A tricky one to judge because the first half and all its mysteries are quite exciting, but then the ultimate reveal is just a bit preposterous and gets itself tangled into knots.

I would probably pick up the next book if it was on special offer, just to see how things pan out, but it’s not something that I feel I desperately must read the next book of…

I did not finish this novel although the writing was good. The story was just not something I found interesting as I'm not a big fan of science fiction

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs.
Project Nemesis Book 1.
Everything changes in an eye blink . . .
It’s been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, the same man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later she wakes up in a clearing just outside her hometown – alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the crime erased.Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him too, though he does his best to hide the signs.As the world around them begins to spiral towards panic and destruction, the two troubled teens discover that people have been lying to them their whole lives . . .
A very good read with good characters. Great story. A great 1st book to a series. 4*.

Omg omg omg .......... this book was amazing I could not put it down I read every word on the edge of my seat I loved the story line, i loved the way the story just kept us guessing all the way threw I loved all the twists and turns and would defiantly recommend this book it was so believable and kept the reader engaged I love it

Book Review

Title: Nemesis (Project Nemesis Book 1) by Brendan Reichs

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The opening to Nemesis was actually really interesting and I don’t know why I put it off for so long. We are introduced to Melinda “Min” was for every two years on her birthday since she was eight has been murdered by a mysterious man only to wake up in a field unharmed. There is also a big Announcement coming in the present as there is an asteroid that will possibly destroy Earth and the Announcement is to tell the people whether the asteroid is actually going to destroy Earth. When she was young she told her mother and a man named Doctor Lowell about them and was given medication to deal with it but she has always thought that there is more going on but no one is telling her anything. She doesn’t tell anyone now not even her best friend Thomas “Tack” but she is struggling with her situation as she lives with her mother and they are quite poor and Tack comes from an abusive family. I loved the scene where they blew up the school bully’s car but one of that group, Noah stands out to me as having a possible connection to Min. The man who kills her though is also strange both in the present and the in flashbacks as he is expressionless as he kills Min but whenever she asks him why he is killing her he just apologizes and I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

Very quickly things start getting interesting as the man who kills Min has never left any evidence behind making her question her sanity until this time she finds a boot print exactly like the ones he was wearing when he killed her. For Min this is huge especially since the asteroid is going to miss Earth she knows that it will happen again unless she can figure out how to stop it. She debates telling Tack about the killings but doesn’t want to lose her only close friend and then she remembers the kinship she had with Noah as a child. Through a flashback we learn that all the children were subjected to Government tests for something called Project Nemesis when they were really little and the only two children taken were Min and Noah, yet Min can’t remember what happened to her during the time she was taken only what happened after and how her mother was convinced that it was necessary. This means that Min’s mother is aware of what happened to her and she might be able to get some information out of her but with the Government moving in again I am not so sure. Min has had enough of noting knowing what is going on so she recruits Tack to break in Doctor Lowell’s office to find her file and find out what is going on once and for all. However, the breaking and entering leaves them with more questions than answers. They learns that Min and Noah are patients A and B in the Project Nemesis whatever that is and unlike their classmates who have been watched closely and well documented there seems to be absolutely nothing on Min and Noah other than some consent forms signed by their mothers so Min’s mother does have some knowledge of what Project Nemesis is and what has been happening to Min which would explain her strange behaviour most of the time.

They don’t get long in the office before someone returns but they do learn from a memo that Project Nemesis is supposed to be ending in ten days and that was dated two days before. This means whatever Noah and Min are tied up in is coming to a close in just over a week and Min knows she needs to find out if Noah knows anything about Project Nemesis as their fates seemed to be bound together at the moment but we don’t get much more than that for now as we switch over to Noah’s perspective. So far Nemesis is turning out to be an intriguing mystery similar to I am Number Four and I can’t wait to find out more about Project Nemesis and how it relates to Min and Noah. Noah was a more gripping character than Min for me but now we can clearly see the differences between them. Noah unlike Min believes he is mentally ill and that Doctor Lowell is helping him so he trusts the man completely despite his odd behaviour in recent days and he tells him everything about the dreams in the hopes of making them go away while Min doesn’t trust Lowell and keeps everything close to her chest. We also see from Noah’s “dreams” that when the mysterious man comes to kill him he is smoking which he has never done before and he also tells Noah that this is going to be the last time which was the most interesting thing as he has never said anything apart from I’m sorry before. When Min approaches Noah explaining that there is something going on and they are at the centre of it, it causes Noah’s anxiety to spike but it stays with him. Min did omit the fact the Government was involved and they seem to be Guinea pigs for Project Nemesis though. We also see strange things happening like a huge number of minor earthquakes and millions of bees dropping dead for no apparent reason and I have a feeling everything is going to be tied to Project Nemesis. I also liked in Noah’s chapters we get transcripts of his sessions with Lowell which are something he keeps closely guarded at all times.

Noah doesn’t dismiss Min but he doesn’t truly believe her either which makes her angry at him because of the evidence se has collected. However, this does sow a seed in Noah’s mind and he begins to notice odd behaviour with Doctor Lowell especially when he expresses concern over the medication and therapy not working to solve his issues and when he brings up inconsistencies with the story that Lowell told him was true. The straw that breaks the camel’s back though is when he sees Doctor Lowell and other people he knows with the man who has been killing him over and over and realises that he is a real person meaning the dreams are real and Lowell has been lying to him for years. This sends Noah into a state of panic but he manages to calm himself down enough to realises that for the man to appear every two years on his birthday he needs to be staying close by and manages to figure out he is staying in a lodge owned by Noah’s father. He travels to the lodge, armed and ready to confront the mysterious man but he isn’t there. Despite this Noah is able to learn that the strange weather phenomena are connected to the man and Project Nemesis and they have been tracking them as both he and Min seem to be microchipped or something similar which causes him to flee from the lodge.

Both Noah and Min realise that they have to speak again order to find out what the other actually knows and this was an amazing scene as each are missing vital knowledge that the other has and both confess to being killed by the mysterious man which absolutely blows Tack’s mind. Now that the three of them are working as a team they decide to come up with a plan to find out more about Project Nemesis. They decide to break into the military facility they saw the troops heading into a few days before as that is their best bet at getting the information they want. They decide to do it that night and while they manage to get into the facility before they can even think about getting into any of the buildings an alarm goes off and they are surrounded in minutes. The soldiers want to shoot them all but when Min announces them by name, Sheriff Watson explains that Min and Noah are betas and Tack is part of the experimental group and it would harm the Project to kill them. The solider agree to let Min and Noah go but they want to shoot Tack so the Sherriff steps up killing the solider allowing the trio to escape. Min does press him for information but he doesn’t give them anything but tells Min he believed in her the most and the information they want will come to them soon. As the trio escape, Sherriff Watson buys them time although he does sacrifice his own life in the process which is a sucker punch for Noah who has been very cushioned up until this moment. As everything begins to dissolve around the trio we begin to see Noah and Min being drawn together and I believe it is for a reason. Before they can come up with another idea their entire class is rounded up by soldiers and taken to the military facility where Tack’s father is shot trying to get to his son. Nothing is explained to the kids as the ground erupts around them and very quickly they are all gassed waking up in the clearing that Min wakes up in after her murders and everyone else is gone. Before the gassing several kids make references to the Hunger Games and I have a feeling that this is going to be much worse considering the state the world was going to in the days and hours leading up to the gassing where Min in the first to wake up.

When they wake up they realise that everyone apart from the 64 students has vanished including the animals. A few also notice that the buildings and the mountain that were damaged during the earthquakes have mysteriously repaired themselves and a few comment that it is almost like they are in an alternate universe. Most of the kids also experienced the same sensation as they were gassed of their minds being ripped apart and then being put back together which I feel is very significant and might explain what is happening to them. However, Ethan quickly establishes a dictatorship and forces everyone to do tasks in order to receive food as his father was the owner of the only supermarket in town and with the bridge still down and the mountain pass blocked they have no choice but to go along with it for now. Noah is torn between bending to Ethan’s will or fighting but as soon as he learns that Ethan has armed his inner circle and isn’t afraid to threaten people with violence and carry it out he knows he has no choice but to keep his head down. This is very quickly turning into a combination of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Gone which I was really enjoying. Min, Tack and Noah are trying to figure out a plan to get away from Ethan but Tack keeps pushing Ethan’s buttons so they have no choice but to comply for now. I can’t wait to see what Min, Noah and Tack come up with if Tack doesn’t get himself killed first.

Things take a darker turn very quickly when Ethan murders take for what he considers treason and throws Min in jail while sending Noah out with a search party into order to find the other students who fled. Noah doesn’t want to leave Min to her fate and when he learns there are other search parties he returns and frees Min and they decide to head to the ski lodge to evade Ethan and the others. However, along the way they encounter Hector who decides to jump from canyon killing himself. After this the traumatised Min and Noah find their way to the trailer park and send the night there but Ethan and his gang quickly close in on them dragging them back. Things get strange though when they encounter Hector who they all saw die, alive and well and he mentions waking up somewhere else completely unharmed, Min and Noah instantly connect this to what happens to them on their birthdays and realise that Hector must be one of the other two betas. It is here they learn that Tack’s body is missing as well meaning he might also be alive and they flee to find him. Noah realises that Hector’s spawn sight is in the south while his and Min’s are to the north and west meaning that logically Tack’s would be out east to complete the points of a compass and they manage to find him alive and well near where Sherriff Watson was killed but I have no idea what is going to happen in the final portion of the novel as Nemesis is the first book in a trilogy.

The ending of Nemesis went in some directions I wasn’t expecting as a reader but I found myself really enjoying them. I don’t want to talk too much about the ending of Nemesis as it reveals some things that I spent the entire book waiting to find out and I don’t want to spoil that for other readers. All I can say about the ending of Nemesis was it took a turn I really wasn’t expecting and if you’ve seen Sword Art Online then it follows a similar theme although not exactly and some of the twists involving the characters were some of the best I’d read in a long time and I can’t wait to read Genesis and the finale to see what the endgame is with this series. Highly recommended!

I finished this book on my train ride to work, and I have to say I was considering taking a day off to process its contents.

It was that good!

I really enjoyed this read. I found it hard to put down and wanted to know more. It was a well written and thought provoking book.

This book just wasn’t for me, the writing style and me just didn’t mix but I can see how this would be enjoyable for many others

The premise of this is book was so intriguing. Just from reading the synopsis I was desperate to know how and why the murders were happening. What I wasn't expecting was the dual perspectives and for another POV of view to be added. I also wish I'd been aware this was part of a series before going in.

Other than this, I quite enjoyed this. I felt like the characters emotions and thoughts were well developed and thought out and made the scenario felt realistic despite the magic realism type element. The buildup to this made me so excited for the ending.
At the end I felt like while we got a lot of answers we were also left with a few more holes and not intriguing cliff hangers I was expecting from a mystery standalone. Obviously now knowing this is part of a series I understand more and will likely be picking up the sequel.
The characters were fine. Nothing too gripping or emotional which personally I need a lot of in a book. Out of the two POV's I preferred Min's. She for me was the more relatable of the two and the more developed.

Reichs writing style flowed easily and made the book a quick read for me and didn't feel like a roughly 450 page book.

Overall I liked this I just didn't LOVE it, ya know.

What is the reason for this bizzarre pattern? It's a hook and we are drawn in to follow the youngsters on their dangerous voyage of discovery.

I really struggled with this book, the writing style, characters etc. I'm a mood reader so I definitely think that played a part. I will go back to it at some point and my proper review will go up then.

This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

Imagine being 8 and being murdered on your birthday, one minute you’re enjoying your birthday party and the next you’re being pushed off a cliff, imagine then finding yourself alive, waking up in a different part of town. Then imagine that happening again on your tenth birthday and every other year after that. For Min that’s her life, every other birthday a man in a black suit finds her, apologises and then kills her.

It was such an interesting introduction to one of the main characters, I couldn’t wait to properly get stuck into the book and find out what was going on. Was she really dying each time? Was it all in her head? And if it was how did she end up in a completely different place when she came to?

There’s a wonderful collection of characters, the book is told primarily from two points of view, Min, who lives with mum in the trailer park, and Noah, the son of a wealthy businessman who lives in one of the biggest houses in town, seemingly two children from very different backgrounds, they find themselves linked together in the mystery. Throughout the story we’re introduced to a number of other characters, from Min and Noah’s classmates, to various adults from the town, Min’s mother, the sheriff and the high school principle for example. There will be characters you love, and characters that you will love to hate, but I won’t tell you which is which! I’ve read so many books recently where characters haven’t been the people that I thought they were, I’ve found myself becoming distrustful of everyone, but I’ll admit I got it wrong with this one!

I wouldn’t want to risk spoiling anybody’s enjoyment of Nemesis by talking a lot about the plot and giving away anything that’s not in the book blurb. I’ll let you all discover Project Nemesis the same way I did, by turning the pages! I loved the split perspective of the novel, discovering things from both Min and Noah’s point of view. I thought the story was well paced, and while some questions were answered I’ve definitely got more of them going into the next book in the series! Every time I thought I knew where this was going something happened and I realised I was way off! I genuinely have no idea where this is going next and I cannot wait to find out!

Would I Recommend?
Absolutely! I had an ARC of Nemesis sitting in my kindle app for months and now I’m kicking myself for not getting to it sooner. I found Nemesis to be a brilliant start to a new series from Brendan. The plot was intriguing and the characters engaging. I really enjoyed the story line being told by both Min and Noah’s perspectives and I can’t wait until Genesis is released!

I loved this book. I am a Reichs fan and this most definitely lived up to my expectations. Exciting, intriguing, page turning, great premise and great delivery of a fascinating idea.

In 2007 a class of six-year-olds are immunised against a mystery virus; they also have their blood taken. Two of these children, Min and Noah, are the narrators of this novel and they appear to have been singled out for special attention.

From the age of ten, every two years, on her birthday, Min is stalked and murdered by a mystery man in a black suit and sunglasses. He only ever speaks two words, 'I'm sorry' as he takes her life. You will have no doubt wondered how she could be repeatedly murdered, but after each killing, she wakes up in a clearing with no injuries.

Noah has similar experiences but in this case, he is plagued by nightmares and bad dreams about murder and catastrophic events.

Both children are being counselled regularly by the slightly dodgy psychiatrist, Dr Lowell.

By the time their sixteenth birthdays come around, both Min and Noah have had enough and are determined to find out what is going on and they form a partnership, together with Min's friend Tack.

There is little more I can say without spoiling the read for you. Suffice to say that you won't have read anything quite like this before, so just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is a real page-turner with a complicated plot and loads of suspense. My only criticism is that at the end I was befuddled by the science and am none too sure whether the conclusion clears up the mysteries or in fact just adds an additional layer of complexity!

Nevertheless, I enjoyed this novel with all its twists and turns and intend to read the author's Virals series which he wrote in conjunction with his mother Kathy Reichs.

Pashtpaws


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

2.5 stars.

Every two years since her eighth birthday Min has been murdered, waking up in a clearing the next morning as if nothing happened.
Noah is haunted by nightmares of murders, but he keeps it hidden, telling only his psychiatrist.
As natural disasters start occurring more frequently, Min and Noah realise that they have been lied to their whole lives by the people closest to them.
Why do the words Project Nemesis keep popping up?
Why do the murders happen? And who is the man in the black suit that kills Min?

I was really intrigued by the premise for Nemesis - a girl who is murdered on her birthday but then wakes up with no marks on her. I have to admit that the plot went in a direction that I wasn't expecting and I have mixed feelings about the way it did go.
I really liked Min - she had good morals, was smart and a good friend.
Noah was okay. I could understand why he reacted the way he did to certain things and I was disappointed in the path he took at the end of the book.
The plot was mostly enjoyable. I partly guessed the reason behind Project Nemesis, but I don't really like the way it turned out. The book did seem to drag a little. I'm not sure if I want to read the sequel or not.
I liked the writing style, which held my attention.

Overall this was a mostly enjoyable read but I was slightly disappointed in the direction it went in.

I was given this book for an honest review by Netgalley.

Nemesis started off as quite an intriguing book making me want to read on and find out what on earth was happening. However, after a few chapters I started to loose interest as not much was being revealed and the story didn't seem to move on. I continued on and there were few exciting parts but i can't say it grabbed me. Perhaps I'm not the target audience but I wasn't very impressed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for sharing the book with me.

Wow don't know whether to call it Science Fiction or Futuristic but it was certainly some story. Great imagination and fascinating characters. Enthralling concept, well described and executed. My mind is in freefall trying to work out how it might develop. Excellent read.

This book was slow and I felt like nothing happened. I didn't really connect to any of the characters and while the idea was a good one it wasn't executed very well, in my opinion.

It’s been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, a strange man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later, she wakes up in a clearing just outside her tiny Idaho hometown—alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the horrifying crime erased.

Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him, though he does his best to hide the signs. But when the world around him begins to spiral toward panic and destruction, Noah discovers that people have been lying to him his whole life. Everything changes in an eye blink.

For the planet has a bigger problem. The Anvil, an enormous asteroid threatening all life on Earth, leaves little room for two troubled teens. Yet on her sixteenth birthday, as she cowers in her
bedroom, hoping not to die for the fifth time, Min has had enough. She vows to discover what is happening in Fire Lake and uncovers a lifetime of lies: a vast conspiracy involving the sixty-four students of her sophomore class, one that may be even more sinister than the murders.

A superbly gripping read whether for older teens or adults. Well written and truly suspenseful. I loved how this unfolded and the ending is wonderfully appropriate yet leaves good space for another to be written. I'm hoping this is the intention given this is listed as #1. The drawn character lines (jocks vs geeks) is a little cliched but works well within this storyline and the gradual unfolding of the huge conspiracy. I'm already looking forward to the next instalment and passing this on to my nephew, well in a few years time!

I did not finish this book, there was all types of things wrong and i just couldn't force myself to finish it