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Friday, March 14, 2014

Book Review ARC: The Wicked We Have Done (Chaos Theory #1) by Sarah Harian

The Wicked We Have Done (Chaos Theory #1)

by Sarah Harian
Kindle Edition, 272 pages
Expected publication: March 18th 2014 by Penguin/InterMix Books
Evalyn Ibarra never expected to be an accused killer and experimental prison test subject. A year ago, she was a normal college student. Now she’s been sentenced to a month in the compass room—an advanced prison obstacle course designed by the government to execute justice.
If she survives, the world will know she’s innocent.

Locked up with nine notorious and potentially psychotic criminals, Evalyn must fight the prison and dismantle her past to stay alive. But the system prized for accuracy appears to be killing at random.

She doesn’t plan on making friends.

She doesn’t plan on falling in love, either.


Sometime in the future there is a new means of reducing the costs of lengthy trials and prison sentences for accused murders while determining the prisoner's true guilt or innocence; ship them off to the compass room for thirty days. The compass room is a scientifically monitored environment that ultimately gages the reactions and neurologic responses to various simulated scenarios and the prisoner will ultimately be proven guilty of murder and executed or innocent of the crimes that have been alleged and pardoned. The outside world ferments with the controversy over the viability of the sentencing outcome for individuals and the crimes, which the media has already determined them to be guilty of. 


The primary protagonist is a young woman, Evalyn Ibarra, who has been accused of an unspeakable murder spree, the facts of the events are essentially unknown throughout the majority of the book, but are little by little ultimately revealed with the story told from her point of view. The writing was very well executed with wonderful world building and intriguing characters. I became emotionally invested with the story and characters, which kept me glued to my reader eager to know the outcome of the tale. 


This book is hard to categorize in a specific genre, but is full of conspiracies, mysteries, in a pre-futuristic society and while the compass room has similarities to Survivor without the option of being voted off the island and the guilty party's outcome being a bit grimmer, it was a very entertaining read and I look forward to reading what happens next. The ending was satisfying, but does leave opening for book two without being a complete cliffhanger. Definitely a recommended read for those interested in I received this book via NetGalley.

5 Sheep



DeniseZ


About the Author:
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Sarah grew up in the foothills of Yosemite, where she learned to fish, hike, and climb trees. She also had a soft spot for video games and fantasy novels, rounding her out to be perfectly equal parts of wilderness princess and super nerd.

Inspired by Carolyn Keene, Tolkien, and J.K.Rowling, she wanted to be a writer since she was eight. Her first attempted book was about twins who found a secret portal to another world in their basement. Between this creation and her first finished novel twelve years later, she dabbled in fanfiction and horror stories.

Sarah worked as a barista at Starbucks while studying at Fresno State, receiving her B.A. in English Education in 2010 and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in 2013. She was lucky enough to score a TAship during graduateschool and teach fiction for a semester.

Now, Sarah is working on the sequel to her new adult speculative thriller, THE WICKED WE HAVE DONE. She’s liberal, queer, Christian, and madly in love with her husband. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to be all of these things at once.

Her works are represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

2 comments:

  1. This books sounds a bit different from the norm and I am always looking for something new and creepy. I have become a big fan of dystopian novels and love adding more to my reading list. Have a great weekend.

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    Replies
    1. It is different and I think that is a big part of what grabbed me. :)

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