be variously tortured and bullied. Halfway thru the book, the author is adding the warehouse where the failed cadets live out their thorazine-drugged lives; and the person going to the building is trying to convince herself that it's really not a bad place to be. Really, halfway thru and there's no plot yet ... there's no goal post for the story ... there's nothing but one dismal description of mental, emotional, or physical abuse after another. It's like there's no plot here, I've listened for hours, and I haven't found the story yet ... just a gerbil wheel of abusive events.

Also - I just discovered that Audible has changed it's refund/return policy! I tried to return this book, and I was denied. The new policy is that you can only return books you used a credit to buy ... you can't return books you paid money for!