I enjoyed Killer T although not as much as I enjoyed the Cherub series. Futuristic, dystopian although some questionable descriptions of young female characters.

This book makes me feel so angry. This book over sexualises a thirteen year old girl and keeps referring to her appearance in a relatively negative way. This is aimed at teenagers, why is this still the way that women are treated in YA novels?? Why are some girls just described as "having cleavage"? That is not a description. Ugh, this book was just terrible.

Fast-paced with action from the very first page. Typical Muchamore with tense situations, climaxes and mysteries. Yet, it is also slightly different in that it is futuristic and we have lots things going on at once in this book - new school, new country, new friendships, terrorism, genetics, viruses...
The characters are realistic with flaws and issues.

I did not know what to expect of this book - I had read the first of the CHERUB series and then had happily recommended it to pupils. I did not know whether or not to expect more of the same. Instead I was really gripped by this grim view of the future where playing with genes has modified humans and also made us prey to mutant viruses and their creators. The book revolves around the relationship of Charlie and Harry and you appreciate the changing society through their eyes.

I found the whole idea of gene therapy fascinating - a positive development taken to extremes.

An interesting read which I will recommend to my more mature readers.

So, I enjoyed this book once I got into it. It didn't drive me to pick it up and binge the whole thing at once. To be honest, it took me a third of the book to actually enjoy it. It was a great calm read though.

The last few chapters of the book gave me a few feelings, I am poor Charlie and poor Henry! And it ended in a very weird way but at least I know everything is good!

Didnt enjoy this book at all, found it very boring. I really struggled with this and i gave up in the end. Sorry.

Robert Muchamore always creates intense and extraordinary stories that truly set him apart from the competition, and 'Killer T' is no exception. This is no easy feat in the publishing world, where original ideas now seem to be seriously lacking. Essentially, the story is about genetic manipulation that targets and destroys genes that could potentially cause the person harm in the future. When the criminal underworld gets in on the act all hell breaks loose. Utilising the synthetic virus known as Killer T, creates a terrifying situation whereby the terrorists partake in biological warfare. With a ransom demand issued, an antidote will only be provided if their demands are met.

I always enjoy the author's writing style, but I did have an issue with the structure of the novel. The timeline jumps around with no prior warning making it difficult to follow and confusing at times. I also felt that the characters were not as developed as they should be - Muchamore is usually reliable when it comes to interesting and well drawn characters, but I felt a little let down here. What became increasingly clear to me is that this is a novel targeted at young adult readers. that's no bad thing it's just a fact. As I quite enjoy my young adult fiction, this had no impact on me. But I would recommend this particularly those who appreciate YA or dystopian futures. Overall, this is a book that has, as always with Muchamore, exciting, quirky and unique fundamental concepts. Thought-provoking, scarily plausible with some genuinely intriguing scientific discussion. I just didn't find it as compelling as his previous books.

Many thanks to Hot Key Books for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I'm a big fan of Robert Muchamore's books and was looking forward to another from him. I can't think of a book that I've read with a focus on a virus so I was definitely intrigued.
I'm torn about my feelings towards this book. For the most part I enjoyed the content of the book but the style of the constant huge time jumping I found really hard. I felt like every time I was invested in the story and it was getting good, it jumped forward 5 years and really quickly filled you in on whats happened since.
I think for this reason I didn't find myself having any thoughts about the characters, they are not unlikable but you don't get a chance to get attached to them in that moment before they change.
I really didn't dislike this book I just didn't love it. I think if the writing style had been different I wouldn't have finished it and I did find myself wanting to read more and know what happened so.
Overall not amazing but not awful either
3/5 stars

Unusually for Robert Muchamore this is a stand-alone story as opposed to a series. Most definitely a YA novel. Set in a rather scary dystopian future where genes can be manipulated to create the perfect athlete or a super student. When crime gangs start to get involved, society soon breaks down.

This is an interesting story. Set in the near future when gene editing is commonplace and can be done by practically anyone. The story is moves forward chronologically but with gaps in the timeline. This is interesting as it allows the characters Harry and Charlie to mature as they go from young teenagers to young adults. The vision of the world is dystopic which I like but it isn't too sci-fi heavy. The themes are about our use of technology but also about coming of age and relationships. I liked this story but feel that the style of writing isn't to my taste as it was quite simplistic. I looked up the author to see what else he had written and was surprised that he has written a lot of other books. The writing felt quite immature and I was thinking that he may improve in future work.

A story that spans several years as humanity declines and follows the lives of Harry Smirnov and Charlie Croker. Harry's mum was a journo who died when he was young, so his Aunt Kirsten Channing brought him up, moving to USA to start a new life of luxury. Charlie is from a dysfunctional family, her sister, Fawn, is someone who thinks only of herself, their brother, Ed, is dependent on Charlie to care for him, having been born with a disability (for which Charlie's sister, Fawn, gets an allowance to care for him). You see Fawn didn't care for him, Charlie did.
Circumstances make life difficult for both Harry and Charlie and they drift apart, and the world experiences a deterioration in life quality. Both do the best they can to get by, while those with money or scary modifications rip the world apart

Spanning a number of years, with the world deteriorating all the time, this story was almost predictive about the world to come. I really hope not, it makes for a scary future.

I really enjoyed this book. At first I wasn't sure the idea of skipping out years worked or made the work seem disjointed, but in the end I think the author made it work and it really needed to show that years had passed between the various sections of the book. I do not want to create any spoilers but the elapsed time allowed for some of the major events to set in the mind and then you could move on. I am looking forward to the next work from this author

Interesting ideas and loved the near future that was created! The book is set in a future where synthetic anything can be created, with very little experience and equipment. Humans can make gene improvements to their bodies to be stronger, smarter etc. Harry and Charlie forge a friendship and....the story is simply too convoluted to summarise.

I loved how much thought and detail was created to build this new reality. Implications of the new technology were intelligent and well thought out. And even the chain of events seemed plausible. However, the storyline seemed too complicated and there were many moments where it direction the book was heading didnt make sense or where I felt something could have been left out.

Overall, I still enjoyed this thoughprovoking read!

Whilst I am not the target audience for this book (white, male, not young!) I found it an extremely good read. The story was well-paced and captured a lot of the paranoia that exists today with regard to gene-modification, antibiotic resistant disease and social dysfunction.
I found it easy to identify and relate to the characters and felt the whole story was not only plausible, but potentially prescient... The science was convincing without being too complex and didn't become over-bearing.
A good read. Enjoyable (in a way) and involving. I would recommend this to readers of all ages but especially the young adults it's more likely directed towards.

It took me a very long time to get into the story, firstly. The story itself starts years before the actual plot kicks in and this in itself made it a very slow burner and I did find myself getting bored and willing for something exciting to happen. The action doesn't actually kick off until you are over halfway through and by then I was screaming for some excitement. Mind you, once the plot kicked in I was ever so slightly hooked.

There are a few time skips throughout Killer T starting from when our protagonists are young teens up until they are in their early twenties. I can definitely understand why this was necessary as we get to see the rise in gene editing throughout different years. This interesting element was one of the reasons I didn't stop reading and it was great to see how our main characters developed over the years.

Harry, as a character was one that I liked for a while and then ended up disliking..a lot. At first I found him to be a sweet, outcast who just wanted to live his dreams..which is okay. However, as his character got older he turned into this unlikeable older teen. He let his wealth rule his personality and he didn't treat any of the females in his life with any respect. I especially didn't agree with how he treated Charlie at times and felt like she could have done better.

Charlie, on the other hand I LOVED! She was such a bad ass female character from the beginning. You could tell she wanted to fight for what she believed in and she was such a fierce friend and sister. Yes, she was flawed to a point but I think that's what made her a fully rounded character. I found myself connecting to her on so many levels and yet again it's great to see a kick ass female protagonist in YA.

Killer T was a pretty underwhelming read for me. A lot of important features throughout the book weren't explored as much as they should have been, which led to many unanswered questions when the book finally ended. The concept behind it was great but I just think it could have been tackled in a totally different way.

It is a very well written book, but for some reason I just couldn't keep my focus whilst reading it. I love the idea of the book, just didn't become engaged with it as much as I would have liked.

It took me so, so long to get into this. For a start, it started years before the actual plot came together and had, I think, about four or five time skips? I lost count by the end of the book. It makes sense when you look at it as a whole and realise that it's showing the rise of gene editing, but most of the time while I was reading it, I was bored. It would have been better if it had at least been started after Charlie got out of prison, I think.

I liked Charlie quite a bit, but I honestly completely hated Harry. He was fairly okay at the start, but as time went on he just became more and more of a prick. I hate how he treated Charlie so much when he didn't even tell her that he liked her. Charlie deserved so much better than him.

The world was really interesting, especially after the epidemic, seeing the world slowly rebuilding itself and putting together more protections for the next epidemic. I have to say, I did like a lot how it ended and how Charlie ended up.

I think it was worth reading, but I really, really wish it had been shorter. I think a lot of stuff could have been cut out while still showing a nice overall picture of the rise of gene editing and Charlie and Harry's life.

Killer T is a glimpse into a dystopian future where DNA and genetics can be modified and killer diseases can be created by anyone with a bit of cash and some scientific know how.

This story was unique and gave a scary view on what the future could be like if gene editing was an everyday occurrence.
I do think the synopsis of this book is a little misleading though. Part of it reads “Killer T is a synthetic virus with a ninety per-cent mortality rate, and the terrorists who created it want a billion dollars before they'll release a vaccine.”
Based on this I was expecting a story about a virus killing everyone and the main characters trying to battle these “terrorists” or create a vaccine of their own. That’s not really what you get with this book. Not to say that the book is bad, it just wasn’t what I was expecting to read.

What I found most frustrating about this book was the pace, it was too slow in parts and left me feeling detached from the story.
I did like the characters however. Charlie and Harry were both likeable but were flawed. Some of their decisions were a little confusing and seemed out of character. The interaction between the two of them was interesting and I was rooting for them both from the beginning.

Overall the book’s plot line was unique and the characters likeable enough to maintain my interest throughout the slow parts and the scientific elements were fascinating!

I would rate this one 3.5 stars! Killer T is available now.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (Hot Key Books) for providing a copy. All opinions are my own and provided willingly.

I was drawn into reading this book by the cover, and the description of a dystopian future with crazy gene splicing and a deadly virus. This has taught me that I should read the blurb a bit more carefully in future! The book is actually much more of a teen romance and coming of age story than it is a cool dystopian sci-fi thriller, though I guess it is a little of both.

The book centres around Harry and Charlie, and key events in their lives over a number of their formative years. It jumps forwards in time a few times, missing out a few years here and there to get to the more interesting parts. I liked this aspect of the book, and I would say that each time I was surprised at what had happened while I had been away, as it were. It was a clever way to skip the boring bits and to add a sense of progression.

The pace is quite slow, and although I did like the characters I found that the whole thing was quite vanilla. Even when exciting or sad things were happening, I didn't get much emotion from the writing or the characters themselves. At times when my heart should have been racing, when I should have been gripping the book tightly and holding back tears, there was no feeling whatsoever for me. I'm not sure why this is, I think I just expected it to be grittier given the subject matter. It was bordering on comedy at some points because of embarrassing teenaged moments, but it didn't quite get there.

All in all, I wanted to like this book, and at first I did. But then I got a bit bored with it. It was all a bit too long and drawn out, and there wasn't enough punch. Even growing up over a few years, from early teenage to early twenties, the characters didn't seem to change or mature that much at all really. Everything just stayed the same. The subject matter and the idea was great, but it was all just a surface idea with a little bit of science thrown in here and there, and nothing was made of it. I wanted more interaction with the gene modifications and the viruses, not just a brief passing comment about them here and there.

For me, this book was okay. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, but I wouldn't say I really liked it either. I'd never heard of the author before, but I now know he has written a number of other highly praised books. Honestly, I'm not going to be in a rush to read any of them. On the other hand, maybe he deserves a second chance.

'What if' speculation: if biological warfare should happen. Frightening look at a world we can almost touch...

He's given us 'what if' children could infiltrate as spies, and 'what if' women had fought in World War Two. Now Muchamore has turned his attention to the near future and 'what if' germ warfare should ravage us, 'what if' gene editing should become a common and established practice.

In a world in which both of these slowly start to infiltrate into everyday lives, we meet Harry and Charlie in the aftermath of a school 'incident'. English student Harry is a passionate photograph and wannabee reporter, and meets Charlie in the course of his investigations. Charlie needs a friend, and as she gets inextricably entangled in events she can't control, holds onto Harry as a friend, a constant.

We then keep meeting the pair over the next few years, as their high school years pass and the world changes around them.

It's a story that sees both adolescents pushed to adulthood quickly, both entering an adult world of responsibilities and a society with issues it must quickly evolve to cope with. For a sum of money, you can have a permanent tan or develop muscle mass, improve your intelligence and immune systems. Yet at the same time, there are now artificially constructed viruses travelling the world that governments are struggling to develop vaccines for quickly enough.

So in the midst of one of the most significant social, cultural and scientific revolutions of all time, a plot involving Harry and Charlie's friendship through adversities takes many twists as the years roll by. I enjoyed seeing how each step forward in time meant changes for each, how the changes in society alters the expectation of their teenage years.

Muchamore is a master at including small details that build up to a picture of a fully-functioning world: iris scanners that unlock phones, the Barack Obama Independent Living Unit, transgender bathrooms and electric (self-driving) cars the norm. Such touches as the terrible name for a care home, Care4Kids, as well as 'President Timberlake', gives us the impression of a short-attention-span, media-and-consumer-led world.

This starts with developing the two main characters for a while before opening up their world to us and showing the huge social change going on. Starting as young teenagers, it would be hard not to empathise with both Charlie and Harry as events too mature for them to grasp envelop them.

I thought the world Muchamore creates was a very well-crafted one, so close to the one we have now that it would take very little to move into. The will-they-won't-they relationship of Harry and Charlie adds to the tension created as drugged-up 'zombies' and gorilla DNA-enhanced 'supermen' vie with the personal stories of two young people caught up in plots they keep returning to.

While the writing won't win awards for imagery, for poetic allusion, it is entirely appropriate language for teenagers, with a fast-moving story spanning years that brings to life a fascinating, if frightening new landscape.

Teenagers as well as adults will find a gripping read.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.