Looking for something to entertain you during the holidays but not consume all your time and energy during this busy season? Then I’ve got the book for you: Extremity by Nicholas Binge. It all starts with two murders that have the same victim. Everything from the face to the fingerprints marks the two victims as the same man. Detective Julia Torgrimsen is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, but the more she discovers, the stranger things get. What is really going on with London’s richest society members, and how will that impact the rest of the world?
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by TorDotCom for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Extremity contains some spoilers!]
Sci-fi conspiracy at its best
In Extremity, Julia Torgrimsen is a legendary uncover detective who has cracked many seemingly impossible cases. But she’s also an outsider and isn’t exactly on the department’s good side at present. Still, when a billionaire ends up dead, a billionaire that she investigated while undercover, she’s reluctantly (on both sides) called in to solve his case. Her “babysitter” is a young rookie cop, Mark Cochrane, who has hero-worshipped Julia for years. Julia resents the extra oversight that Cochrane brings, but she mostly just ignores him anyway as she launches herself back into the seedy world of London’s rich and famous.
The further Julia digs, the weirder things get. Before long, she’s looking at a full-blown conspiracy that is straight out of the X-Files. The world’s either gone completely nuts or she’s stumbled upon the single most important scientific advancement, maybe ever. The problem is she’s not that likely to live long enough to tell anyone. Further, if she doesn’t destroy this new technology, it’s likely going to lead to the complete destruction of humankind. And soon. Very soon. Can she save the world before it all goes boom? Or is society doomed? The fast pace of Extremity won’t keep you hanging for long; one way or the other, it’ll all be over soon.
Extremity is perfect for a busy season
I don’t know about you, but I never quite feel relaxed unless I’m reading a book. I don’t mean I have to be actively reading it every moment, but I need to have a story that I’m worrying away at in my brain, trying to figure out what’s happening and imagining what’s next for the characters. But this time of year is really busy. Trying to find even a few minutes to read a couple of pages can be hard, and who wants the emotional baggage of a giant novel (looking at you, 912-page The Hallmarked Man).
But Extremity is the antithesis of that. It is a small book, checking in at 161 pages, and it has a very fast pace that makes it seem even shorter. While the subject matter (time travel, economic manipulation, the entitlement of the rich, the extinction of the human race) could be called heavy, it’s not presented in a debatable or philosophical way. So they don’t necessarily pull you into a dark place just by reading about them (again, the book’s brevity kinda makes that impossible). But don’t think that the length makes this book forgettable. The story is very exciting, and there was plenty of adrenaline flowing while I was reading it. And it has a nice mystery at the core that your brain can try and solve while you’re busy socializing with people you don’t really like anyway at parties (okay, maybe you like most of them, but all of them). There is also a lot of humor to help balance out the horror aspects of the plot. This is a really important key to good horror writing (yep, Extremity is a classic sci-fi story, but also a classic horror story). If an author hammers away at the story’s creepy aspects and keeps the horror cranked up to 11, it just becomes too much for the reader. Mixing in a healthy dose of humor keeps everything from becoming too heavy and makes the scary hit that much harder when it comes. A lot of the humor in Extremity comes from Julia’s overall attitude and actions as she just plows ahead and leaves Mark struggling to keep up. It’s not “haha” humor, but it does lighten up the story just enough.
An interesting presentation from Nicholas Binge
Binge uses a different writing style in Extremity. He constantly switches between first-person confessions from the three lead investigators: Julia, Marc, and Julia’s old boss, DCI John Grossman. This style pulls you through the story faster. The constantly switching perspectives keep things fresh and make you want to keep reading “just a little more” to see what happens next, or to get back to who you really want to hear from. The style gives the book that X-Files procedural feeling because the frame work makes you (at least I) feel like you’re listening to the story as it’s being told to investigators. So I saw the story as the memories of the main characters as they recounted them, rather than as something happening as I read it. It was an interesting presentation choice that suited the genre and story well.
Grab this great holiday distraction today
Extremity has been out for a couple of months now, but if you haven’t read it yet, I recommend picking up a copy today. It’s the perfect thing to occupy your time on a quiet night, before heading out to a party, or while waiting for a flight. The book may be fun-sized, but the story is anything but small.
Rating: 9/10
Extremity is now available to purchase at your retailer of choice.
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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