Find the Author: Twitter, Goodreads, AmazonFBI agents Mike Sherlock and Jess Holmes find themselves in the lost City of Arcadia. This place should not exist. Every race in myth and even a few aliens seem to be here. The technology is well past that of the outside world. Anyone who manages to get in seems to automatically get super powers. Even stranger is the fact that everyone here has a secret alias as a costumed hero or a costumed villain. The culture shock is intense enough, but when they find their formerly dead nemesis Adam Cain with his band of super villain minions they must join forces with their former colleague Tim Watson who has since become the super villain Moriarty. Together with a small band of super heroes and super villains who are not in costume (and thus technically not supposed to be doing alias work), they must try to keep the criminal mastermind from bringing Arcadia to it's knees.
Paradox is a story that starts with two individuals who are adults but for the entire book I saw them in my head as teenagers or college aged students, although they are clearly adults. So a partnership of a young man and woman are trapped in a quasi fantastical situation where cars have been stacked to create a maze. At the center of this maze is a strange car that can do almost everything, including drive itself. Not only does the car help get the partners out of trouble but he then gets them into a whole other set of trouble by dropping them off in front of a house, which isn’t a house, but it is a house.
Once they are able to get through the house that isn’t a house but is a house they are thrust into a new world that has not only all of the dangers that the previous “world” had, but also an arch rival of the partners. Now that they are in this new world, with really unique issues, that the partners must help with. Once they start helping it becomes apparent that not is as it seems and there is much much more going on then they originally thought.
This book is all sorts of sideways. There is Alice in Wonderland references, there are Superhero references, there are Sherlock Holmes references, just all sorts of references thrown in together. This whole story would be considered supernatural fantasy/science fiction which means that it is already off the wall. When you add in all of the references it is off the wall. The story finally comes together towards the end and you start to realize where the author was going during the book. The ending is actually good and makes the overall book much better in the long run. I don’t know if I would honestly read the other ones, but the idea of the superheroes and such is a nice twist that increases the overall strength and likability of the book.
The characters are strong, although they are thrown into situations that normal people would question and be unable to deal with, however these two just plod along like it is part of their normal every day job, which from the sounds of it, it may be, but there isn’t a lot of what happens before the maze of cars and the initial meeting with AI. It is a little disjointed when they get to the house as well because she automatically understands that it is Alice in Wonderland. Here is my question, were all of these books were read by the two so they understand what is going on and the hints that are present. Also is this a paradox land or an alternate reality or what is really going on? For me it leaves a lot of questions that maybe the next one will cover. So I may read the next one :).
About Cheryl Feeley
Cheryl Lynn Feeley grew up in Holden Massachusetts where she drew picture books as a small child. She even convinced her parents to read her grandfather's giant book on space (regardless of the fact it was full of big words she didn't know) and watched super hero cartoons. While dreaming of one day becoming an author she graduated cum laude from the University of Dartmouth in Massachusetts with a Bachelor's of Illustration. Cheryl later went back to school and graduated from Bournemouth University in England with a Masters of Computer Special Effects. She then went to Boston University's CDIA campus to gain a certificate in animation.
As an artist she has tried to at least dabble once in every kind of art form from painting to metal work to computer graphics. Cheryl enjoys reading up on scientific theories (especially black holes, wormholes, multiple dimensions, and multiverses). She also enjoys acting and has played Veronica in season 3 of the award winning web series Red Circles. Usually she takes only small roles she can work around her day job. She also enjoys day trips to various cities and beaches. Presently Cheryl lives in the city of Worcester in Massachusetts, America.
