Book Spotlight – Codename Omega: Omega Rising by Jessica Meats

Did you know that I love to read? I don’t talk about it much on this blog, since my focus has been on writing, but it’s true.

I love books!

I love them so much, that I’m adding a new feature on my blog. I figured, since I’m putting the time in to read books, I’d share them with whoever’ll listen to me. (Note: I tend to almost exclusively read independently published novels these days, and this is a nice plug for them too.) I’ll be sharing the speculative fiction novels I read, since that is my writing focus (and my passion.)

**See my disclosure at the end**

I hope you enjoy this new feature.

Okay…here we go.

Novel: Codename Omega: Omega Rising

Author: Jessica Meats

How I found this book: Mystery-Thriller Week is an eleven day celebration of novels, authors, and readers with a passion for mystery and thriller stories. It runs from February 12^th to the 22^nd. I stumbled across this novel through the pages of participants. What caught my attention was the books genre: a scifi mystery. If you enjoy mystery & thriller novels, head over to the Mystery-Thriller Week blog or join their Facebook group. It should be a lot of fun.

Amazon book description:

Jenny Harding has no money, no qualifications and no career history. A job working security for a big tech firm seems too good to be true. Maybe it is.

She is tasked with hunting down a group of thieves who have been stealing sensitive technology. Caught up in a battle involving alien forces, Jenny has some important questions to answer:
–Who are the thieves?
–What’s their real purpose?
–And is she on the right side?

What’s not in the blurb: Being hunted down and attacked wasn’t the kind of job interview Jenny Harding had in mind when she turned in her resume to Grey Tower. Now, she’s got the job and becomes tangled in a web of missing high-tech devices…not only that, when one of the thief’s are killed, she finds her hands on technology that can only be described as alien.

As I writer, what I really enjoyed and appreciated: Kudos to the author on the foreshadowing. The story was told in first person past tense and there were times the main character would give you a glimpse of things she wished they knew at the time…or what was yet to come. I felt this did a fantastic job of creating suspense and a feeling of dread for the future. (And secondarily, I enjoyed the references to the martial arts throughout the book. While I was reading, I caught myself wondering if the author had some type of training herself.)

Who’d enjoy this book: This book is a great, quick read, with some good action and science fiction that takes place on Earth (not space-opera, even though there are aliens.) Right up my alley. The book wraps up quickly, and leaves some things unresolved, as it is the first book in a series.

My overall impression: For some reason, this is the third novel in a row I’ve read written by a European writer. I’m digging that. This story was a nice introduction to a series, showcasing how an “average” person got caught up in an alien conspiracy—becoming a hero, costume and all. I enjoyed the alien technology, adapted for human use. This had it all…a little action…conspiracy…scifi…mystery…and romance. The plot was well done. Despite really enjoying the creative concepts of the story, this story is told first person, filtered through the main character’s perspective. It gave it an old-time detective story feel, which detached me from the story’s action. Not bad–just different than I typically read.

About the author: Jessica Meats is a graduate of the University of York and works in the IT industry. She draws on her experiences as a technology specialist and martial arts student to create a unique and interesting fictional community of combat experts and computer geeks.

Other books in the series:

• Codename Omega: Traitor in the Tower (Book 2)

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My disclosure: I hate star ratings. Honestly, I think these are so subjective and sometimes reflect the reader more than they do the book. Because this is my blog, and I can do anything I want, I’m not using them.

I think ANYBODY who puts the time, effort, and dedication to write and publish an entire novel deserves 5 stars anyway. Also, when I read indie authors, I realize they operate on a shoestring (non-existent) budget and don’t have a team of college educated professionals helping them fine tune their novels.