Saturday

Book Review - Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

Paperback: 418 pages
Publisher: 47North
Publication date: 23 July 2013
ISBN13: 97816121836408

First Line - "The radio host had said there was a war coming, said it like he was looking forward to it, and Cooper, coatless and chilly in the desert evening, was thinking that the radio man was an asshole."
In Wyoming, a little girl reads people's darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They're called "brilliants" and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in - and betray his own kind.

This would make a great film! Which is handy since the film rights have just been sold to Legendary Pictures (Dark Knight series, Inception).

It's wasn't the book I thought it was going to be though. The blurb focuses on tiny bits of the story and based on that I thought I knew what I was getting into. Some of the people in the story are 'gifted's', 'brilliant's', 'abnorms'...whatever, and those are the people I wanted to read about, the one's with the 'special talents'. I wanted their stories. I did get a bit of that but mostly it's a tense, action filled, political thriller. I think. Kind of. It's a bit hard to pigeon hole, actually. There's lots of action, a bit of political and it's thrilling - But the characters were where I wanted all the attention focused.

However, the story is well written and kept me turning pages. There's espionage, romance, family drama, races against time, suspense...it's all there and worth a read. I think this may be the first book in a trilogy(?) but I'm not sure where I read that. I hope it's true. Maybe in follow on books I'll get to find out more about the characters and all of their wonderful talents.

Can't wait for the film!

I received an ARC of this book for review purposes. Opinions are my own.

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