G.E.M.S.
Genetically Enhanced Medical Soldiers
These soldiers are birthed from highly intelligent women, who are paid greatly and have agreed to return the children at age 5 to a classified government program.
The normal human intelligence Cell is from a 7 to a 9. Those with Cell-10 are gifted with extreme intelligence.
Few ever attempt to rise above the normal, but not to fear-
Medical science and a highly classified government program is exploring that option.
Ben Callensworth and Kristyn Silktin are the only two soldiers that have been secretly created by the government, each with Cell-11 intelligence.
They possess a secret love that is against all rules and have done the unthinkable. Procreation between the created Cells is forbidden. Kristyn becomes pregnant and must go on the run to hide their child, a daughter named Haven.
As Haven grows, it becomes obvious that she is gifted with unmatched intelligence and even greater gifts yet to be explored, gifts that could even surpass a Cell-11. She must be kept hidden from government and terrorist groups for her own safety. Haven is forced to grow up in boarding schools, traveling from country to country, not knowing who she is or who her real parents are.
But an unexpected tragedy happens, and a whole new world is opened up to her as she discovers who she is and the hidden gifts she possesses. Haven, using her gifts, secretly attaches herself to a dangerous mission to save lives held captive at the hand of a deadly terrorist.
I received this book for free from Author Gifted in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
After responding to a post on a Facebook group that I frequent this author asked me to read her novel. Honestly I would more classify this as a novella, but writing it is. I read it, it took me about 5 hours and then I did tell the author what I thought. I still think that this book deserves a review. Oh one other thing I got this on Kobo, which I have never used before, and trust me after reading a book on Kobo I wanted to hold my Paperwhite and never let it go. That has nothing to do with the rating, just an observation.
~~Andi’s Review~~
Without giving too much away there is this secret government facility that creates hyper intelligent individuals to work for the CIA, FBI, DEA, you know all of those government letters. They have ratings that are called CELLS. I am not completely sure why they are a CELL but they are, and it ranges from 1 (maybe) to 12 (Not seen yet) or higher, again not really sure. So two 11s decided they are going to throw caution to the wind and hook up, which was strictly against the rules and you know how teenagers follow rules. Well female 11 got preggers and had baby Haven. Well because the evil government would have taken Haven away from her mom, her mom decided to run away with her, pretty much ensuring that there was a bulls-eye on her forehead.
Well in stereotypical science fiction about a government program. Haven is smart, active, able to do things that others can’t do. And the rest of it I can’t really say since each part past that does play a role in why she does what she does or who she becomes.
I had some problems with this book. There was a lot of repetition regarding eye color, hair color, last names, etc. This book is also written in the ever popular multi-person theme that I have noticed is super popular. Not everyone can do this perfectly, and while my review of Thicker than Blood spotlighted how it can be done well, this book fell a little short on the transitions. It wasn’t bad though, and I have honestly see much much worse.
The concept was unique and I think that there is a great story in here, I think that it could use a little tweaking before the second book comes out but I do think that it is a solid concept. The story line at times for me was too descriptive, I don’t care that she was wearing a blue shirt because that does not play into the book at all. I know that some people like reading all of the specifics and they can then be right there in the book, but for me it is more about the story and how it progresses than the fact that the marble kitchen was just this shade of color. At times I also felt that sometimes the conversations were forced, like the characters really didn’t want to talk to each other and were forced to. Oh that brings me back to the color thing. I like reading a book that leads you down a path but you can jump to and fro on that path. You can imagine stuff and you can jump ahead in your mind or jump back in your mind. This book takes you by the hand and slowly walks you down a path that is only wide enough for one direction. For me that is hard because I want to be able to envision the character and the story line a little more than this book allowed.
I am giving this a 3.5 and here is why. The overall book, character development, plot, story creation, and overall uniqueness prompts me to give it higher than if I was just looking at the issues and it did not have all of the above qualities. Overall I was happy with this book although looking back I did have a lot to say. The characters were likable, the author did do a good job at creating the military aspect of the GEM units.
This is just an aside, and does not count towards my rating, but when you repeat how the main character has grey eyes and black hair, you should probably have someone with gray eyes and black hair on the cover.
