Cody works the personal security detail at the mighty Vortax Corporation, but when the man she’s paid to protect is found dead, her life is ripped apart. Framed for murder, she’s incarcerated in a virtual world where she must fight to survive. But perhaps she might stand a chance of escape, if only she can complete the Prison Quest.
My Opinion: 480 pages, $2.99, Available on Kindle Unlimited
Something about this one felt a little shady. When the novel came out as an ebook on 4/30 it already had three 5 star reviews, all of which are dated before the 30th. One of which gushed about how she had to check out the story because it was on Kindle Unlimited. However, the review was posted 4/27 and was for the print edition of the novel.
-Another review said it’s the best she’s ever reading the genre, but it’s the only LitRPG story she’s ever reviewed.
-None of the really means anything, it could all be coincidence. But it certainly starts the story off on an odd foot for me.
The novel has a heavy cyber thriller beginning. Security guard Cody stumbles onto the corpse of her murdered friend. She’s immediately arrested by internal security, but instead of being turned over to the policeman that arrives, she’s falsely convicted by internal security and sentenced to a 40 years sentence in a game. Once there she finds out if she dies outside town, she dies permanently in real life. She learns of a rumored secret quest that will let her escape the game, if she can find it and beat it.
Game mechanic wise this is a pretty shallow system where the stats and levels don’t really feel like the matter. There are quests, character sheets, XP given, and levels gained. So, this is technically LitRPG. But all the game stuff is completely ignored if a particular plot point needs to be reached. Whether it’s the main character (MC), Cody, being able to beat much higher level opponents or just miraculously surviving a situation were she should have died. Heck, most of the game notifications feel like they were inserted after the story was already written.
Overall, the story felt like it was a bunch of mediocre action filler bookended by weak cyber thriller. The ending also just felt forced. Like the MC was practically pushed to that particular unsatisfying resolution where the bad guys don’t get their just desserts, just so the story could end. It honestly felt like the author got bored writing the story and just wanted it to end.
Score: 5 out of 10