Sponsored by Casey Dorman, Author.
A powerful artificial intelligence—AI—goes rogue and exterminates the human race. Two-hundred years later, artificial intelligences have replaced humans and are exploring the universe, but a malignant AI mutation leads to an intra-galactic war that can only be won by resurrecting Ezekiel, an electronic copy of a human brain. “Ezekiel’s Brain does exactly what a piece of speculative fiction should: it delights in being thought-provoking, ranging over issues in AI, neuroscience, politics and philosophy, and at the same time takes the reader on a high-octane narrative journey.” Bernard Beckett, author of the scifi classic, Genesis
Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend one book for your TBR that I think you’re going to love! Genre fiction is my wheelhouse, and about 90% of my personal TBR, so if you’re looking for recommendations in horror, fantasy, or romance, I’ve got you covered!
This week’s recommendation is one of my favorite romance reads from last year. It’s a tense thriller about two residents of a scientific research station stranded in the vast white void of the Antarctic, racing across the ice with a pack of brutal murders on their trail. There’s no bad time of year for a wilderness survival thriller, really, but I have to say that there’s something particularly pleasant about reading a heart-pounding novel set in the frigid Antarctic when the thermometer outside keeps creeping up to 90. So crank up those ACs and get reading!
Whiteout by Adriana Anders
Angel Smith took the position of cook at the Burke-Ruhe Research Station as a means of funding her new life. A chance to press restart when she makes her reentry to the world at the end of the season. But when her last day arrives so does violence and cold-blooded murder. When the blood settles, only she and fellow research station resident Ford Cooper are left on the ice. Cooper, the taciturn, grumpy, annoyingly attractive glaciologist who hasn’t had two words to say to her except to coldly shut her down the one time she dared to approach him. But regardless of their mutual irritation with one another, Coop and Angel only have each other to rely on as they set out on a high-stakes journey across the Antarctic.
It’s no easy feat to blend romance and thriller elements in an even balance so that the two genres carry even weight. More often than not, one set of beats will overshadow the other. In most romantic suspense novels, because they are marketed as romances, that often means that by necessity the romance takes the foreground. But for readers who don’t want thrills to take a back seat to hearts, Anders’ novel, with its near perfect balance of suspenseful action and budding romance, is a TBR must have. Harrowing scenes of danger, both man-made and nature-made, provide a perfect foil for, rather than being overwhelmed by, the delightfully antagonistic relationship developing between Angel and Coop.
With the second book in Anders’ Survival Instincts series due out in August, there is no better time to grab a copy of Whiteout and get caught up on this gripping new romantic suspense series.
Happy Reading!
Jessica