Affiliate links can be found within this post. If you need additional information, please see the disclaimer.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
MY REVIEW:
Genre | Tropes: Science Fiction, Alien Invasion, One World Government, Conspiracies
Rating: 5 out of 5 ⭐
I always enjoy a good sci-fi book, coming from someone who is a huge fan of Dune (but only the SyFy TV version from 2000) and my all-time favorite book is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein. I’ll say that this book was a great return to those types of complicated character environments.
Isolating Contact features at least 8 different perspectives throughout the book, some are one-time only and others are revisited repeatedly. But the POV changes are essential to the story progression and provide a view inside of each layer of activity as it unfolds.
I found myself attached to every character and their layers of complication from the villainous Emelia that heads up the One World Government controlling the population like pawns pieces to the nerdy and quirky Alexis who hosts the nightly conspiracy podcast about the “truth” behind everything. There’s not too much I want to say about the plot because I’m afraid it might give away pivotal pieces to those who haven’t read it and I’m not a spoiler sport.
The other thing that I absolutely LOVED about this book was it’s use of music as a method for catharsis in two major events in the story. If you’re from a similar generation as me then you’ll remember the early 2000’s and the appearance of Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory and Meteora album. I was a huge fan of these albums and there’s a scene where two characters are enveloped in major trauma and start belting the lyrics to “Somewhere I Belong” from Linkin Park.
It was a powerful and relatable moment that I’m sure I won’t be able to forget for such a long time. I remember as a teenager doing the dishes every night with my CD player (yes… a CD player) tucked safely in the front pocket of my hoodie and my headphones feeding up through the inside while I listened to this CD on replay for hours on end. It truly was a personal connection to this story to have this song included.
Somewhere I Belong
(Sample of Song)
I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long
(Erase all the pain ’til it’s gone)
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong
This book ends with a little bit of a cliff hanger, not too bad though and there is a second book coming this Fall which I will absolutely be reading!
If you like a good sci-fi adventure where aliens and humans interact and the world is in danger, then I highly recommend this one!
GET IT HERE:
The truth has never set anyone free
It’s 2032 and mankind is quite proud of themselves. Nuclear weapons have been destroyed and humans have earned their first contact moment. There’s peace with the mysterious alien visitors right up until the portal connecting their two worlds becomes operational, and only hours later, all Hell breaks loose.
“Isolating Contact” is a fast-paced merger of science fiction and thriller told through the eyes of five strangers whose lives become entangled in an intergalactic conflict. Earth’s fate lies in the hands of a sociopath propagandist, her guerilla journalist nemesis, a hero pilot with a dark secret, a wannabe astronaut out for vengeance, and a mercenary on the lam. Sometimes as enemies and other times as allies, this collection of loners will shape the future of their species, if there’s to be one at all.
The ugly truth behind why things went so wrong is buried out there somewhere, and it may cost them everything if they go digging for it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ash Remington
Hey gang. I’m Ash, debut author of “Isolating Contact” which is the first entry in a series of commercial, sci-fi, political thrillers. As a fan of storytelling, I’m seeking to interject a fresh perspective and provide a unique brand of fast-paced novels that challenge the repetitiveness of the current market. First and foremost, I want to entertain you. It’s my position that reading should be fun and that you should never stumble upon a paragraph where skimming is an option. You can glean whatever message suits you from the themes of my stories, but at the end of the book, I hope you had a good time.
Looking for book recs…
Adventures in Literature 
Leave a comment