ARC REVIEW Herokiller by Paul Tassi

Every now and then I give my romance brain a rest and enjoy something non-romance, this month it was Herokiller. The blurb compares it to Ready Player One, I don't know why it's not at all like it except for the fact that it's a futuristic world where an eccentric rich old guy has done something that everyone wants to join. This dystopian world I would compare this more to Running Man, Death Race 2050, and a little bit Gamer because entertainment is violence based; and then mixed with Mortal Kombat and Gladiator. The villainous eccentric rich old guy, Cameron Crayton, is a mix between Ken Castle from Gamer, the Chairman from Death Race and Commodus from Gladiator. Tie in all that with black-ops and espionage and you have this amazingly intense story.

Mark Wei is a former CIA spy, he's probably one of the only remaining spies still alive from the Second Cold War which he was instrumental in ending. But the cost of doing so lost him everything now he just drinks until he passes out and works out until he's exhausted enough to sleep. Until his former handler calls him back onto duty. Marks job now is to infiltrate Cameron Crayton's newest reality tv show The Crucible and find out who he is where he came from and if he's working with the Chinese. The Crucible is promised to be the most violent shows ever, it's an arena sport pitting person against person. Sixteen cities, one top fighter from each city. All sorts of people from everywhere fighting bare handed in whatever style they want; the top sixteen get the fortune and glory. In the end only one man is left standing because the big event between the last sixteen fighters is gladiator style, to the death. There are three parts to the story part one is intro and start of The Crucible, introduction to the top Sixteen. The second part is the top sixteen training gladiator style where there is bonding between the characters and of course spying. Part three is the intense, emotional, white-knuckling part where The Crucible starts and people you've grown to love die. Yeah it's one of those it's what to the death means people.

I loved Mark's character, there is so much to him. Intermittently throughout the book you see another part of him who he was before the Second Cold War and what happened to him during his time as a spy and what happened after to make him who he is today and you see all this through flashbacks, old recordings and him actually telling part of the story. Crayton was a perfect villain he also reminded me of Killian from Running Man heck Crayton even had dancers like Killian did in Running Man. I would love to see this as a movie or a four part miniseries (because part three is long) I can totally see Malcolm McDowell as Crayton. Overall, I think it's pretty obvious I loved this book. Paul Tassi has a great active setting, a great narrative, and he really pulls you in and emotionally ties you to the characters; and ooh, what a twist. I would definitely read more books if they had Mark Wei in them.