Format: Kindle, 297 pages
Release Date: July 18, 2016
Publisher: Smedge Press
Source: Amazon
Genre: Science Fiction
Dr. Dean Frey is a man of science. His lifelong desire to create a better future for mankind has led him to the prestigious, and highly mysterious, Wilderness Institute of Scientific Research & Technology, as the head of their Robotics Engineering department. Building on the research and designs of others before him, Dean’s own genius culminates in the successful creation of Anthony—the first fully-automated, free-thinking android prototype. And now Wilderness wants to sell Anthony to the military.
Unwilling to allow his achievement to become weaponized, Dean reaches out to a former Wilderness employee with the resources to help him steal Anthony and relocate them both to safety. He’s put into contact with the very secretive Nick and Olivia, who ask for one simple thing in return: trust us, no matter what you see or hear. Blind trust isn’t in Dean’s cautious nature, but he has no other choice.
For telekinetic Olivia, rescuing a fellow Psion from a life of imprisonment and experimentation is one of her favorite things. Being paid is nice, but she’ll do the job for free, if it means giving Wilderness the finger. When Olivia’s reclusive mentor solicits her and her telepathic partner Nick’s help in smuggling a very special Project out of Wilderness, they jump at the chance to infiltrate their former home and do some internal damage to the institute that created them.
With their combined knowledge of the facility, breaking Anthony out of Wilderness should have been easy—but Olivia learned a long time ago to never underestimate her enemies, or the lengths they’ll go to retrieve what’s theirs. And this time, the price for stealing the Project may be more than she’s willing to pay.
Oracle is the first installment in author Kelly Meding's The Project Files duology. The duology features an on-the-run scientist, a telepath/telekinetic duo who fights the good fight against a major power corporation, an android prototype,
and enough action, adventure and humorous banter to entertain any and all readers.
Olivia Gellar and Nick Patterson each have axes to grind against the Wilderness Institute of Research & Technology. Years ago, they were brutally taken away from their families and brought to Wilderness as projects. After a bit of help escaping, they've become specialists in retrieving Lost Projects. Olivia is able to manipulate metal and magnetic fields, Nic can sense psychic presences, and manipulate thoughts. Olivia is able to use kinetic energy, while Nick uses telepathy.
They are perfect partners because they have mutual experiences, similar losses, and pure hatred for Wilderness. Nick & Olivia's goals are to find others like them, and help them understand that their powers are a gift, not a curse. Their second goal is to permanently stop Wilderness from breeding a whole new generation of kids that they can use for nefarious intentions. Olivia and Nick have avoided being recaptured by Wilderness, Dr. Ian Wallace, and Gary Mitchell, one of their former classmate, for 18 years.
18 years of a truce that has held as long as each side stays in their own corners, and one side leaves the only person to be allowed to walk away from Wilderness alone. That truce is about to be broken. Dr. Dean Frey works for Wilderness as Head of their Robotics Engineering Department. Dean does not like the direction his project, named Anthony, is heading. (Anthony is a self-aware, fully functioning intelligent robotic humanoid.) But, when you work for Wilderness, you must give your full loyalty and trust to Wilderness no matter what. There is no leaving, or escaping. There is only death for those who try to leave.
And yet, Frey remarkably does just that. His goal is to find the one man who was allowed to walk away from Wilderness, and ask him for help in retrieving Anthony. That man is Benjamin Younger, the mentor of Nick & Olivia. When Frey shows up on his doorstep, Ben knows that he can't just sit back and ignore what his former employer has been up to. He must make a choice. That choice is to send Frey to meet with Olivia and Nick, and find a way to retrieve the project known as Anthony and keep it from being used as a weapon.
I loved the Dreg City series, and was sad to see it end, but I really liked Oracle. Oracle is a fun story filled with characters you can connect to, action, adventure, and no vampires, werewolves, fae, or any shifters of any kind. It is Nick & Olivia who own this series, but it is characters like Anthony and Jessica who give it a bit more depth. Anthony is such an interesting character, while Jessica is still a wild card who we haven't uncovered her actual worth yet. I also liked Matthias who is an unknown to Wilderness, but a fantastic character who has an ability that will blow you away. Frey is a character who I hope grows into his role as the only human without abilities in this Scooby Doo group.
I do know that the second part of this duology, Lazarus, is available on Amazon. Perhaps I shall have to pick it up and see how Meding wraps up her mini-series. There is a whole lot more to look forward to I think.
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