This is the second book in the Jezebel Series by Scott Rhine, and I have to say that I liked the first book better, but not by much. This is still a excellent book, it will definitely hold your interest, has great characters, and imagery, the problem I had was with the ending as you will see, but that is a taste issue, you may not agree with my choice. Overall, the novel was wonderful and well executed, and I would recommend the series to people looking for action/adventure along with alien technologies. Mysteries also abound in this book, so keep reading to see more.

THE PLOT: Jezebel Hollis, now head of Fortune Aerospace and her husband Benny Hollis, have had a child named Miracle Redemption Hollis, who is our new protagonist. At the age of six, an attempted kidnapping plot is foiled, but it leaves the girl scarred emotionally, as she killed someone with powers passed to her from her mother Jezebel. The next thing we know Red, her nickname, is flying to the astronaut school on an island somewhere in the Pacific. She brings with her a half sized model of a landing craft to go to the alien Eye in the Sky. She is supposed to be in finishing school in Switzerland. The book details Reds adventures as well as the former team of Fortune Aerospace who are now running the school. The war continues, even though the UN is now involved and countries have each signed up to put an astronaut through training, some still don't believe that we should contact the aliens and others want to control everything that's found there. The action is non-stop, with romance being a side-line, as with teenage students you can't stop hormones from flowing. The plot was good with a number of different story arcs taking place under the main arc of getting to the Eye in the Sky. For plot I give this an 8/10.

CHARACTERIZATION: Rhine shines here as always, with both faculty and students. He has an international cast of characters that he has to portray, and he does a wonderful job using dialogue, physical description, movement, habits, hobbies, food, likes and dislikes to characterize his characters. You even feel sorry for one of the evil characters at one point, because Rhine's world is always in shades of gray, never black and white, his palette has warm and cools grays in it, giving him the tools that he needs to shades his characters in different ways. Red herself, was a spoiled brat, but so loyal to her friends that she was just like Jezebel, she would hurt herself to help them. Zeiss too was a wonderful character. A natural math genius, low key, who understood people, and was kind to others. A natural pattern recognition specialist, he could see patterns where other people couldn't, unless they were enhanced by the pages. Sojiro was also fabulous, gay, a Manga artist extraordinaire, he drew Red's team as characters from a Manga comic. It was priceless. For characterization, I give this novel, a 10/10.

IMAGERY: The imagery in this book is up to current Rhine standard, you can see every image in your head. While Rhine is pretty spare with his prose, as most words go toward characterization and action, this works to generate a picture of what's actually occurring in the novel. If you have any imagination at all, the images should pop into your head like a movie, in fact, this whole series would make a fabulous movie series. Rhine has always done a fabulous job of creating exactly the image he wants without a lot of extra adjectives and adverbs. It's just the way he writes his prose – characterization, dialogue, action, imagery, plot, are melded together into a whole - pushing the story arcs forward at blinding speed. It's just how he does things. You can see every detail of what is going on while the action unfolds. It's the choice of details that he highlights that make it so cinematic. He could be a movie director or screenplay writer. My bet is that he thinks in images, which is how he writes this way. For imagery, I give the novel a 10/10.

THE GORE SCORE: There is some gore in this book, as there is still a war on. There is a physical beating that is described in detail, with each kick and punch, with each injury explained after attack. There is also psychic torture as well. That is harder somehow to read than the physical beating, though they both happen to characters I really liked, the second one felt like such a violation – almost a mind rape. It was horrible, but the effects themselves end up better than expected due to some unexpected things happening at the end. At the beginning of the novel, during the kidnapping, there is much shooting described in detail, and one person literally explodes. For gore, I give this novel, a 7/10.

DIALOGUE: Again, Rhine has his way with words using dialogue. He definitely uses it to his advantage as part of characterization, as well as to describe other characters, to add wit and humor to the novel, and of course to communicate information. With an international cast to portray, Rhine had to sharpen his pencil, so to speak, as he had a number of accents to do, even though the book is all in English, he still had to build different accents for different international characters. This was not over done, which I appreciated. My favorite accent was that of the Polish bomb technician, who was on Red's team. It reminded me of a friend of mine from work, who spoke exactly the same way. Rhine uses dialogue as one of his tools to add to the characterization, imagery, plot and humor of his novel. I give the dialogue 9/10.

PACING: Like all of Rhine's novels you travel along at the speed of light; every one of Rhine's novels is a page turner. You won't find one that has a slow spot, or even a dull part, some even speed up toward the end due to dramatic tension that builds and builds over the course of the novel – almost exploding to conclusion at the end. The transitions in this novel were all well thought out and smooth. You shift from one character's POV to another, but they all make sense, and are so easy to follow, you can tell who is speaking by the dialogue itself, as each individual voice is so recognizable. For pacing, I give this novel a 10/10.

THE ENDING: I don't know whether you would call it creative differences, or just the fact that I hate cliff hangers, but I really did not like the ending of this book, you get a big surprise at the end, and then when you are at the jaw drop moment the book stops, leaving you hanging there, wanting more. Will I read the next book – you bet I will. Did I hate the ending – you bet I did. It could have been done so many other ways and not left the reader feeling left hanging high and dry. The first novel feel complete all by itself, while this one felt like one complete book plus the very beginning of a second which teased you to no end. I hate being teased. Now all I want to do is to read the third book, as Rhine intended, but that was a dirty trick to play on anyone. His writing made me read his novels all by themselves, why put a hook in? Why not trust that the story is good enough that the readers will continue to invest in them after already reading two books? I can't answers these questions, obviously, and I am currently not a writer, so I don't know the pressures they are under, but Scott, trust that you are good enough that people will continue to read your series. Your story is fantastic. I will in continue it a heartbeat, so no more cliffhangers, please. I give the ending, a 5/10.

THE UPSHOT: If this book had a typical Rhine ending, this book would have been a high 5 star book, but take into account that not all people dislike cliffhangers as much as I do, or at all for that matter, and you may still believe that this book rates a high 5 star rating. As it is, the book is excellently written, has in-depth characterization, cinematic imagery, witty and humorous dialogue, light speed pacing, a tightly written and well executed plot and what you have is an excellent novel with an ending that I personally did not like, but that's me. You may feel differently. I have read all Mr. Rhine's novels and have enjoyed them immensely. He brings a new vision to science fiction and fantasy that hasn't been there before, and I very much appreciate that. I recommend him to everyone who wants an innovative author who's not scared of genre busting, has some traditional influences, but takes them to brand new heights. He is one of my Authors to Watch in 2012, and I believe Scott Rhine, is a true gem in the indie crown. Read him and revel in his ideas and wonderful prose, not to mention his incredible storytelling. I know that I do, and can't wait for the next book in this series to come out. The final score for this book is 52/60, a low 5 stars.

MLB SCORE CHART

50 – 60 5 STARS
40 – 49 4 STARS
30 – 39 3 STARS
20 – 29 2 STARS
10 – 19 1 STARS
00 – 09 0 STARS ( )

Genre: Science Fiction Reading Level: Young Adult

Disclosure: I edited this book; I am not receiving any payment based upon sales

Synopsis: At sixteen, Mira realizes her dream of attending the prestigious South Pacific UN astronaut school, Sirius Academy. Heiress, prodigy, pilot, and psi talent, Mira kicks butt from the first day. However, she can’t figure out how to make boys like her—making them cry is easy. To lead a team to the alien artifact that her mother discovered, Mira has to convince the Academy that she’s the only chance to unlock the alien secrets before they vanish. First, Mira has to overcome sexist students, narrow-minded faculty, kidnappers, and a tenacious aunt who wants her out of the program. Her adviser, Zeiss, can be useful when he isn’t plastering top-secret space photos on his ceiling or hunting terrorists.

Fans of Numbers and Ender’s Game will enjoy this face-paced sequel to Jezebel’s Ladder.

My Thoughts: Sirius Academy is a really fun book - I kept forgetting I was supposed to be editing because I would get so caught up in the action. Mira is a difficult character to love, as she's spoiled, self-indulgent, self-centered, and constantly needs to be the boss. But as you get to know her, you understand where she's coming from - this kid has not had an easy life, and she's under a great deal of pressure. She has to be the one to go to the Eye in the Sky - there is no other option - and she is aware of that; this is why she is always pushing. As is mentioned by one of the characters, Mira is missing some of the pack instinct that is necessary to get along with people, but inside she has a good heart.

Rhine is focused on the science - you can be sure that whatever he is writing about, he has researched and does his best to present in a realistic light. If you enjoyed Jezebel's Ladder, you won't want to miss this one. If you enjoy sci-fi and tech geek, you'll love it. Don't miss it - it's awesome! ( )