Customer Reviews

New Life Incorporated

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First of all, I'll admit I bought this book for Kindle because it was only $0.89 and because of the high reviews. I thought the premise sounded very interesting if a bit cliche - evil corporation vs. small ragtag group of "freedom" fighters. The book had lots of problems: 1. the characters were completely one dimensional, 2. the future elements were completely unbelievable and not integrated tightly into the story (hmm, not sure what to do here - oh yeah, I'll use some cool future-tech to move the story along), and 3. the world wasn't explored fully and hence wasn't very compelling. Why was the public so set against the resistance? How was it that common acts of violence and rape and murder were common-place and ignored by the authorities?

I felt compelled to write this review to balance the super-high five star reviews. This was a good, first attempt at writing. It is not a 5-star work.

I wanted to like this novel. I generally find futuristic science fiction to be interesting, and you can't judge it on believability because...well, who is to say how "believable" one version of the future is compared to another?

Even with that remarkable amount of leeway, this book tanked for me. The major problem I had was that no explanation is given for the violence between the "Lifers", ie those that elect to get the expensive chip which will give them 50 more years of life, and the "Resistors" or those who choose not to get the longevity chip. At the highest ranks New Life Incorporated it becomes obvious that their "take over the world" domination plot revolves around the importance of these chips, but I never understood why ordinary citizens (unaware of the plot) would react so strongly and violently to someone's choice to get or not get the chip. I don't understand how it would affect either party. Yet the reader is thrown into violence from the first chapter where Lifers are hunting down and beating up Resisters after dark in the streets, and protesting their homes without any explanation as to why they are so fiercely persecuted. I kept waitihng for the author to back up and explain how events evolved to that situation, but no explanation came.

Writing was stilted in my opinion, and character transformations were rushed. One main character transformed from psychologically damaged to trusting in just a few chapters, and after only a few superficial contacts with another character.

All in all, save the time and the 89 cents. I bought and read "Crack Up" for a similar price in the Kindle edition and it was leaps and bounds ahead of this novel in writing, plot, and character development.

This is not my first book by Mrs. Hooley, and this one did not disappoint. I loved the characters, the sci-fi aspect, the plot and the interwoven pieces of humanity that made it real, such as love and regret. She grabs you from the start, and takes you for journey in all of her books. In this one in particular you are introduced to a world born out of her imagination, yet are drawn to the characters as if they were in your world. I recommend this book highly.

This book surprised me. Eternal life and longivity is a constant wish and pursuit for modern and ancient men, and this author has found a new twist. Incorporating a big brother scenario and a modern 'social issue', the book is truly an awe inspiring work that will open your eyes to how society can be dubious of a life giving find and how the corporate world can manipulate it.

The story develops around a former Federation Agent (a killer) that cannot stand an accidental killing and get involved with a group called "The Resisters" who battle against the ones called "The Lifers" who had undergone an operation to implant a sort of "life expander" chip. The Resisters think there is something wrong with those chips and try to find out what it is... the premise is good, but the simplistic plot drags for almost the entire book, without much to tell and lacking in emotion and twists.

The science is laughable and there are lots of incoherencies related to the technologies in the book - a mix of swords, knifes, modern weapons, jets, paper files, healing drugs, computer screens and tools that really seem out of place together. The universe depicted is very shallow and limited, and the coincidence in the end of the book regarding Joe and his foe easily demonstrates so.

There are also some typos but that's not a big problem.

On the bright side, at least the ending was satisfying. It's really not necessary waiting for a sequel to know how the story ends. I would like to give it 2 ½ stars, but it's not possible, so I decided to give it 2 stars just to counter-balance the other overrated reviews.

It's definitively an amateurish Sci-Fi work, forgettable, and I'm sure there are many better indie author options around (Supervirus, Crack-up, Containment, The Rho Agenda Trilogy, Wired etc)...

This is the second book that I've read by this author and I must say I was a little surprised at how dark this story was. That's not a bad thing at all as it was actually one of the things that allowed me to be immersed in Maria's world. I won't go into details as there are several reviews that already go into depth. I'll just give it the four stars that I feel it deserves!

Originally posted on my blog, link found on my homepage:

New Life, Inc. is about an ex-military man named Joe Ramsey, and is written in 3rd person from his perspective.. He used to work for the government, until he did something he would regret for the rest of his life. Then he quits his job, leaves his home and his pension behind, and moves far far away to try to avoid his past. But the past just keeps following him! It's back, and this time he has to pick a side. Join forces with the "Resisters" or the "Lifers". One is pro-Longevity Chips (The Lifers), the other (the Resisters) are against them. They have this crazy idea that the longevity chips aren't quite what they seem. Along the way he meets two great friends, Cammo and Murray, who also isn't what "he" seems. Another Allie on Joe's team is Wayne, the funding behind the project. On the other side of the line the main players are Caleb Walker and Malachette, his goon who does the dirty work. Murray, Cammo, Wayne, and Joe run into many complications in their attempts to unveil the evil plot of New Life, Inc. The learn the "Federation" (Mrs. Hooley's fictional govermental body) has been "bought out" by New Life. They are disliked by the general public. And they run into many many booby traps while on the main eventful mission of the story. Cammo sneaks out a few times, against the wishes of his older sibling Murray. Joe tries to find him each time. Murray is trying to deal with the emotional battleground on his inside. Joe fights his internal demons, when he learns of a man from his past is involved in the evil plot.

My personal favorite character of the story was Murray because of all the obstacles he has to face. Its like, he's the "needy" character, who can't help but make you feel sorry. I have never been in those shoes, but I do like helping people out of them. So I guess I could relate most to Joe, even though Murray is my favorite character.

I really enjoyed this book, however it isn't for all sci-fi fans. It has heavy overlays of romance to it. Unless you're a fan of storybook predictable romance's, you won't enjoy the romance. It is all predictable, but tha'ts just romance for you. I for one enjoy both Romance Novels, and Sci-Fi, so this combination of the two was an amazing read. I wouldn't suggest reading this unless you are an avid fan of romance novels. If you are, then I wholeheartedly suggest this to any audience of all ages. The only downside to this book, was the grammatical and word-choice errors, but those are to be expected of a first-edition. Could have happened from the converter smashwords used to convert the book also.

-Gavin Chester

i am not kidding around when i say this is the worst book i have ever read. the plot is hackneyed, the characters unbelievable, and the plot twists visible from twenty miles away. spoiler alert! murray is a woman and caleb's wife. of course the author conveniently told us this before we even meet her, so the only person for which this is a surprise is joe. and that caleb is the ceo of a big corporation doing evil things... which was explained to the reader in the first chapter. again the only person surprised is joe. poor stupid joe. i also find the "romance" between joe and murray forced into a predictable unnatural pattern of love and animosity. furthermore it seems like caleb should have better security, ie not having the password to his super secret database easily guessable. in short, i do not suggest this book to anyone.

I bought this book after a too quick glimpse at the raving 2 sentence reviews. Hopes of finding something fresh food for thought were crushed soon enough. The book takes you far into the future (was it 2075) - into a world where you insert disks into computers, wait for dial tone on your phone and pop aspirins - you might forget that this is 65 hers into the future if it wasn't for the occasional "hover jet" style gadgetry.
However it isn't the uninventive world that makes the book tedious, it is the cliche spewing illogical chracters. Main character switches from bad ass gunslinger to whiny teenager to father figure every few paragraphs. Book reads like a bad B-movie. It's not just the totally inconsistent "cool line" dialogue - the writing just does not flow. Full of typos and bigger errors too.
The story itself is exactly "run of the mill" evil corporation with hidden agenda seeking to do evil stuff. Nothing wrong with that premise - it's just the failure to provide anything fresh or remotely original.

Very compelling story and some great characters that you will really feel for. Excellent story development with some great SciFi angles. Very nicely done when the secrets of New Life are revealed. I saw Maria's you tube video before I started reading the book. I was confused about one of the main characters from the video - very nicely done secret there too.

JoeW