Customer Reviews

Irreversible (SHOMI)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In WIRED, L. Roxanne Zaborovsky, a reclusive freelance computer programmer and her lover, wire crosser Mason Merrick prevailed over the evil time anomaly specialist Leonardo Kaysar preventing him from recovering a critical code that Roxy had yet to write. In revenge, Leo had shot Roxy's roommate Kitty Gibbs in the heart right before her eyes. Kitty had died in Roxy's arms. But that was not the worst of it.

Kaysar had spliced a few wires and somewhere in the future Kitty was very much alive but not at all well, although she didn't know it. In Katherine Gibbs' new reality this was the happiest week of her life. She had the perfect job, the perfect friends and the perfect fiancé (Leo). The problem was that none of it was real, but a perpetual loop she relived over and over as each new week began.

Roxy, Mason, his partner Louise Sheffield and her intern from the future, Vesper having discovered Kitty's timeline, attempt to break through the wall that separates them to recover her. The problem is that the new Katherine doesn't know any of them and refuses to be rescued. A different approach is needed. Roxy and Mason cannot go to her as they have already been through too much and their timelines were too intertwined with Kitty's. They couldn't risk losing each other again. The job required someone with know how but to whom Kitty wasn't connected. Louise calls in her brother, Walter, a time anomaly specialist who goes by just "Q."

"Q" follows Kitty's scripted week carefully discerning when she has "free" moments that he can infiltrate. At first he insinuates himself into her time as a psychiatrist, and attempts to get her to think for herself, to resist those actions that went against her instincts, and to remember their visits as part of this Pavlovian experience. But it isn't long before his objectivity is compromised. He hates lying to her and even more he hates that with each new week she does not remember him. Based on a childhood of loss he and his sister had religiously eschewed relationships, now he was falling in love with a woman he was almost certainly doomed to lose. But even if he lost her forever he could not, would not leave this beautiful, intelligent, fiery woman to this zombie like existence, a mere puppet in the grand machinations of an evil genius like Kaysar.

Maverick paints quite a picture of this complex charade. Not only is Kitty reliving her life each week but there is a whole cast of Kaysar employed characters who relive the week with her from Monday's workday to Friday's engagement party. From "best friends" to chauffeurs these are the people who must keep her week on track. It's wild to see how some of them improvise to pull her back in line as her true personality begins to emerge and resist, while others struggle with the ethics of their assigned role. It's mind boggling to say the least.

What I really love is the fact that Kitty's true consciousness is in there fighting for supremacy all along. She is not merely the center of two men's tug of war and slowly begins to realize that her whole "happy" life is a sham. "Q" of course is the kind of hero we can't help but adore. Though his untried heart is almost sure to be broken, he is willing to risk it all, even his very life, to liberate the courageous woman he admires, respects and loves with everything he is. Of course the biggest obstacle is that the longer it takes him to extract Kitty the more likely Leo Kaysar is to notice that something is not quite right.

Though I'm not partial to one or the other, I thought it should be pointed out that unlike WIRED, IRREVERSIBLE is written in the third person point of view. Perhaps it is because the story is told from the hero's perspective, or perhaps to strike a balance between the cyberpunk futuristic aspect and the romantic one. I can't really say but it definitely gave this tale a different flavor from the first. Whether or not this makes a difference will be up to the individual reader. For me it's all about the story and what an incredible story this is! Unfortunately even though the file on Kitty is now closed, Vesper has gone missing as has Leo and the gang now realizes that their past, present and futures are all tied up with Kaysar's. A scary thought but I suspect they'll all turn up soon in yet another story. I sure hope so. Liz Marverick has this reader irreversibly hooked on her incredible blend of cyberpunk, suspense, time travel, and romance. ~Reviewed for PNR Reviews

Katherine "Kitty" Gibbs is living the dream life as she is popular and engaged to a hunk who cherishes her above everything else. There is only one flaw to Kitty's perfect life; it is a WIRED lie created by her revenge attained genius maniac lover Leonardo Kaysar, who manipulates the time-place continuum changing her reality. In fact Kitty's best week ever is replayed week after week after week.

Her best friend L. Roxanne "Roxy" Zaborovsky recently escaped from that virtual world due to the help of her lover Mason Merrick. She feels guilty having left Kitty behind in a no escape virtual programming loop. Roxy hires time-anomaly specialist Walter "Q" Sheffield to rescue her roommate from the insane machinations of Leonardo. Q relishes the mission impossible until this relationship phobic realizes only love can free her and he is the one who loves her sol he can possibly reverse the IRREVERSIBLE.

As good if not better than the superb WIRED (Roxy's tale), IRREVERSIBLE is a great romantic science fiction thriller. The story line is a one sitting fast-paced tale with the irony of the heroine has no reason to be saved from her existence. Thus the hero who stinks in reality relationships realizes only love can give Kitty a reason to break out of her "heavenly" existence, but she believes she already is in love. Liz Maverick provides a strong romantic cyber sci fi novel.

Harriet Klausner

The clever, determined and twisted Leonardo Kaysar has a plan to change history. When it comes to time manipulation, not only is he the best, but his current experiment will supersede all others. With Katherine Gibbs as his next fiancee and test subject, little else matters except keeping the integrity of the experimental time loop. Katherine Gibbs has everything she ever wanted: popularity, perfect friends, a great job, and a perfect fiance. She is living the best week of her life, not just once but over and over again. The only trouble is that her perfect week is not real and her best friend L. Roxanne Zaborovsky knows it. Roxanne is on the outside, separated by time and determined to do everything possible to break her friend out of her prison and out of the clutches of the infamous Leonardo Kaysar. As a time anomaly specialist, Walter Sheffield, known simply as Q, is the one man who might find a way through all the carefully laid snares and protections Leonardo has created. Can he rescue Katherine and at what cost? Can hearts survive all the wicked machinations Leonardo will utilize to insure the success of his experiment?

Liz Maverick's IRREVERSIBLE is a thrilling, dynamic romance for readers who desire something new, innovative and daring in their romance reads. Full of fast-paced action, exciting twists, and increasingly high stakes, IRREVERSIBLE gives a portrait of romance amid dangerous times when a mere nanosecond is enough to change reality. Liz Maverick creates an unusual daring heroine in Katherine. She lives the fantasy of the perfect ultra-modern life and yet, her life is the ultimate nightmare. Liz Maverick pinpoints exactly the emptiness inside that comes from living a staged life. The reader can't help but root for her and Q with each new revelation of their character. Both handsome and intelligent and a man of , Q can match kinks in the plan with innovations of his own. As he struggles to rescue Katherine beneath Leonardo's radar, the reader feels both his prowess and the depth of his heart. Q is a man who sees beyond his own ego in his battle, questioning the ethics of his actions. Q makes the perfect counterpart to a man like Leonardo. Unlike Leonardo, he sees Katherine as a person, not just an experimental subject. Liz Maverick brings together a hero and heroine in a riveting impossible dramatic situation. Katherine might be living the same week over in a time loop but once Q enters her world, nothing will ever be the same!

With a deviously dangerous villain in the midst of her intricately-constructed vision of time travel, Liz Maverick makes the heart race with suspense and a high stakes romance. In addition to the main romance, Liz Maverick paints a moving portrait of the friendship between Katherine and her best friend Roxanne, a courageous woman who will go to any length, including stepping outside her normal mode of operating, to rescue her friend. Liz Maverick's romance is a cutting edge, exciting read for today's modern reader, a reader who craves the bold and daring. The intricate, imaginative unveiling of the construct of time travel draws the reader into the fictional, futuristic world. With its fine detail, unique blend of romance, science fiction, and suspenseful action, IRREVERSIBLE bends the mind and heart, and indeed the romance genre itself, into new expansive territory. Liz Maverick is indeed a romance rebel, taking her characters and the reader to new heights and challenges. A fantastic futuristic action romance!

If you didn't completely understand straight-line wire-crossing in WIRED, then IRREVERSIBLE will do your head in. It deals with time anomalies; namely Katherine Gibbs who's stuck in a week-long whilst her fiancé, co-workers, and "friends" pretend whatever Leonardo Kaysar wants them to.

An old pal's time hacker group is trying to extract Kitty from the loop, but their intern unintentionally screws things up massively. And Vesper is a pain in the arse for most of the book, until she shares a moment with Kaysar and some newspaper and they seem an unlikely but cute couple. But we never hear from her again, and I need closure, damn it! Meanwhile, things suck personally for group leader Louise, who's feeling a bit lonely, but she goes about it in a totally non-emo way that doesn't grate.

By the way, layers of time appear to be comprised of black ooze and white vapour. Those layers are bewildering, so give up thinking, and just enjoy the ride.

I've come to realize that when I read a Shomi book I either like it a lot or I don't care for it at all. That said, 'Irreversible' falls into the second category. Usually I am careful to read a book in sequence. I failed to check to see if this book was in a series and started to read. I soon figured out that there was a prior book, 'Wired', and I stopped Irreversible to read Wired's reviews. I decided I was fine without it and continued on.

I caught on quickly that Wired was Mason and Roxy's story and their entanglement with Leonardo Kaysar, a man who wanted to rule the future. Kaysar now dominates Kitty, Roxy's best friend, and has her living in a time loop without the knowledge of her past. Mason, Roxy and their coworkers are trying their best to save her but barely making a dent. Enter 'Q', a coworker's brother and a specialist with time problems.

It was suppose to be another futuristic romance but the technical side of the book felt scattered, Q's and Kitty's romance lacked believability until the end and, most of all, it was boring. Ms. Maverick took on quite a project when she decided to write a series on the future and time. Unfortunately, she didn't do a very good job. The ending left the team to continue so I assume there will be a third book but I won't be reading it.

If you want an excellent futuristic romance series to read try the 2176 Series:

#1 The Legend of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant
#2 Day of Fire by Kathleen Nance
#3 The Shadow Runners by Liz Maverick
#4 The Power of Two by Patty O'Shea
#5 The Scarlet Empress by Susan Grant

Make sure you have access to all the titles because once you've finished one book you'll want to go on to the next.

Katherine "Kitty" Gibbs is having a wonderful week, living a wonderful life. Great job, great friends and a great fiancé. Too bad she's living this week over and over. Unfortunately, she has no idea what's going on. All the people in her life are actors and her days are scheduled with fake events, designed to keep her living the status quo, the better for the experiment she's the subject of.

But her real best friends know what is happening. Living in the present, missing Katherine who is stuck in the past, they are desperate to get her out and away from her fake fiancé, Leonardo Kayser. They attempt to get to her in the future, but their methods aren't working. So they call in an expert - Walter "Q" Sheffield, a time-anomaly specialist.

It's Q's job to get her out. The plan includes him developing a relationship with Kitty, something that scares him to death. But if they can get her to recognize him, they have a better chance of pulling her through to the present, where she belongs.

Irreversible is the sequel to the first Shomi book, WIRED. The beginning is a bit confusing, even for someone familiar with the concepts of string theory and quantum physics. Once you get past the first several pages covering Ms. Maverick's version of time travel, the story takes over and is much better. The gradual realization Kitty has of what is going on is interesting, if not entirely consistent. Q's attempts to understand his feelings for Kitty is sweet. The ending, however, gets mired in too many pages explaining... well, I am not sure I understand it. If you can get past the science, the story is a readable romance.

Niki Lee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Katherine "Kitty" Gibbs knows she is a successful clothing designer, engaged to Leonardo "Leo" Kaysar, and blissfully happy. What Kitty does NOT know is that it is all a lie. Leo and his people are using her as a test subject. Kitty has lived this same week over-and-over. Her life's wires have been crossed and spliced before being assigned a whole different reality. The test is being conducted in the "future-present" and Leo had once murdered Kitty in the "past-present".

L. Roxanne "Roxy" Zaborovsky is Kitty's best friend. It has taken Roxy and her group quite a while to locate the where-when in which Kitty is trapped. The barriers of time are like a simple computer screen (or apartment wall) and they can be demolished. However, Leo has set up Kitty's time-space with tough firewalls. Roxy needs the help of a time-anomaly specialist to extract Kitty from Leo's reality.

Walter "Q" Sheffield is one of the best and just the man to free Kitty. But Leo is one of the best too. So Q cannot simply walk into Leo's reality, grab Kitty, and walk back out because even Kitty's body chemistry is firewalled. Q is determined to succeed in rescuing Kitty though. Q and Roxy believe that friends do not let friends marry guys in the future who murdered them in the past.

*** Even if you have read science fiction your entire life, as I have, you may still find yourself scratching your head and going back to reread sections over again in order to fully understand the whole time/life/different realities stuff. I suggest that when you begin reading you force yourself to slow way down so you can soak it all in. After the first five or six chapters, things will come together and you should be able to read the rest of the story at normal speed. Don't blame the author though, this plot concept is very hard to describe to readers. I believe the author did a great job trying to make sure readers understand exactly what is happening and why. This is a very enjoyable story to spend an afternoon with. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.