External Forces by Deborah Rix

External Forces by Deborah Rix
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

External Forces is the story of Jess, an almost 17-year-old girl living in postapocalyptic America. Almost to the age where she has to decide what to do with her life (or told as the case may be), Jess decides to be proactive and go with the best of all the bad options she has…joining the Special Forces. That decision leads her to discover an awareness of hidden things lurking in the shadows and being swept under the proverbial rug. Along with her Black Ops squad, Jess has to fight to stay alive and find out the truth.

I think this story had a lot of potential but fell short in too many ways. I enjoyed the characters for the most part, though I would have loved to have all of them developed a bit more. Charlie, in for example, was a pretty enigmatic character, but she was apparently playing a huge role in the overall scheme and I think she should have been more part of the story. Additionally, the story line, while not completely original, could have been great, but I felt let down with the world building and explanations for things. A lot of things happen or are mentioned that are never explained or integrated into the story, so what we got are seemingly pointless or random bits of story. It's almost as if the story was written in pieces and scenes and put together to create a book but never fully unified into a coherent, linear tale.

I was most disappointed with the ending, or lack of, I guess. There was no real resolution to anything in the story. No cliffhanger, nothing. The book just ended. So, overall the story entertained me for a day and a half, but I probably will not be continuing with the series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


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