A Review of "The Xeno Manifesto"

Introduction

What a wild ride this novel is! Author Brysen Mann graciously contacted me and offered me a free Kindle copy of his book in exchange for a review, and I can honestly say that he absolutely blew me away with The Xeno Manifesto. I always love a book that I can't put down, and although they're rare to stumble across, this sci-fi adventure novel absolutely took the cake! I started reading it on January 26th and just finished it, today, on January 28th. As a huge fan of conspiracy theories, The Xeno Manifesto definitely brought out my tin-foil hat side.

My Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis: "Deputy Frank Smirnov wants a peaceful life but fate has chosen a different path. He could never have imagined a course that not only give him insight to his past but to the true origins of the human race. NSA Agent Zachariah Allmass' job is to eliminate those who know too much, and those 'Beings' with powers untold that have elected to remain hidden for all these millenniums, now possess evidence he needs for his true employer, the Committee. But Allmass has an agenda of his own. 

Meanwhile, Roman Petrov is a violent man who puts his retirement on temporary hiatus after being left with collateral damage that leaves him no choice but to eliminate the 'thorn in his side'.

When these men's worlds collide, secrets that were never meant to be exposed will shake the foundation of mankind's existence." (via Goodreads)

Thoughts and Comments

Pros

• I adore the settings! Half of the book is set in Washington and gives a comfortably outdoorsy feel, while the other half is set in Belize and sends the reader balmy tropical vibes the whole time. Definitely a great book to escape with!
• There are lovely descriptions of nature, people, and objects. Mr. Mann does an excellent job at showing instead of telling.
• Towards the beginning of the novel, when the main character Frank flashes back to his childhood, the author does a fabulous job at capturing a simple boyhood friendship that sufficiently establishes who Frank is as a character.
• The story does a great job at pulling the reader in and keeping them hooked! There wasn't a single moment where I felt like I had to skim to get to the good stuff.
• Mr. Mann also shows that he is very knowledgable about the devices and equipment that the characters are seen using throughout the novel, which is nice--it's always a pleasant surprise to me when the author does their research and shows that they know what they're talking about!

Cons

• The main reason that I rated this book with four stars instead of five is truly because of the grammar and formatting issues. They were too apparent for me to ignore. There are too many ellipses, which interrupt the flow of the dialogue and narration. Spelling is also an issue (for example, there are a few instances of using the wrong form of their/there/they're, hear/here, etc). There are also some run-on sentences that are hard to follow.
• The book is in third person present, which is more of a preference thing than anything, but I did find that it threw me off at first and took a few chapters to get used to.
• The beginning chapter starts off at a comfortable pace and then completely escalates just after a few pages in, giving the reader a bit of whiplash.
• There are some parts where the narrator is talking to the reader, which should never happen in third person. Additionally, the author also switches to first-person thoughts without using italics as an indicator.
• One or two paragraphs that are obviously meant to be educational are peppered into the book, but in my opinion, they don't really have any place in a novel, although I can see what the author was trying to do.

Conclusion

I would absolutely recommend that sci-fi fans buy this book! You will certainly not regret it. Mr. Mann, I very much look forward to seeing more from you in the future!


Amazon Link: See here
Goodreads Link: See here
Riffle Link: See here

This fulfills my "Alien Conspiracy" subgenre of the Science Fiction genre!


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