Title: Recoil
Author: Recoil Trilogy
Series: Joanne Macgregor
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Release Date: 14th May 2016
BLURB from Goodreads
When a skilled gamer gets recruited as a sniper in the war against a terrorist-produced pandemic, she discovers there’s more than one enemy and more than one war. The Game is real.
Three years after a series of terrorist attacks flooded the US with a lethal plague, society has changed radically.
Sixteen year-old Jinxy James spends her days trapped at home – immersed in virtual reality, worrying about the plague and longing for freedom. Then she wins a war simulation game and is recruited into a top-secret organisation where talented teenagers are trained to become agents in the war on terror. Eager to escape her mother’s over-protectiveness and to serve her country, Jinxy enlists and becomes an expert sniper of infected mutant rats.
She’s immediately drawn to Quinn O’Riley, a charming and subversive intelligence analyst who knows more about the new order of government and society than he is telling. Then a shocking revelation forces Jinxy to make an impossible decision, and she risks losing everything.
Three years after a series of terrorist attacks flooded the US with a lethal plague, society has changed radically.
Sixteen year-old Jinxy James spends her days trapped at home – immersed in virtual reality, worrying about the plague and longing for freedom. Then she wins a war simulation game and is recruited into a top-secret organisation where talented teenagers are trained to become agents in the war on terror. Eager to escape her mother’s over-protectiveness and to serve her country, Jinxy enlists and becomes an expert sniper of infected mutant rats.
She’s immediately drawn to Quinn O’Riley, a charming and subversive intelligence analyst who knows more about the new order of government and society than he is telling. Then a shocking revelation forces Jinxy to make an impossible decision, and she risks losing everything.
PURCHASE LINKS
INITIAL THOUGHTS
The Blurb made me instantly curious to know more about the game that teaches the skills need to become a sniper.. Jinxy is what you'd have to
call a prolific, highly addicted gamer, who goes without food and drink to have
more gaming time.
THOUGHTS WHILST READING
3% So
Jinxy has finally won......the ultimate gamer experience.
18% So
what does Sarge mean with the comment he mutters under his breath? . .
22% Jinx
is out from being stuck at home, in ASTA training to ....well she isn't sure
yet. she also now has two admirers, the unwelcome attentions of Bruce and the
more welcome attention n flirtation from Quinn.
61% What was in Let's text? Why is Quinn so
against the snipers?"
REVIEW
The cover features a close up of a female with piercing blue eyes that in my opinion has to be Jinxy Emma James. The face has what I would describe as a shocked, stunned, maybe even scared look, which also encourages you to be inquisitive about who she is, what her life is like etc. I love the font style of the book title and author name. The way the O in Recoil is made into a snipers cross hairs on a gun is brilliant.There is also a by line on this book which says "The Game Is Real_", it really fits the book very well. (You'll know what I mean when you read the book) I also like the font of the byline which is in what I can only describe as "computer style" So would the cover make me pick this book up from a book store shelf? Yes, those eyes make you want to learn more,
I have already mentioned the name of the main character Jinxy James, but now I'll share a little about her. Jinxy is 16 years old, has piercing blue eyes and blonde hair with bright cobalt streaks in her hair. Jinx was the last one to be born of the twins, yet I think in the book she comes across as though she is the older sibling, feeling protective over her brother.. Jinx lives at home with her mother, Marion, and her identical twin brother Robin. Her father died some time ago and their mother never seemed to recover. Their life is a very contained, perhaps monotonous life, sort of trapped in her own house. The main reason for this quite reclusive lifestyle is due to a virus. To be totally honest, this book is not as far fetched and futuristic as you initially think when you are about to begin reading this book. With our present day atrocities and terrorism parts of this book are quite believable. Another more comedic similarity is when Jinxy is flicking through TV channels to try to find something she would like to watch and she has the following thought "442 channels to watch but nothing that catches her interest."
To attempt to control the virus spreading the US has split itself into just three mega sections/sectors, Northeast, the Mid & West and the final one being the South. There are three remote highest security prisons have been re-opened and put back into use. The three resurrected prisons are Guantanamo Bay, Alcatraz, and Florence ADX. This maybe coincidental recurrence number three made me think of the superstition of "bad things come in threes".
All members of society have to take precautions when outside, they must use (PPE) Personal Protection Equipment, which consist of varying degrees of defense against the virus such as masks, gloves and even disposable suits to go over your clothes and then be thrown away as you go through the whole decontamination pod and procedure.
Jinx enjoys playing the most popular game out at the moment. the game is so popular because there is a way to play it for everyone. Jinxy is heavily addicted to playing the game as a sniper, whereas her brother Robin enjoys playing the game as a programmer.
Jinx has been trying to shoot a particularly skilled, evasive character in the game called called Jakhill. Jinx has been on this mission to kill Jakhil for a long time, she cuts everything around her off and fully immerses herself into the game not stopping for either food or drink, not even for sweets or chocolate. Without going into detail Jinxy takes that "killer shot" and she. . .wins!! Her prize is to go to Play State HQ to see where the game was made and trialed and along with other winners she will get to play the game and the "ultimate" gamer experience. Now her next difficult task is to get her mum to sign the form to allow her to go visit Play State.
Only when she has the "ultimate experience" she discovers that the game is some kind of recruitment ploy for the government. Once again Jinx is faced by paperwork she needs to get her mother Marion to sign to allow her to continue on this new path.
This new direction Jinx life has taken gives her the opportunity to have friends and this is where she meets a guy who she really likes called Quinn.
In the training program people are tested on their fitness etc and then separated into teams.
Sadly for Jinx Quinn is put into Blue Team, whilst Jinx is in Black Team (checkout my opinion of Black Team and their strengths. Upon training they are given divisional badges which make them identifiable to one another as to what they are expert in, And that's as far as I am going to share with you as to go on, and believe me I could go on and on and on about this book would reveal and spoil things for you reading the book yourselves.
The book begins at what I would describe as a medium pace, and maintains that as the plot unfolds. There is action, danger, betrayal, suspense, family secrets, government secrets and female characters kicking butt! So I think there's something for everyone in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed, it kept me wanting to read all the way, there were no slow irritating bits at all. There is so much more to learn about, this world, the society, the government etc. This series has loads more potential! This is a book that I could talk and talk about even more. I keep saying to my daughter she must read it, then I can bend her ear about the book and the potential plot twists to come even more!!
Did I I enjoy the book? Simply put Yes!! Would I recommend this book? Definitely, I think it will appear to a wide audience. Whether you love post apocalyptic/dystopian sci-fi or your new to reading these genres I'd recommend this book. Would I want to read another book in this series? Yes please! and it's not so long now until Refuse is released! Would I want to read other titles by this author? Oh yes, I have another one of her titles on my kindle to read as soon as I can get time to.
The cover features a close up of a female with piercing blue eyes that in my opinion has to be Jinxy Emma James. The face has what I would describe as a shocked, stunned, maybe even scared look, which also encourages you to be inquisitive about who she is, what her life is like etc. I love the font style of the book title and author name. The way the O in Recoil is made into a snipers cross hairs on a gun is brilliant.There is also a by line on this book which says "The Game Is Real_", it really fits the book very well. (You'll know what I mean when you read the book) I also like the font of the byline which is in what I can only describe as "computer style" So would the cover make me pick this book up from a book store shelf? Yes, those eyes make you want to learn more,
I have already mentioned the name of the main character Jinxy James, but now I'll share a little about her. Jinxy is 16 years old, has piercing blue eyes and blonde hair with bright cobalt streaks in her hair. Jinx was the last one to be born of the twins, yet I think in the book she comes across as though she is the older sibling, feeling protective over her brother.. Jinx lives at home with her mother, Marion, and her identical twin brother Robin. Her father died some time ago and their mother never seemed to recover. Their life is a very contained, perhaps monotonous life, sort of trapped in her own house. The main reason for this quite reclusive lifestyle is due to a virus. To be totally honest, this book is not as far fetched and futuristic as you initially think when you are about to begin reading this book. With our present day atrocities and terrorism parts of this book are quite believable. Another more comedic similarity is when Jinxy is flicking through TV channels to try to find something she would like to watch and she has the following thought "442 channels to watch but nothing that catches her interest."
To attempt to control the virus spreading the US has split itself into just three mega sections/sectors, Northeast, the Mid & West and the final one being the South. There are three remote highest security prisons have been re-opened and put back into use. The three resurrected prisons are Guantanamo Bay, Alcatraz, and Florence ADX. This maybe coincidental recurrence number three made me think of the superstition of "bad things come in threes".
All members of society have to take precautions when outside, they must use (PPE) Personal Protection Equipment, which consist of varying degrees of defense against the virus such as masks, gloves and even disposable suits to go over your clothes and then be thrown away as you go through the whole decontamination pod and procedure.
Jinx enjoys playing the most popular game out at the moment. the game is so popular because there is a way to play it for everyone. Jinxy is heavily addicted to playing the game as a sniper, whereas her brother Robin enjoys playing the game as a programmer.
Jinx has been trying to shoot a particularly skilled, evasive character in the game called called Jakhill. Jinx has been on this mission to kill Jakhil for a long time, she cuts everything around her off and fully immerses herself into the game not stopping for either food or drink, not even for sweets or chocolate. Without going into detail Jinxy takes that "killer shot" and she. . .wins!! Her prize is to go to Play State HQ to see where the game was made and trialed and along with other winners she will get to play the game and the "ultimate" gamer experience. Now her next difficult task is to get her mum to sign the form to allow her to go visit Play State.
Only when she has the "ultimate experience" she discovers that the game is some kind of recruitment ploy for the government. Once again Jinx is faced by paperwork she needs to get her mother Marion to sign to allow her to continue on this new path.
This new direction Jinx life has taken gives her the opportunity to have friends and this is where she meets a guy who she really likes called Quinn.
In the training program people are tested on their fitness etc and then separated into teams.
Sadly for Jinx Quinn is put into Blue Team, whilst Jinx is in Black Team (checkout my opinion of Black Team and their strengths. Upon training they are given divisional badges which make them identifiable to one another as to what they are expert in, And that's as far as I am going to share with you as to go on, and believe me I could go on and on and on about this book would reveal and spoil things for you reading the book yourselves.
The book begins at what I would describe as a medium pace, and maintains that as the plot unfolds. There is action, danger, betrayal, suspense, family secrets, government secrets and female characters kicking butt! So I think there's something for everyone in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed, it kept me wanting to read all the way, there were no slow irritating bits at all. There is so much more to learn about, this world, the society, the government etc. This series has loads more potential! This is a book that I could talk and talk about even more. I keep saying to my daughter she must read it, then I can bend her ear about the book and the potential plot twists to come even more!!
Did I I enjoy the book? Simply put Yes!! Would I recommend this book? Definitely, I think it will appear to a wide audience. Whether you love post apocalyptic/dystopian sci-fi or your new to reading these genres I'd recommend this book. Would I want to read another book in this series? Yes please! and it's not so long now until Refuse is released! Would I want to read other titles by this author? Oh yes, I have another one of her titles on my kindle to read as soon as I can get time to.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wow! lots of danger, action, mystery, secrets, lies and betrayal. Who is telling the real truth and who is hiding behind a facade of lies. Oh and there's a smidgeon of romance too! Ooo and book two is released too soon.
Wow! lots of danger, action, mystery, secrets, lies and betrayal. Who is telling the real truth and who is hiding behind a facade of lies. Oh and there's a smidgeon of romance too! Ooo and book two is released too soon.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Where did you get your book/book series idea's from?
Who/What is your inspiration for the Recoil Trilogy?
A couple of ideas came together to
inspire this trilogy. I was watching a documentary about marine snipers, who
came across as really detached from the fact that they were taking lives, and I
wondered what it would be like to be an excellent marksman, yet hate hurting
living things. At the time, the Ebola epidemic was at its height, and so that
wound its way into the idea of the plague. In a broader sense, there are some
political developments in the world that have me deeply concerned, and so I
wanted to explore these in the form of a dystopian.
(As a reader it was a quite thought provoking read ~ Jeanz)
How did you come up with the Title for your Recoil
Trilogy Series?
The title for Recoil came
from a comment from one of the US snipers. When asked how he felt when shooting
a person, he replied, "Recoil." He meant it literally, of course, but
my heroine experiences it figuratively, too. The subsequent book titles Refuse and Rebel just
came to me as the natural progression of her character's development.
(Yeah, I did notice the Recoil comment and wonder which came first, the comment or the series title. It is perfect ~ Jeanz)
Who designed the covers for Recoil and Refuse? And
have they already designed the cover for bk3?
The covers have been designed by the
wonderful Kimberley of "Kim G Design" (her website is here: http://www.kimg-design.com/).
The designs are so beautiful and yet incorporate so many elements from the
novels - the biohazard bloom, the crosshairs, the coding matrix, the naive
heroine with her blue-streaked hair. I can't wait to see what she comes up with
for Book 3!
Did you choose the titles for the book/book series
first, or did you write the book and then choose the title?
It varies from book to book. Sometimes
the title comes first, often (as with Recoil) it comes early in the
research phase, but sometimes it comes only later. All of my titles for all of
my books have both a literal meaning related to the story of the book, as well
as a metaphorical meaning that links to one of the main themes. I enjoy playing
around with chapter titles, too. If readers read a chapter and then go back and
check the title, it might give them a little smile of recognition. The full
meaning of some of the chapter titles only becomes apparent once you've read
the whole book, and even the series, when you'll have an "Ah-ha! I see
what you did there!" moment.
Do you have a basic outline plot for the whole
Recoil Series, or are you letting the writing/plot flow and just seeing where
the story goes?
I definitely have an outline - with a
plot as complicated as this, I need one! In crafting a trilogy, the writer has
to structure the plot and character arcs for each book, as well as for the
over-arching series. I think many trilogies suffer from second-book syndrome
because the author has thought about the beginning and imagined the final end,
but hasn't actually developed a story for the middle book. Also, in this sort
of genre, you want to plant clues, twists, red herrings and foreshadowings
right from book one, so you have to know where you're going.
Do you basic plot/outline each book in advance or
do you create the books as individual books?
Both. I already knew (very roughly) what
was happening in my world and where the story was going overall before I began
book 1. But before I write each book, I draft a slightly more detailed outline
so that the individual book's story is logical and exciting, not merely
"filler". Then I think in much more detail about each section just
before I write it. And then while I'm actually writing the first draft, new
ideas and scenes come, and things change - I allow that creative flow to happen,
because generally it's better than what I planned.
Have you ever based characters and character traits
on people you know?
All the time! I believe every writer
does this, whether consciously or subconsciously. I'm like a magpie - I like to
collect shiny words, funny expressions, startling images, telling mannerisms,
and curiosity-provoking ideas which I try to write down before I forget them.
No one character is based entirely on one single person from real life, but I
do blend and incorporate real details into my characters, places and stories.
When I heard about Donald Trump's plan for a wall between the USA and Mexico,
for example, I just knew that was a detail that had to go into Recoil.
Is there anything in Recoil, or the Recoil Series
you would change now if you could and what would it be?
I wish I had the power to wave my magic
wand and turn the series into a bestseller, lol! Otherwise, I'm happy with this
story and where it's headed. I spent a lot of time on rewrites and got
professional edits, so I'm proud of the writing, too. I'm glad I released the
first book only after I'd finished the draft of the second, because it allowed
me to go back and change things. When I started Book 3, I went back and changed
the ending of book 2, which improves the series as a whole. It's a luxury as a
writer to be able to make these changes.
(I'd love it to be made into a Movie or TV Series. Look at Divergent, The Hunger Games etc all started off as fantastic books! ~ Jeanz)
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us
about your individual titles or series at all?
Readers might be interested in my
standalone Young Adult romance, Scarred, which is swoony and angsty
and funny all at once. I have another two standalone YA romances coming out
next year, so watch this space :)
(I already have it my kindle to read! And I'll certainly be looking at the other titles you write! As well as the Recoil Series of course! ~Jeanz)
Finally could you please provide links to where
your reader fans can follow you?
I love to connect with fans and you can
find me here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoanneMacg/
Twitter: @JoanneMacg
Website: www.joannemacgregor.com
Pinterest: Joanne Macgregor
Thank-you for taking the time to do this Interview and giving "us" the readers a further insight into the book, series, and your writing process ~ Jeanz
CHARACTER PROFILE'S
(My own thoughts of the characters)
(My own thoughts of the characters)
OF THE
THE BLACK TEAM
Jinxy
16 year old gamer addict, straining to be released from the confinements of her home. Always fighting to be the best and analysing how she can do even better.
Leya
I'd guess at probably older & more life experienced than Jinx. She has a tattoo on her face next to her eye. A gamer but always somewhere around the middling scores, just behind the leaders of the pack Jinx & Bruce but still an important member of the team.
Bruce
Slightly older than Jinx in age but way, way younger in mental attitude! He is arrogant, likes to be the best and tells everyone about it when he is. Not so keen on being second behind Jinx but does accept that Jinx is a great sniper.
Mitch
Hmm more of a background character in this book, yet still an important part of the team. Maybe we will see more of him in bk2.
Tae-Hyun
Also super gamer, quieter, but supportive member of the team. Jinx likes to have him as her spotter and trusts him completely.
Cameron
Also a quiet member of the team. He doesn't show his emotions, yet the way he looks at Leya suggest he may have a crush on her. . or is he watching her for some other reason?
COMING SOON
Title: Refuse
Author: Recoil Trilogy
Series: Joanne Macgregor
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Release Date: 30th July 2016
BLURB from Goodreads
Everyone wants Jinxy, except the one she loves.
In a near-future USA decimated by an incurable plague and tightly controlled by a repressive government, teenagers with special skills are recruited and trained to fight in the war against terror.
Now a rebellion is brewing.
All sixteen year-old expert sniper Jinxy James wanted was a little freedom, but now she’s trapped between the government and the rebels, unsure of who the real enemy is. When she uncovers appalling secrets and twisted motivations, Jinxy begins to question her allegiances. Soon she will need to choose between love and freedom, as she struggles to do the right thing in a world gone horribly wrong.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Well I really wanted to read this one as I finished reading bk1, and that was before seeing the cover of bk2 or even reading the blurb! Now I really cannot wait, I don't want to read Refuse, I need to read it. ~ Jeanz
Everyone wants Jinxy, except the one she loves.
In a near-future USA decimated by an incurable plague and tightly controlled by a repressive government, teenagers with special skills are recruited and trained to fight in the war against terror.
Now a rebellion is brewing.
All sixteen year-old expert sniper Jinxy James wanted was a little freedom, but now she’s trapped between the government and the rebels, unsure of who the real enemy is. When she uncovers appalling secrets and twisted motivations, Jinxy begins to question her allegiances. Soon she will need to choose between love and freedom, as she struggles to do the right thing in a world gone horribly wrong.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Well I really wanted to read this one as I finished reading bk1, and that was before seeing the cover of bk2 or even reading the blurb! Now I really cannot wait, I don't want to read Refuse, I need to read it. ~ Jeanz
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