A review by chelsea_shelves
The Kill Switch by James Rollins

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3.5 stars I think. This book was a book club pick and actually pleasantly surprised me. It’s not a genre I typically reach for, but I think I will from time to time now. It was certainly engrossing and entertaining. An adventure! The subject matter is fascinating and so well researched. I learned a lot about the history of the Boer Wars and the science of LUCA and its potential for good and evil. I thought all of this was well woven into the story and made easy to understand. What brought the reading experience down a bit for me was pacing and characterization. For me the book felt too long in the middle. It was very episodic and at times I felt like I was watching a video game as we moved into different settings with a new set of helpers to fight another boss. My attention would wander during all the action/fighting scenes. I was glad that we got to keep the last helpers around through to the end and see some relationships form. What I missed was depth of character. This was very plot driven.  I found everyone a bit too flat and archetypal. I would have liked to see more emotion from Tucker and maybe more moral conflict or grayness from all of them considering the situation. Sometimes I laughed at some of the cliches and phrases used, but overall I enjoyed this book. The dog definitely brought more heart to this action packed narrative and I loved the animal-human partnership that anchored the story.