A review by prologues_epilogues
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I actually really enjoyed most of this, and it definitely would have rated higher if the ending wasn't such a let-down. The pacing, tone, and atmosphere for the first half of the story was intense and suspenseful, with enough questions interspersed throughout to keep you hanging on for more. It was very well written prose, but the characterization often fell flat as the main character, Claire, was a bit too immature to be the voice of a woman in her 30s, especially one in a leadership position. 

The romance between her and the male main character was uninteresting, as neither of them were fleshed out enough in their personalities or their motivations to have a compelling romance. The twist

that Verux was behind the Aurora disaster

was predictable

in that it was exactly what you would expect from a corp rate superpower being described the way it was here

, but unpredictable as I expected something more along different

(supernatural or alien)

lines. 

The first half (up until about page 200) was extremely fun to read though! Very suspenseful.