Howdy Bookworms!

How are you doing? Well I hope!

I’ve hardly had a spare second since starting grad school this week, so it’s something of a miracle that I’m posting now. That being said, I wanted to finish the book I was reading so I could concentrate more fully on studies for the next week or so.

This time around I read Intercepts by T.J. Payne.

I found this book while searching Amazon best seller lists in the horror genre. This is my first read of something by this author, and my library bought I copy that they let me borrow. So grateful!

Before I start, a brief note about upcoming reviews. I will most likely be switching to simpler & shorter reads going forward. With grad school in full effect, my studies come first, so I’ll need to find short, easy reads that I can blaze through when I get a little downtime.

Alright, enough of my blabbing. On to the review!

Blurb

Joe works at a facility that performs human experimentation.
His work just followed him home.

The government wanted to unlock hidden abilities in the human mind.

They put subjects in extreme sensory deprivation.

All the test subjects went violently insane.

But the research continued.

Today it has been perfected.

Almost perfected.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

Hmm, not bad, but not amazing either.

This was my first read by this author, and while I had some mixed feelings, I had a good time overall.

This novel centers on a hard-working guy named Joe. He works at a secret base where individuals known as ‘antennae’ are used in horrific experiments to gain useful knowledge in the outside world.

The blurb reminded me of Project MKUltra (it’s a real thing, so look it up if you don’t know about this bizarre piece of history!), and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.

The characters were intriguing, but I wanted a little more. Joe is your typical workaholic. He’s grown estranged from his family over time, but I didn’t pity him much because he didn’t have many redeeming qualities. He’s a ‘yes man’ through and through, and it took a lot for him to shift his thinking and get on the right track. That made sense given where he started from, but I wanted to root for him and just couldn’t bring myself to.

Riley, Joe’s daughter, was handled a bit better. You could really tell how awkward their relationship was, and she was thrust into a bizarre situation with no idea what was going on.

There was enough backstory revealed to keep me intrigued with these characters, but there was a lot of telling throughout the novel. I wanted the characters to speak for themselves more through their actions.

The plot really had me hooked from the beginning. My favorite parts were the tuning sessions with the antennae and the last section of the book where things reached a climax. There was also a nice element of mystery surrounding these antennae and what they are capable of, mixed with some gore here and there.

However, I feel I could’ve used some more changes of scenery. Most of the book takes place in this facility, and while that started out great, taking the story elsewhere more often would have made things better and less redundant.

Ultimately, this horror novel wasn’t without its faults, but it’s still entertaining enough for me to recommend if you’re looking to give this author a go. Happy reading!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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