I found this to be a bit of a chore to get through. Mildly interesting, but not really engaging. Then, just as I was starting to get into the story, and it got more interesting, it suddenly ended. ( )

2.5 Stars....

This was just OK. It is the first part of a story split into five parts. The problem is that nothing of interest really happens during this portion of the story. Part one is mostly character development with some world building, and it begins, near the very end, to set the stage for the conflict that, I presume, will be the main focus of the remainder of the story. The writing is good and the setting description is well done. However, this portion of the story was mostly flat, and gives little incentive to continue until the very end. I think the author may have dinner himself a disservice by releasing this in the parts, as opposed to a full length novel. Part one just didn't pack enough "umph" to stand on its own.

The story goes back and forth between the present moment (which is literally just a matter of minutes), and a period of time a few years back. These flashbacks help explain the main character's choices at the end of this portion of the story. I see that there an omnibus for parts 1-4 available on Kindle unlimited, with accompanying audible narration. It's hard for me to stop a story once I've begun, so i'll continue the story on Audible because there are too many other books I'd prefer to read.